Teenage artist to unveil debut exhibition

It will be a big moment for Bri Boyington this Saturday when her first solo exhibition will be unveiled at the Naracoorte Regional Art Gallery.

The Naracoorte local is a Year 11 home-schooled teenager who struggles to remember a time when art and being creative wasn’t a part of her life.

“Ever since a young age I’ve always loved art,” she said. “I’ve always been quite observative, and I think there’s just been something about viewing the world – and the many, many fictional worlds I explore in books and films – that’s just so inspiring to want to capture in imagery.

“All the love, pain, heartache and beauty, in emotion and physicality, are aspects of our wonderful lives that I like capturing in artworks.”

And the influence of the creative arts doesn’t end there.

“Music has also been a big part of my inspiration,” Bri said. “I am a musician myself, but I find listening and playing other people’s music is so relatable and comforting, and through that I have found a lot of my portraiture artworks tend to be of the musicians I look up to and aspire to be like.

“To not only capture them in a state of grace, but to open those doors of possibility for imagination and creativity in other people when they view the artworks too. “

To now be able to share all her artistic expressions with the community is an opportunity or which the young artist is not only grateful but determined to enjoy.

“This is my first exhibition and I was absolutely thrilled when the Naracoorte Art Gallery asked me if I would be interested in doing an exhibition of my artworks,” Bri said. “I have worked very hard to pull together some of my best pieces in a variety of styles for viewing, to showcase the different mediums and styles of art that I have experimented with over the years, including some lead pencil and charcoal portraits, watercolour dragons and faces, and pyrography coasters, amongst others.”

And, as you would expect with someone so young, it is an eclectic mix as she expands her repertoire and tries to find her niche.

“I really enjoy working with portraiture and people sketches, particularly with a lead pencil and charcoal mixed medium,” Bri said. “Anything with life to it – humans, mythical creatures, animals – feel very real to me to draw, as well as I really enjoy working with the delicate nature of eyes and expressions, so a lot of my art has some sort of life form in it.

“I love working with lead pencil and charcoal mixed mediums due to the amazing depth you can get with them, and that has been my preferred medium for a few years now.

“However, recently I have started experimenting with pyrography, the art of wood burning, and have found that extremely enjoyable due to the astonishing details and unexpected textures you can get from how the different wood grains burn, but also watercolour not only because of the beautiful colours but also because of the way the paint flows and creatures such aesthetically pleasing images to look at.”

Local artist Sonya Manefield has tutored Bri in watercolour techniques and she also had a year of art sessions with another local mentor Alison Rowe, local artist and gallery board member, developing her skills in shading and technique.

And she has some other techniques and genres on her radar as she looks to develop and evolve as an artist.

“Street art and large scale mural artworks has always been something that I’ve found really inspiring too, but have not yet tried myself,” Bri said. “Walking in cities in particular, and seeing all the huge, amazing artworks painted on the sides of buildings, I’ve always thought it’d be super cool to try doing large scale artwork, and learning how to do art with spray paint effectively.”

But for now, it is the unveiling of this current exhibition that is her focus.

“The artworks I have chosen to exhibit are a selection of pieces using different art styles and subjects,” Bri said. “There are some musician portraits in charcoal and lead, watercolour mythical and environmental pieces and poster pieces.”

Included, which will have huge appeal, is a portrait of Taylor Swift which combines portraiture and scenery. It is done in charcoal and lead and was inspired by the pop star’s albums. Bri is a self-confessed ‘big Swifty’.

In the past two years she has won the High School section of the Gallery’s Ibis Rising Awards – this year with a portrait of musician Jeff Buckley and last year with her drawing of her father Jamie Boyington.

What is clear, is that art has, does, and always will play a huge role in Bri’s life.

“Currently, whenever I do an artwork, it becomes a sort of escapism for me, a way to relax, be creative, and let my mind wander, and yet at the same time encapsulates different ideas I dream of, characters I come up with, people I admire and things I find beautiful or love at the time of creating the artwork,” she said. “Wherever my life and career takes me, I would love to continue creating artworks that allow me to have that sense of peace and inspiration, and to keep as a record of the things I’ve loved – and of course as I create better artworks as my skills develop, I would love to host more exhibitions in future too.”

This exhibition is titled ‘Where Wonder Lies’ will run alongside the gallery’s annual Threads by Three which showcases the work of three local groups – the Mill Quilters, the Embroidery Guild and the Spinners and Weavers.

An Open Day will be held this Saturday from 10am to 3pm and both exhibitions will be on show until July 28.