Original Artwork | Oil & Acrylic on Canvas | H 762mm x W 1016mm
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Featured Exhibitions:
Under 30s Eat Free (2025 - Solo Exhibition)
 
About the Artwork:
I have always held New Years Eve as an important calendar event, perhaps because of its scarcity through much of my adolescence, and early adulthood.
 
I was set to attend what was essentially my third New Years Eve party, hosted by a new girlfriend’s close friends. My cousin and I had purchased matching boiler suits – him a navy blue and me a bright pink – and we intended to wear these to the party. However, this didn’t bode well with my new girlfriend, and she requested I change outfits.
 
I feel a hallmark of the under thirties is their steadfastness of belief in self-expression, even against rationale or wisdom.
 
 “There’s very important people there,” she pleaded. “You cannot wear that!”
 
But this fantasy was unshakeable, and I felt her reasoning may be exaggerated.
My girlfriend left for the party, leaving me to mull over my ultimatum to change outfits and attend, or make my own plans while retaining the pink boiler suit. The boiler suit was dropped, and I changed into a more palatable collared shirt and white pants.
 
I arrived at the party and found the ‘very important people’ to be a drastic understatement. I was in the presence of Australian oligarchy. Without objection, a collection of powerful, influential, and wealthy people worth connecting with.
 
This painting depicts what could have occurred if that pink boiler suit was worn to that party. While exaggerated, the result would have been disrespectful to the hosts, embarrassing to my girlfriend, and an impression that was nothing deeper than a novelty to the people attending the party.