Tessa MacKay (b.1991) is an Australian/New Zealand artist based in Fremantle (Walyalup), Western Australia. As a young person with dyslexia and non-attentive ADHD, MacKay’s early academic difficulties led her to painting as a refuge; to centre and express herself non-verbally. Later in life, MacKay developed an affinity for large-scale photorealism and hyperrealism portraiture painting. Overwhelmed by the dizzying intellectualism of the conceptual art world, these ultra technical works - often meters in length and requiring a year or more to complete - allowed MacKay to lose herself in the act of painting, taking on a devotional commitment. Over a five year period, MacKay honed a high proficiency in photorealism and hyperrealism, which culminated with her winning the 2019 Archibald “Packing Room Prize”, and a 2022 Retrospective exhibit.

Yet, increasingly aware of the capital ‘A’ art world’s dismissal of photorealism and hyperrealism as technical flourishes devoid of intrigue and meaning, MacKay grew determined to bring these styles - what had become her entire practice - into more conceptual territory. MacKay’s return to university as a mature age student engendered a critical reflection on the origins of photorealism and hyperrealism; adjoining styles birthed from and reliant on photography. Since its infancy, photo/hyperrealistic painting has courted criticism; prioritising slavish copying over originality whereby the artist’s hand is “subordinate to a laborious system for translating data.” British writer, curator and artist, David Campany, has remarked that “Photorealism is both an expansion and a collapse of painting”, in part due to its reliance on technology.

In this spirit, MacKay grew wary of her admittedly unconscious tendency to seek out “high value” photographic source imagery as the basis for her paintings, as if only these “worthy” images could justify the ungodly hours it takes to render the immense detail demanded by photorealism and hyperrealism styles. In response to this metric of labour and its often homogenised aesthetic, MacKay has gradually turned her practice in on itself to interrogate; what constitutes an image worth painting?

In an open-ended and on-going exploration of this question, MacKay’s painting practice has expanded, now blending photorealism with formalist elements from Classical Realism, 17th-century Dutch Golden Age painters, and 18th-century Neo Impressionists to transpose “low value” digital images. Via this renewed technical  approach and complete inversion towards source imagery, MacKay’s works have evolved to index step-changes in digital image making and sharing technologies, highlighting their influence on the role of painters and societal perceptions of value in images, in both problematising and affirming ways.

Image credit: Kristie Rowe

AWARDS

2024 Highly Commended, Mandorla (WA)

2021 ABC iview, Most Popular Archibald Portrait in 100 Years (online poll)

2019 Packing Room Prize, Archibald (NSW)

2018 Peoples Choice, Percival (QLD)

2015 Emerging Artist, Cossack (WA)

2014 People's Choice, Sunshine Coast National Art Prize (QLD)

RESIDENCIES

2025 Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Quick Response Residency (WA)

2022 The Mark, Artist in Residence, The State Buildings (WA)

PUBLIC | PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

2024 John Curtin Gallery (Curtin University), “Lords of WIN_2011_study.jpg” (WA)

2024 Creasy Collection (WA)

2023 M Burton (WA)

2022 West Australian Ballet, bequeathed by A&J Burt (WA)

2019 K&C Burton (WA)

PRESS | PUBLICATIONS

2024 About Face, Amber Creswell, Thames & Hudson (UK, AUS)

2024 Mandorla Artist Talk, alongside Ross Potter, Sam Bloor, Sarah Elson and Erin Coates, Holmes à Court Gallery (WA)

2022 The Mark, Artist talk alongside Katie West and Annika Kristensen, The State Buildings (WA)

2022 The Mark, Artist talk alongside Ali Bodycoat, The State Buildings (WA)

2022 Retrospective, Sheila Foundation Artist Talk, PS Art Space (WA)

2022 Art & Soul, Sunday Times Magazine, Ben O’Shea (WA)

2020 At Home With Tessa MacKay, Emma Pegrum, Fabric Quarterly (online publication)

2019 Late Night Conversations, Artist Talk alongside Jude Rae and Zan Rowe, Art Gallery of New South Wales (NSW)

2017 The Archibald First Strokes, Arts documentary series alongside Nicholas Harding, Yvette Coppersmith, Nick Stathopoulos, George Gittoes, Tim Storrier, Jason Phu and Wendy Sharpe, Mint Pictures (NSW)