Glass Ceilings

This painting is part of the series ‘Wonderwomen’ in which I depict women in physically strong and courageous acts to visually communicate our incredible abilities. The rush and exhilaration of flying through the air at great heights, combined with an edge of fear and vulnerability, creates an air of tension with the unknown darkness beyond. Reaching for the intangible and seemingly impossible, pushing through adversities, we often find that our limitations are pushed and we are propelled past them to new and greater things - It is the thrill of this feeling that my paintings hope to give a sense of.
This painting has just returned from being on exhibit for the past 12 months in the Clayton UTZ Art Award in Brisbane,

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Colleen Stapleton is a contemporary realist artist whose work focuses on the figure, portraiture & still life. She has been a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award, Darling Portrait Prize, Shirley Hannan, Percival, SBS, Lethbridge 20000, Kennedy Art Prize, International Art Renewal Centre Salon & received the Highly Commended Award in the KAAF Prize. Career highlights include winning the 2018 A.M.E Bale Painting prize, Florence Academy of Art Scholarship, and the JAAS Brett Whiteley Scholarship. She has exhibited in group shows nationally and has studied in workshops at the Repin Academy (St Petersburg), Florence Academy of Art, Realist Academy of Art (Toronto), and with Stephen Early from Studio Incamminati. She also has a Bachelor of Fine Art from Griffith University and a Diploma of Art from Julian Ashton Art School.With a passion for figurative oil painting, she paints to try to depict the beauty and complexity of life, objects and scenes.