The Bridesmaid and The Platypus

Originally from a rural background and constantly surrounded by animals, I have always been intrigued by the response creatures have when they observe the bizarre lives of humans.

I was reminded of this intrigue after a recent dream. I was underwater and a platypus swam up to me and looked me in the eyes with a sense of concern. There was a moment of beauty in our awareness of each other. In this painting I tried to capture the essence of this moment.

I believe we learn a lot about ourselves by observing the behaviour of other creatures, I wonder if they do the same?

*This work was a finalist in the 2018 Kennedy Art Prize

Year created: 2018

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Ross Morgan is a fine artist and illustrator from Adelaide, South Australia. From an early age growing up in the mid–north of South Australia, Ross enjoyed exploring the rural environment filled with creatures, abandoned structures, and objects of yesteryear. He also practiced drawing, painting, and arts and crafts projects encouraged by his mother at the kitchen table. These early experiences have been key in establishing his life-long interest in drawing and painting.

He completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the University of South Australia in 2000. Since then he has been exhibiting in numerous solo and group exhibitions, art prizes and running an independent studio practice. Some of Ross's major awards include being selected as a semi-finalist in Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2014. A three-time finalist in the Kennedy Art Prize 2017, 2018 and 2021 and Winner of the John Shaw Neilson Acquisitive Art Prize 2015.

Ross is fascinated with the visual narrative, and loves developing characters, stories, and environments. As an exhibiting fine artist he often explores his drawings and paintings as a collective series or sequence, giving the viewer an experience of storytelling through pictures. Many of these conceptual and personal artworks have featured in an ever-growing series of solo exhibitions. As an illustrator, Ross has completed several commercial commission projects for films, corporate events, and international art collectors.

The love of the visual narrative lead Ross on the path of wanting to create illustrated books. In 2019 he won the 'Raising Literacy Australia’s Emerging Author and Illustrator Mentoring Project'. Through this initiative he completed his first illustrated book ‘Molly Moores has a House Like Yours’ written by Kaliah Tsakalidis and published by Little Book Press in 2020.  In 2021 he was shortlisted for the SCBWI Australian Picture Book Illustrator Award as Emerging Illustrator and has since been contracted to illustrate a number of books for some of Australia's leading picture book publishers.

Currently Ross is working on a number of new picture book projects as both author and illustrator, and continues to create personal and conceptual artworks adding to his ongoing narrative painting collections.