Esther Shohet artistic works are whimsical and cluttered!
Some might say Esther is revolutionary and goes against the grain in painting landscapes that are not depicted in their pristine, natural beauty but instead are comfortingly cluttered with objects of meaning, making them into historical documents of the depicted place.
Esther has created these historic portraits with her own children’s primary school Molesworth primary and later with their high school Dominic College.
Originally from Brisbane, Esther initially studied fashion design before jetting off to London, later she relocated to Paris for four years to study her real love, art. Then she was on the move again, this time for ten years in Japan, garnering great success and awards with her art before deciding to return to Australia to raise her children, but not her home state of Brisbane which she deemed too ‘big’, instead heading south to Tasmania which she has now called home for 16 years.
Recently, Esther was invited by Hobart’s St Mary’s College to create one of her historical paintings to celebrate this year’s 150th anniversary of the College..
I spoke to Esther recently and she informed me on how she went about creating the St Mary’s College portrait. First there was the initial meeting with the school to discover what aspects of the school’s history are important to those that attend and work there. To build on this Esther chose to take some time walking around the school during the holidays to pick up on any extra aspects and attributes she thought worthy of inclusion.
You can view Esther’s completed portrait above and see and read about more of Esther’s work here https://www.esthershohet.com.au/
Paula Xiberras
