2021 Dean Cogle Portrait Prize
Stoked and humbled to be chosen as an exhibiting Finalist in this years Dean Cogle Portrait Prize. A prize close to my heart. Thanks so much to the panel for the opportunity to showcase this piece, a piece I, and the team who helped me create it, are extremely proud of. This piece is a portrait of the beautiful human that is Julie Tengdahl.
Julie is a Brisbane woman who has contributed greatly to the Brisbane culture over the past 30 years and I want you to know a little about her and her story so we can celebrate her and women everywhere .
Image Title - Self, 2020
Standing here, Julie Tengdahl shows her Self as she sees the women she has been dressing for more than three decades.
When stripped bare, every woman is grounded by primal elements that make her at once brave and vulnerable .
To Julie, being industrious and looking luminous is no paradox… women reveal their authentic, shining beauty when their unique essence is bared and celebrated as pure grace, pure joy, pure integrity .
From her boutique in the iconic Brisbane Arcade, Julie has been in service to the women of Brisbane since 1988, hand cutting patterns for bespoke garments made from ethically-sourced fabrics printed with her own designs .
Her commitment to the creative process begins and ends with a deep honouring of the earth, every decision guided by her ethos of Ahimsa .
At the core of Tengdahl’s endurance in the Brisbane fashion scene is her faith in a woman’s power to strip away what no longer serves her in order to present her most glorious Self .
'Self'
