MacKay (b.1991) is an Australian/New Zealand artist based in Fremantle (Walyalup), Western Australia. As a 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. During high school, MacKay received formal training at Claremont School of Art, where she studied atelier methods in Classical Realism under the mentorship of Richard Te Kuaha Merito. This emphasis on painting technique led to MacKay’s affinity for large-scale photorealism and hyperrealism portraiture painting. Overwhelmed by the dizzying intellectualism of the conceptual art world, these ultra technical styles allowed MacKay to do what she loved most; to lose herself in the act of painting. Meters in dimension, these flagship works would take a year or more to complete, becoming a devotional practice. 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 but devoid of intrigue and meaning, MacKay grew determined to bring these styles - what had become her entire practice - into more conceptual territory. To embark on this, MacKay navigated her learning differences via a rigorous two-year-long neurological plasticity ‘Arrowsmith’ training course, arming herself with the capacity to undertake a BA of Fine Arts at Curtin University, as a mature age student.

MacKay’s university studies allowed her to reflect on the time consuming nature of photorealism and hyperrealism painting; how this considerable allocation of labour, as a metric of value, often dictates a photo-real/hyperreal painter’s inclination to seek out ‘high value’ source imagery; to justify the thousands of hours spent. MacKay posited this notion of commensurate values as responsible for photorealism and hyperrealism’s homogenised aesthetic and perception as conceptually limited. In response, MacKay’s practice turned in on itself to interrogate the question; what constitutes an image worth painting? This has seen MacKay steer her technical proficiency towards ‘low value’ source imagery, specifically early digital photography of the mid-to-late 2000s Facebook era, typified by users who would upload and ‘tag’ their friends in swathes of un-curated jpegs, repurposing photos of people into a new kind of social communications utility. By re-contextualising these disposable low-value images into highly detailed and time consuming paintings, MacKay draws attention to their archival value; an era of low digital literacy that speaks to something authentic and unretrievable.

Continuing to draw from photorealism and hyperrealism, styles birthed from and reliant on analogue and digital photography, while also blending formalist aspects of Classical Realism, 17th century Dutch Golden Age painters and 18th century Neo-Impressionists, MacKay’s practice has grown to index step-changes in image making and sharing technologies. From the advent of early digital photography and its collision with user-driven social networks, to rapid advances in AI image generating software, MacKay’s works seek to examine and reflect on how these technology epochs shift our means of attributing value - or more specifically meaning - to images, in both problematising and affirming ways.

Image credit: Jess Miller

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)