Archibald Entry 2010: I decided to ‘have a go’ and join the circus with a portrait of LGBTIQ politician John Hyde. Interesting man
The Audition by Carl Gopalkrishnan. A portrait of John Hyde MP 2010
The last 2 months I had a very interesting experience working with a politician in Western Australia, MLA John Hyde, the opposition minister for Arts and Heritage and Multiculturalism in Western Australia. In a series of meetings, I asked him questions about his past life before politics (he used to be an actor in the US for a while, journalist, mayor, small business-owner), his interests and inspirations.
The goal was twofold. I was able to ask those questions in the setting of Parliament House WA, his electoral office and over lunch; and explore the chanson de geste.
The result is this painting of John (pictured), which is still working within a lens of the chanson de geste. John worked as an actor in New Orleans in the 90s, and this made me remember the American actor Edwin Booth, whose brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. Ironically, while I was exploring this by writing to Charleston actor Rodney Lee Rogers of Pure Theatre who had written and directed a one-man play about Edwin Booth (The Tragedian), Mr Hyde-met a great-great-grandson of JW Booth at the American Embassy the same week in Perth.
That was very coincidental and strange, and again, a reminder of the hidden process behind art and painting that rationalists everywhere would simply not understand. When asked his favourite characted in Julius Caesar, Mr Hyde replied - Cassius; and you will see I used text from Cassius in the walled background. The photo below is a study of both a speach by Cassius in the play and the government logo for Western Australia which Mr Hyde represents. A line of milk bottles appeared in a play on words, an ode to Harvey Milk, a role model for John, an openly gay member of Parliament.
[8/01/2015 Update] John Hyde is now Deputy Director of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD)
