Stretched out on a candy red and white pinstriped banana lounge, Tropical Blend tanning oil glistens upon your skin. No beach in sight, sand fails to find its way into unlikely parts and you’ve steered clear of Nippers mums armed with cooler bags of snacks and cordial. Your gin and tonic fizzes next to the ash tray fixed to a yellowed plastic side table. You lie there and ponder ‘I may not even swim after all’. You’re poolside and everything is just perfect.
Eliza Gosse is an alumna of the National Art School, Sydney, graduating a Master of Fine Art in 2019. A multiple award recipient, she has won the National Art School and Parkers Sydney Fine Art Award (2019); the William Fletcher Grant for Emerging Artists (2018); the John Olsen Drawing Prize, National Art School (2017); the People’s Choice Award, Waverley Art Prize (2017); and the People’s Choice Award, Chippendale World Art Residency (2017). Gosse has also been a Finalist in the Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales (2020); Mosman Art Prize (2020, 2017); Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize (2020, 2019, 2018); Waverley Woollahra Art Prize (2019, 2018); Little Things Art Prize (2018, 2017); and the Lloyd Rees Memorial Art Award (2017). Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Australia, and is held in public art collections such as the National Art School (NAS) Sydney, and the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Image: A Red Sunny Boy Dripped Into The Pool’ 2021 oil on canvas 152 x 122 cm