The Artist Space Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the fifth Portrait online Art Exhibition. Along with the selected artists, the jury selected award winners in the following art categories: painting, drawing and photography. The show displayed a variety of artistic styles and mediums: oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, photography, collage. Out of all submissions received 55 artworks were selected to be included in the exhibition.
Best of Show
Alana knuff
Short Biography and Statement
My work focuses on 'the moment' - an event, a personality revealed, a memory recalled. I work from life and my photos. My style of painting falls between impressionism and realism. At age eight I won second place in a national art contest. My art career began in 2008. I studied portraiture at the Florence Academy of Art; with a scholarship at The Scottsdale Art Academy; and in a workshop taught by Michael Shane Neal. My paintings have received awards and have hung in exhibits. The American Society of Marine Artists honored me with Signature status. The Art Renewal Center honored me with ARC Associate Living Master. And in 2024, I received membership into Salmagundi Club of NYC and in 2026 became an elected associate member of the American Artist Professional League.
Painting Prize
Dr. Georgina Macken
Short Biography and Statement
Dr. Georgina Macken states:"The eyes of a human trigger many concurrent senses and so my portraits enable me to enjoy the power of the eyes without needing to turn away and close mine." Unexplored dreams and visions radiate from their innocent faces, encompassing the layered experience of being human. Through a dazzling visual syntax, her sensorial portraits encapsulate divergent visions in a luminous renaissance style. Symbolically expressing the human heart through her figures, she adroitly re-contextualizes a parallax vision of the intricacies between the mind and soul to radiate the powerful energy of life. A gorgeous spontaneity reverberates in her oeuvre, as each picture creates colourful aura of consciousness. Ultimately, each image is an experience unto itself, allowing the audience to step through the doorway of the picture and enter the world of the subject, expressed as colours and light. Bio: Dr. Georgina Macken is an internationally recognised, award-winning portrait painter. Her fascination with the soul behind ones eyes, led Georgina to pursue a Doctorate of Cognitive and Developmental Psychology in New York City. She now resides in her homeland Australia, by the sea, on the Central Coast. In the past Georgina worked as an Art Director in advertising agencies in Australia and the UK. She then went on to live in New York City where she painted portraits using mixed media and had a far more abstracted style. Georgina was also a professional music DJ at numerous clubs and hotels, as well as art directing fashion shows and music videos. She has been painting and illustrating most of her life and has had numerous solo and group shows in Sydney, London and New York.
Drawing Prize
Stacey Barge
Short Biography and Statement
My art is an extension of me. I strive to create pieces that will take you to a moment in time and will bring you the emotion contained within that brief period. I am a coloured pencil artist and photographer based in Calgary, Canada. I reside with my husband, two goldens and two cats. When I’m not creating you can find me exploring the mountains and backcountry of our amazing country.
Photography Prize
Susanne Middelberg
Short Biography and Statement
Susanne Middelberg is a German photographer known for her powerful and emotionally rich portraits, which explore themes of vulnerability and human complexity. After initially studying modern dance at the Higher School for Arts in Arnhem, she transitioned into photography, graduating in 1998 from the Academy for Visual Arts. Middelberg has since established a career as a freelance photographer, specializing in portrait and theater-dance photography. Her work often captures the dualities within people—strength and fragility—and she believes that showing vulnerability in her subjects fosters connection and understanding. Middelberg's photographic style is described as "intense, honest, and picturesque," and she is particularly inspired by the human condition. Her approach focuses on revealing the layers of personality in her subjects, aiming to touch viewers through this emotional depth. She has received numerous awards for her work, including prizes from The Canon Master, the Monochrome Awards and the Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris. In addition to her portraits, Middelberg has been commissioned for various projects, including work for theater. She has exhibited her work in galleries across the Netherlands and internationally, including in New York and Boston. Her projects have earned her a solid reputation in the photography world, winning accolades like the MUSE Photography Awards for her "Daylight" series, where she emphasized natural light and raw emotion to portray her subjects.
Winners