by Lex Tan
Acrylic Ink on Paper
90 x 70cm
I am a queer non binary artist working at Studio A whose pronouns are They / Them. I draw portraits of people as their celebrity characters. It is sometimes a challenge to identify people as their celebrity characters but I like to take the challenge. I look at their image and that makes me think of who I can identify them as.
This series was inspired by a visit to Liberty’s Sydney office where I was invited it meet their staff. I started with a series of sketches of the staff. The staff member that I first drew reminded me of Bruce Willis from Die Hard #1 and inspired my first portrait.
I later met another staff member named Neg and she reminded me of the celebrity Gal Gadot. She looked exactly like Gal Gadot when I looked at her face, and her image and her outfits reminded me of what Gal Gadot wears. All the pictures I drew of her inspired my dream of Neg becoming Gal Gadot. It was great to see Neg again (…as the new Gal Gadot!) when she came in to volunteer at Studio A. I was shocked and surprised to see her. We had a photo together, which was amazing! It feels great drawing her. I hope to see her again.