A non-partisan portrait collection

Fourteen women.
Fourteen firsts.

A visual archive of women who entered spaces where women had never been before.

The collection is non-partisan. What unites these women is not party, ideology or chronology, but the institutional threshold each one crossed — and the presence required to occupy that space under public scrutiny.

Trailblazing Women: 14 portraits from modern Australian politics
Exclusive Industry Preview See upcoming preview dates & RSVP

Featured Exhibition Preview

Richard Randall Art Studio

An advance showing of the 14 portraits prior to premier institutional presentation.

Venue

Richard Randall Art Studio
Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, Brisbane QLD

Opening Night Reception

Thursday 12 November 2026 · 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Exhibition Dates & Daily Hours

Thursday 12 – Sunday 15 November 2026
9:00 am – 4:00 pm daily

Curatorial & Touring Inquiries

This preview provides an advance showing for institutional curators and gallery directors considering hosting the premier exhibition or exploring regional touring via NETS. The 14-portrait collection is supported by a complete exhibition infrastructure including curated hanging sequences, digital visitor guides, and adaptable learning resources.

Preview Attendance & RSVP

Register for Opening Night (Thursday 12 Nov, 5:30–7:30 pm), or request a personal tour with the artist and choose a day and time.

The exhibition

Not a political
timeline.
A human one.

"For me, for my generation, it was a time to pause, to acknowledge a milestone of magnitude in our history... It won't be the same for the next woman. Tough, yes ... but not as tough. There is nothing like being the first."

— The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

The collection strips away the transient visual language of political campaigns and focuses instead on presence — the resilience, stoicism and determination required to enter previously intensely male-dominated spaces and claim leadership roles within a ruthless political environment under immense media pressure.

Hung together, arranged by colour, the works form a spectrum of modern history. Each portrait is monochromatic, each uses a single professional pigment, and each responds differently to the same deliberately irregular physical foundation.

14Portraits
14Institutional milestones
1Shared thread: the first
1Pigment per portrait
4Tonal structure
∞Ways pigment can settle

The women · in hanging order

01 · The Verdant Earth Triad

Stability, tradition, intellect.

Grounding green earth and complex forest blues that pool into immovable, heavy shadows. A physical reflection of the sharp analytical intellect and steadfast parliamentary tradition required to stabilize the highest institutional chambers.

Portrait of The Hon. Julia Gillard AC, painted in Bloodstone Genuine

Anchor

The Hon. Julia Gillard AC

Bloodstone Genuine

First Female Prime Minister.

Formed from crushed heliotrope, this pigment settles with the immovable weight of ancient stone. It serves as the ultimate metaphor for her tenure, capturing the unyielding fortitude required to anchor the nation. Weathering intense public scrutiny, she etched permanent, structural changes and pushed major reforms through a turbulent parliament.

Look closer

02 · The Deep Oceanic Triad

Resolve, focus, steel

Dense mineral blues and fused slate greys that settle into the canvas with raw, crystalline clarity. A material metaphor for military-forged resilience, sharp diplomatic focus, and the unvarnished resolve to disrupt the establishment.

03 · The Iron Oxide Triad

Heat, endurance, stone.

Volatile synthetic rusts and crushed ancient minerals that scorch, harden, and grip. Iron and stone exposed to immense pressure—capturing the fierce heat of populism, elite athletic stamina, and the bedrock endurance of national leadership.

Portrait of The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, painted in Shadow Violet

Anchor

The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

Shadow Violet

First Female Governor-General.

A pigment with a split personality that mirrors her leadership. Smoky, resolute violets grip the shadows to represent the formal weight of the Crown, while warm orange-browns bleed into the raised paper like weathered light, capturing the approachable warmth and deeply accessible humanity, she brought to the role.

Look closer

04 · The Mineral Violet Triad

Momentum, unity, contrast.

Complex pinks and violets that physically split into distinct, contrasting hues on the canvas. This chemical friction captures the explosive momentum of Australia's first female Premier, the balancing act of leading a third-party movement, and the power of gathering diverse, pioneering identities into a formidable, unified whole.

The artist

Paquita Fadden

The vision

A Gold Coast watercolourist. This collection honours the battles her generation fought — and the women who broke the mould in the most male-dominated arena of public life.

Permissions & Image Credits

All original portraits painted from reference photographs licensed via Newspix, editorial permissions, or Creative Commons. Detailed source attributions are listed on each individual portrait page.