“Contemporary portraiture is about engaging, studying and reflecting the psyche and internal narrative of people. This is why my portraits are cropped; to move towards abstraction and ‘mapping’ as a device to focus on interpreting my subject’s ‘interior’.
Such abstraction helps me dispense with the inclusion of literal context, and instead allows me to use ‘veils’, layers, light, flows and patterning around and across the face to convey my personal response to the subject. The simplicity, austerity and constraint imposed by working this way allows me to continually reassess my approach, take risks and evolve.”
Peteris Ciemitis is a practicing visual artist and urban designer. Trained at the Claremont School of Art, he has held solo, and participated in many group exhibitions in Latvia, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. His work revolves around portraiture and figurative representation, has received numerous awards including the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, and has been a finalist twice in the Archibald Prize.
Collections
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Valmiera Museum of Art, Latvia
Ballarat Grammar School, Victoria, Australia
City of Swan, Western Australia
City of South Perth, Western Australia
Pilbara Development Commission, Western Australia
Dampier Port Authority, Western Australia
John Hyde MLA, Western Australia
Bollig Architects, Western Australia
BDK Accountants, Western Australia
Lester Group Pty Ltd, Western Australia
various private collections, WA, NSW and UK
Awards and Commendations
Finalist – Black Swan Portraiture Prize 2011, Perth, WA 2011
Winner – Black Swan Portraiture Prize 2010, Perth, WA 2010
Finalist – Black Swan Portraiture Prize 2009, Perth, WA 2009
Winner – Rapids Landing Portraiture Prize, Leeuwin Estate, WA 2009
First Prize – City of Swan Art Award 2008
Winner – Contemporary Work, Cossack Art Awards 2008
Highly Commended – Black Swan Portraiture Prize, Perth, WA, 2008
Finalist – Archibald Portrait Prize – Gallery of NSW 2008
Finalist – Prospect Portrait Prize, Adelaide, SA 2007
Winner -Category Prize, City of Melville Art Awards 2007
Winner – Category Prize, Cossack Art Awards 2007
Finalist – Archibald Portrait Prize – Gallery of NSW 2007
Winner – First Prize, City of South Perth Art Awards 2006
Winner – Vincent Award, Town of Vincent Art Awards 2006
Winner – Third Prize, Capel Art Awards 2006
Winner – Third Prize, Cambridge Art Awards 2006
Commended – Melville Art Awards 2005
Winner – Russell Taylor Award for Design Excellence 1999
Solo Exhibitions
2010 “Disquiet”, Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Western Australia
2010 “Es and Id”, Depot II Gallery, Waterloo, Sydney, New South Wales
2008 “Indigo”, Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Western Australia
2006 “Eye to Eye”, Gallery at Aylesburys, Inglewood, Western Australia
2006 ‘Interface’, Ellis House, Bayswater, Western Australia
1993 Solo, Lumiere Cinemas, Perth, Western Australia
1993 “Ciemitis, McCabe, Rosierre”, Arthouse Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
Juried or Invited Exhibitions
2011 Cossack Art Prize (invited artists), Cossack, Western Australia
2011 Soroptimist Art Exhibition, The Bakery Gallery, Bayswater,
Western Australia
2010 City of Swan Collection (Retrospective), City of Swan Art Gallery, Midland,
Western Australia
2010 Cossack Art Prize (invited artist), Cossack, Western Australia
2009 “Displacement and Belonging”, Moores Building, Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia
2009 Bunbury Biennale, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Western Australia
2009 Cossack Art Prize (invited artist), Cossack, Western Australia
2007 Black Swan Portraiture Prize, inaugural exhibition, Perth Town Hall, Western Australia
Group Exhibitions
2011 “Black Swan Portraiture Prize”, Perth Town Hall, Western Australia
2011 Mt Lawley Art Auction, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
2011 Perth College Art Auction, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
2010 “AL53KD”, Brightspace Gallery, St Kilda, Victoria
2010 Mt Lawley Art Auction, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
2010 “Black Swan Portraiture Prize”, Perth Town Hall, Western Australia
2010 “Erotica”, Gallery@28, Woollahra, Sydney, New South Wales
2010 Group exhibition, Latvia House, Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales
2009 “Diaspora Returns”, Peters Church, Riga, Latvia
2009 Mt Lawley Art Auction, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
2009 Group Exhibition, Kurb Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
2008 “AL52KD”, Latvia House, Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales
2008 “Diaspora Returns”, Valmiera Museum of Art, Latvia
2008 Mt Lawley Art Auction, Mt Lawley, Western Australia
2008 Archibald Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, New South Wales
2007 ‘Arts 100’, MLC Collegians Art Exhibition, Western Australia
2007 ‘Encore’, Accent Gallery, Dalkeith, Western Australia
2007 ‘Painting the Town’, Perth Town Hall, Western Australia
2007 Archibald Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, New South Wales
2005 Morley Portrait Painters Group Exhibition, Ellis House,
Bayswater, Western Australia
2003 group exhibition, Hawthorn Gallery, Mt Hawthorn, Western Australia
2002 group exhibition, Hawthorn Gallery, Mt Hawthorn, Western Australia
2002 ‘Mixed Emotions’, Acorn Gallery, Inglewood, Western Australia
1995 ‘Five Mile Radius’, Acorn Gallery, Inglewood, Western Australia
1994 group exhibition, Venus Gallery, Highgate, Western Australia