Simon Roots Biography
Simon Roots is an emerging Queensland artist working and residing in Brisbane. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2006. As part of his degree, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia during 2004. As well as devoting much of his time to his art practice, Roots has since gone on to teach art at the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE. He has been selected as a finalist in several national art awards including 2008 LAUNCH Clayton Utz Travelling Art Scholarship, the 2008 Heysen Prize for Interpretation of Place, and has four times been a selected finalist in the Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition. In 2006 he won first prize in the St Joseph’s Nudgee College Art Festival.
Artist Statement
Roots’ recent works focus on the exploration of the figure in the urban landscape, and the relationships people have with their physical and psychological environment. He has a keen interest in observing contemporary society and how the internal human landscape is manifested in the external world. He feels that figurative imagery provides a powerful hook of recognition which appeals to our basic sense of identity and belonging. His painterly works are also an investigation into the visual impact and interpretation of paint as much as it they are about the content of the image. “I like to explore the themes that help us construct our version of reality and how varied these ideas can be. The viewer has an opportunity to interpret and apply their own narratives to the subject of the artworks”.
Education
2008 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment Brisbane North Institute of TAFE
2006 Bachelor of Fine Arts Queensland College of Art
2003 Public Art Short Course Bremer TAFE /Artworkers Alliance
2003 Diploma of Visual Arts (Painting). Brisbane Institute of TAFE
2002 Certificate IV in Visual Arts Brisbane Institute of TAFE
Professional Development
2010 Art Teacher – from 2007- ongoing – Brisbane North Institute of TAFE
2010 Artist’s Assistant for Jenny Watson – from 2007 – ongoing
2009 Judge, Bentley Art Prize 2009, Lismore NSW
2007 Artist’s Assistant for David Forbes – Public Art/ Art Built in Policy, 2004, 2007
Awards
2010 Moreton Bay Region Art Awards – Selected Finalist
2009 Crows Nest Regional Art Gallery Acquisitive Painting Prize, Selected Finalist
2009 Artworkers Award, Selected Finalist
2008 Launch, Clayton Utz Travelling Scholarship, Selected Finalist
2008 Heysen Prize for Interpretation of Place, Selected Finalist, The Hahndorf Academy
2006 Griffith Award for Academic Excellence 2006, Queensland College of Art
2007 the churchie – National Emerging Art Exhibition – Selected Finalist
2006 Winner First Prize – St Joseph’s Art Festival, St Joseph’s Nudgee Boy’s College, Brisbane
2006 Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition – Selected Finalist
2005 Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition – Selected Finalist
2004 Scholarship Grant, Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2003 Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition – Selected Finalist
2003 Award – Eckersleys Art Supplies, Encouragement Award for Achievement in Art
2002 Award – Artistcare / Rapid Graphics, Encouragement Award – Achievement in Art, Brisbane Institute of TAFE
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2010 Quotidian Unquote – Solo Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim at Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2008 Private Lives – Solo Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim at Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2007 Disparate Measures – Solo Exhibition, The Art Factory Gallery, Brisbane
Group Exhibitions
2010 Pathways to collecting – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Ord Minnett Gallery, Gold Coast
2010 Inanimate – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2010 The Curious Collector – Group Exhibition, Project Gallery, QCA, Brisbane
2010 TAFE Staff Show – Fire Lane Gallery, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Red Hill
2010 Art on Level 7 – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Ord Minnett Gallery, Gold Coast
2009 The Fourth Estate – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2009 Innocence Captured – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2009 TAFE Staff Show – Fire Lane Gallery, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Red Hill
2008 If you can’t stand the Heat… – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2008 TAFE Staff Show – BITS Gallery, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Eagle Farm
2008 22 of the Best – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim + Nyst Gallery, Gold Coast
2008 Official Opening – Group Exhibition, Arthouse Gallery, West End
2007 TAFE Staff Show – BITS Gallery, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Eagle Farm
2007 Reverentia – Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim at DEKA, Brisbane
2007 Here We Come – QCA Honours Students 2007, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
2006 Graffith 2 – Street Art Group Exhibition, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
2005 Chimaera – QCA Fine Art Graduate Exhibition – Qld. College of Art, Brisbane
2004 Pedestrians No More, Group Exhibition, The Art Factory Gallery, Brisbane
2004 Contemporary Artworks, Group Exhibition, The Art Factory Gallery, Brisbane
2004 St Joseph’s Art Festival, St Joseph’s Nudgee Boy’s College, Brisbane
2003 St Joseph’s Art Festival, St Joseph’s Nudgee Boy’s College, Brisbane
Collections
Mater Health Services Collection, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Queensland
Professor John McMillan – Commonwealth Ombudsman, Canberra, ACT?Nyst Lawyers, Queensland
Ausdance, Queensland
Private Collections – New Zealand, United States of America, throughout Australia
Bibliography
The Sunday Mail, May 2010
The Australian, November 2009
Gold Coast Bulletin, November 2009
Gold Coast Bulletin, March 2008
The Sunday Mail, February 2008