Drift

By Beth Mitchell $3,500

Medium: Photographic print on archival cotton rag framed in anti-reflection glass

Size: 60cm by 140cm

General Information: Edition 1/5

DESCRIPTION


About the Artist

Bio

Beth Mitchell currently resides and practices between Brisbane and Melbourne, having devoted many years to developing her unique approach to underwater digital photography. Her work invites viewers into surreal, immersive aquatic worlds, where female figures exist in states of suspension and movement.

Among various collections, Mitchell was awarded the Brisbane Portrait Prize in 2021 for her self-portrait No Land in Sight, receiving a $50,000 acquisitive award. In 2022, her film The Holocene was commissioned by Brisbane City Council and is now part of their permanent outdoor digital collection.

Currently, Mitchell has entered a period of creative exploration to deepen her engagement with various experimental underwater techniques. Her latest work examines the presence of the body in vast, shifting waterscapes, where the human form is both cradled and estranged. Other works push the boundaries of digital photography, merging fine art aesthetics with contemporary photographic approaches to movement, texture, and abstraction.

Prizes

2025

The Mono Awards - "Water Desert" Highly Commended

2021                    

Brisbane Portrait Prize - “No Land in Sight” $50,000 Acquisition (winner) 

2020                    

Mono Awards Australia - Lumina” (honourable mention) 

Australia Top Emerging Photographer - (honourable mention) 

2019                    

Brisbane Portrait Prize - Ascension" (category winner “Music + Performing Arts” $7,000)              

Beautiful Bizarre International Photographic Art Prize -“Ariadne" (third place) 

Australian Photography Awards - “Out of the black into the blue” (honourable mention) 

 Rotary Art Spectacular Brisbane, “The Dome” (curators choice)

2018                    

Capture Magazine Emerging Photographer of the Year - “The Dome” series (winner) 

2015                    

RAW National Photographer of the Year Awards (winner) 

Heritage Bank Photographic Award (runner up)          

Heritage Bank Bruce Mckenzie Award “Vesuvius” (winner) 

2014                    

NB Art Prize - “Vesuvius” (honourable mention) 

2013                    

Lethbridge 10000 Art Prize, “Alice” (category winner “creativity”) 

 

Collections

2022                    

Brisbane City Council Digital Art Collection Film Acquisition - “The Holocene”             

Brisbane City Council Art Acquisition - Cinemagraph (3) “Crown”, “Embryo” + “Origin”  

2020                    

Gadens Art Collection Acquisition - “Embers” 

2019                    

Aria Development Art Acquisition “The Drapery” (“Arafura” + “Imaginarium” series) 

  

Solo Exhibitions

2023

"Into the Ocean" - Manyung Gallery, Victoria

2022                    

“Watertight” - Penny Contemporary, Hobart 

"No Land in Sight" - Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

2021                     

"Firewater” - Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane  

2020                    

“Force of Femininity” - Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane  

2018                    

The Dome” - Manyung Gallery, Sorrento Victoria  

2017                    

“The Dome” - Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane  

2016                    

“Arafura” - Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane  

2014                    

“The Imaginarium” - Retrospect Galleries, Byron Bay  

“The Imaginarium” - C Gallery, Brisbane 

2012                    

“Whimsical” - Tosari Galleries, Toowoomba 

 

Finalist

2021                    

Beautiful Bizarre International Photographic Art Prize - Amphitrite

2020                    

Brisbane Portrait Prize -” Embers

Beautiful Bizarre International Photographic Art Prize -“Evergreen"

Clayton Utz Art Award - Lumina”

2019                    

Clayton Utz Art Award - “Equipoise”

Lethbridge 20000 - “Out of the black into the blue”

2018                   

Clayton Utz Art Award - “The Dome”

2017                    

Clayton Utz Art Award - “Madrigalia” “Sonetto” “Ariadne” “Renaissance”

2016                    

Clayton Utz Art Award - “Arafura” 

2015                    

Clayton Utz Art Award - “Ivory Rose”

2012                    

Macquarie Photography Prize                  

Muswellbrook Photographic Award - “Alice”

Group Exhibitions

2022                    

“Botanica” - Outdoor Exhibition, Brisbane City Council -

The Holocene” multiple location                    

“Interconnected” - Beautiful Bizarre Show, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW                 

380co - Beth Mitchell + Josh Dyykgraaf, Collingwood Victoria               

380co - Affordable Art Fair Sydney  

2021                    

“Springfinity” - Brisbane City Council Vitrine Installation, Edward & Queen St, Brisbane                

“Springfinity” - Brisbane City Council, Lightbox works (7) King George Square      

Downlands Art Exhibition, Toowoomba, QLD 

2020                    

"Artists Down Under” - Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, California 

2018                   

Manyung Galleries - Singapore Affordable Art Fair 

2017                    

Heritage Bank Art Prize - University of Queensland, Toowoomba 

2016                    

“She” - Manyung Galleries Melbourne, Victoria 

2015                     

“Works on Paper” - Manyung Galleries Melbourne, Victoria 

2014                    

Queensland Festival of Photography - Tosari Galleries, Toowoomba                    

Grammar Art Show - Toowoomba                   

Retrospect Galleries Affordable Art Fairs 

2013                     

“See Me” - Digital Art Exhibition, New York                     

“Keeping Youth” - Retrospect Galleries, Byron Bay 

Grammar Art Show - Feature Artist, Toowoomba 

Heritage Bank Art Award - Brisbane Performing Arts Centre 

Retrospect Gallery Artists International Affordable Art Fairs 

2012                    

“Strutten Collective” - Bleeding Heart Gallery, Brisbane 

Muswellbrook Art Prize Exhibition, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery, NSW 

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