Mirra Whale is a painter – a still life painter. She is also a sessional teacher at the National Art School. And, recently, she became a new mum. This alone can be a juggle for any professional artist. However, Whale has another string to her bow. For many years, she has been Studio Assistant to the celebrated Australian artist Ben Quilty.
I would describe my job as an artist assistant as an extra set of hands, skills and labour that allows an artist to accomplish their works. It’s like building the skeleton and skin of an artwork ready for the artist to adorn… that skeleton could be constructing a painting stretcher or it could be preparing an etching plate ready for line incision and acid, or creating a mould to cast multiples for sculptural works… the list could go on and on.
