The Space Between Us, 2025

‘The Space Between Us’ explores the quiet loneliness that can exist in the heart of a crowd. In a world built for connection, many of us move like astronauts – present but sealed off, strangers to one another. Rendered entirely by hand in layered airbrushed acrylic, the painting mirrors that same tension between presence and distance: an image that appears photographic, yet is meticulously painted, one translucent layer at a time. The figure’s isolation is physical, but also emotional – a reflection of how easily we can become untethered from each other, even side by side.

Todd Simpson is a contemporary realist artist based in Melbourne whose paintings have been exhibited nationally. He has been a finalist in numerous Australian and New Zealand Art awards for his work including the Glover Prize (2025 People’s Choice Winner), Lethbridge Landscape Prize (2025 Highly Commended) Darling Portrait Prize, Black Swan Portrait Prize, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award (2018 People’s Choice Winner), Bluethumb Art Prize (2020 People’s Choice Award) and the Adam Portraiture Award (2020 Highly Commended Award).