{"id":45941,"date":"2026-06-12T12:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T02:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/?post_type=article&p=45941"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T02:42:12","slug":"an-mlc-school-family-connection-at-the-archibald-prize","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/article\/an-mlc-school-family-connection-at-the-archibald-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"An MLC School Family Connection at the Archibald Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

The portrait of Gemma Chua-Tran<\/strong>, the daughter of MLC School Old Girl Ai-keen Chua <\/strong>(1990) is a finalist in the Archibald Prize exhibition, <\/span>which runs now until 18 August, <\/strong>at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Gemma Chua-Tran is an actor whose career took flight when she was cast as Sasha So in Netflix\u2019s popular series Heartbreak High<\/em>. She is also celebrated for her expressive fashion choices, but in the portrait is shown wearing her mother’s old MLC School uniform.<\/p>\n

\u2018I first met Gemma through mutual friends around seven years ago. In 2021, she briefly studied at the National Art School when I was in my second year. Following Heartbreak High<\/em>, she became a familiar face at fashion and arts events, and I asked if she would sit for me,\u2019 says Camille Olsen-Ormandy, a Sydney artist and first-time Archibald finalist.<\/p>\n

\u2018When it comes to my creative practice, I play with themes of the \u201ccharacter\u201d, treating each portrait like a persona. However, since Gemma is already an actor, I wanted to separate her from the characters she plays. She chose to wear her mother\u2019s old school uniform. Adorned with glasses and a fresh face, it was a very pared-back look compared to her bold fashionable statements online and on television.<\/p>\n

\u2018The oversized, handheld silver mirror has become a symbol in my work for vanity and femininity, redefining the way mirrors have been used in the Western canon to portray women as vain.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The portrait of Gemma Chua-Tran, the daughter of MLC School Old Girl Ai-keen Chua (1990) is a finalist in the Archibald Prize exhibition, which runs now until 18 August, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gemma Chua-Tran is an actor whose career took flight when she was cast as Sasha So in Netflix\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":45944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[9],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-45941","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-news-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/45941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=45941"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=45941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}