Abstracted Inverted Face - Davida Allen (Australian, b. 1949) | Contemporary Australian Art

🎨 Artist: Davida Allen (Australian, b. 1949)
📋 Title: 'Abstracted Inverted Face'
🇦🇺 Origin: Australia
📅 Period: Contemporary (Late 20th/21st Century)
🎭 Style: Contemporary Figurative/Abstract
👤 Subject: Inverted Face
📍 Location: Artemisia Fine Arts & Antiques Ltd, Malta

Abstracted Inverted Face - Davida Allen

A striking contemporary work titled 'Abstracted Inverted Face' by Australian artist Davida Allen (b. 1949), demonstrating her bold approach to figurative abstraction and psychological portraiture. This compelling piece challenges conventional representation through its inverted orientation and abstracted treatment, creating a work that is both visually arresting and conceptually engaging. ✨

The inversion of the face creates immediate visual disruption, forcing viewers to reconsider familiar forms and engage with the work in new ways.

Davida Allen - Contemporary Australian Artist

Davida Allen (born 1949) is a significant figure in contemporary Australian art, known for her distinctive approach to portraiture and figurative work. As a living artist with a career spanning over four decades, Allen has developed a mature and recognizable voice within Australian contemporary practice. Her work has been exhibited widely and collected by major Australian institutions. 🎨

Artists of Allen's generation came of age during the flourishing of Australian contemporary art in the 1970s-80s, developing practices that engaged with international contemporary discourse while maintaining distinctively Australian perspectives.

The Inverted Face - Disruption & Perception

The inverted face represents a powerful artistic strategy—turning familiar forms upside down to defamiliarize them, challenge automatic perception, and force fresh engagement with the subject. Inverted faces appear strange and unsettling, as our brains are highly specialized for recognizing upright faces. This disruption creates psychological tension and visual interest, making the ordinary extraordinary through simple reorientation. 👤

Artists have long used inversion as a tool for seeing anew, from Baselitz's upside-down figures to contemporary explorations of perception and representation.

Abstracted Portraiture

The combination of abstraction with portraiture creates fascinating tension between recognition and dissolution, representation and non-representation. Abstracted faces suggest human presence while refusing complete legibility, creating works that hover between figuration and abstraction. This approach allows artists to explore psychological and emotional dimensions of portraiture while maintaining formal freedom and expressive power. 💫

Contemporary Australian Art

Australian contemporary art has gained significant international recognition, with artists creating work that engages with global contemporary discourse while often maintaining connections to Australian landscape, light, and cultural identity. The Australian art scene has produced distinctive voices across painting, sculpture, installation, and new media, with strong institutional support and vibrant commercial galleries. 🇦🇺

Artistic Merit & Contemporary Vision

This work demonstrates Allen's confident handling of figurative abstraction, her willingness to challenge conventional representation, her understanding of how formal strategies create psychological effects, and her mature artistic vision developed over decades of practice. The piece rewards both immediate viewing—the visual impact of the inverted face—and extended contemplation of its conceptual dimensions. 💎

Collecting Living Australian Artists

Works by established living Australian artists like Davida Allen offer the satisfaction of supporting contemporary practice while acquiring pieces by artists with significant exhibition histories and institutional recognition. Allen's long career (born 1949) means decades of artistic development and accumulated experience, bringing maturity and confidence to her work.

Australian contemporary art has demonstrated strong market performance, particularly works by artists with established reputations and institutional validation. 🏛️

Psychological Portraiture

Allen's approach to the face goes beyond traditional portraiture to explore psychological and perceptual dimensions—how we see, recognize, and respond to human features. The abstraction and inversion create works that are as much about the act of seeing as about what is seen, engaging viewers in active interpretation rather than passive recognition.

Investment & Market

Works by established Australian contemporary artists with significant exhibition histories appeal to collectors of Australian art, contemporary portraiture, and those interested in psychological and conceptual approaches to figuration. Allen's work represents serious contemporary practice with institutional validation and market recognition.

Flexible payment plans are available to make collecting more accessible.

Display & Appreciation

Ideal for collectors of Australian contemporary art, abstracted portraiture, or works that challenge conventional representation. The piece brings bold contemporary vision into interior spaces, offering both visual impact and conceptual depth. The inverted orientation creates immediate visual interest and conversation, making it a compelling focal point. 🖼️

Particularly appealing to those who appreciate contemporary approaches to the human figure, psychological portraiture, or Australian art with international contemporary relevance.

A bold contemporary work by an established Australian artist, perfect for collectors of Australian art, abstracted portraiture, or those seeking works that challenge perception and engage with contemporary figurative practice.

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