Tsering Hannaford Self-portrait

This is Tsering Hannaford’s fourth time in the Archibald Prize. Born in 1987 in Adelaide, where she lives and works, she is a largely self-taught artist though she has taken classes and intensive short courses in Australia, France and the US.

‘I am interested in the history of self-portraiture, particularly women’s self-portraits and the tension that arises when artist is both painter and subject,’ she says.

‘I have always drawn or painted self-portraits during times of self-reflection, and also as a way to practise skills or a chance to experiment compositionally. I find painting a meditative and methodical process, and with a self-portrait I can quietly shut myself away in the studio for a few days to paint and think uninterrupted. Normally, I paint under an angled natural light but I used a bright front-facing artificial light for this piece, which brought new challenges in representation of form.’