25 October – 15 December
First awarded in 1965, the Portia Geach Memorial Award was established by Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister, artist Portia Geach. As per the direction of the will, the Award is annually presented to an Australian female artist for the best portrait painted from life of a man or woman distinguished in art, letters or the sciences. Geach was widely acclaimed as a leading artist and was a frequent commentator in the national media – making her an iconic figure in the Australian arts community. The $30,000 non-acquisitive Portia Geach Memorial Award is given by Perpetual as trustee, to the entry with the highest artistic merit.
A list of 58 finalists from across the nation have been selected for the country’s most distinguished portrait prize for female artists, the Portia Geach Memorial Award.
FINALISTS
MARGARET ACKLAND 45 Years (self-portrait) watercolour on paper 90 x 90cm
SALLY ANDERSON Self and still life (shared garden, future nurture) acrylic on polycotton 183 x 198cm
REBECCA ARMSTRONG Portrait of Caroline (Caroline Bowditch, performer, creator, educator and advocate) oil on canvas 81 x 81cm
JESSICA ASHTON Wendy Sharpe (Wendy Sharpe, artist) oil on linen 102 x 66cm
ELIZABETH BARDEN Hugh (Hugh Stewart, photographer) oil on linen 45.5 x 40.5cm
DEIRDRE BEAN Rembrandt and Trevor (I can hear you) (Dr Trevor Weekes, artist) oil on linen 61 x 82cm
JO BERTINI Feeling light (on being blind – Dad) (David AK Ferguson, AO) oil on French polyester canvas 107 x 76cm
KATE BEYNON Shapeshifters (Supernatural Self & Fam Spirits) (self-portrait) acrylic on wood 30 x 30 cm
SHARON BILLINGE Celeste 2 (Celeste Chandler, artist) oil on board 20 x 13cm
YVONNE BOAG Kim Spooner (Kim Spooner, artist) acrylic on canvas 88 x 75cm
JOANNA BRAITHWAITE Clever Lipstick – portrait of Jacqueline Fahey (Jacqueline Fahey, artist) oil on canvas 137 x 122cm
CYNTHIA BREUSCH The Artist and Her Cat (Self-Portrait) acrylic & pastel on poly-cotton 91.4 x 91.4cm
ANN CAPE Susan in her studio – portrait of Susan Rothwell FRAIA oil on linen 122 x 102cm
JULIA CICCARONE In conversation with myself 2023 (self-portrait) oil on linen 81 x 81cm
MARY CLIFTON Looking for John (John Watkins AM, former NSW MP, Deputy Chair of Parkinson’s NSW Board) oil on canvas 101.6 x 76.2cm
RACHEL COAD Tracing Australia’s Fashion Narrative (Nel Minchin, writer and director, The Way We Wore, ABC TV) oil on linen 210 x 167cm
SINEAD DAVIES Impression-Delineation (self-portrait) oil on canvas 30 x 30cm
YVONNE EAST After the fall (self-portrait) oil on linen 25.5 x 25.5cm
NICOLETTE EISDELL Campbell (Campbell Robertson-Swann, artist and gallerist) oil on mounted wood panel 51 x 41cm
ESTHER ERLICH Custodian (Suzanne Hampel OA, academic mentor, Monash University; member, National Archives of Australia Advisory Council; co-president, Melbourne Holocaust Museum) acrylic paint on canvas 137 x 92cm
STAFFORD GAFFNEY A Room of One’s Own (Nikki Gemmell, writer) oil on linen 60 x 152cm
STEPHANIE GALLOWAY BROWN Sally Robinson (Sally Robinson, artist) oil on canvas 101.5 x 122cm
BABY GUERRILLA Life with Cuok-Cuok (self-portrait) oil paint on wood 141 x 67cm
JANE GUTHLEBEN The Female Artist (self-portrait) oil on marine ply 40 x 20cm
TSERING HANNAFORD Libby with Peonies (Libby Litchfield, farmer & garden restorer, Hazeldean Homestead, Cooma) oil on Belgian linen 90 x 70cm
SOPHIA HEWSON Untitled (self-portrait) oil on board 80 x 58cm
POLLY IFOULD Gina Chick (Gina Chick, author, TV presenter and Alone Australia winner) oil on canvas 61 x 46cm
POLLYXENIA JOANNOU The Melancholic Irishman (John Reddin, entrepreneur) oil on canvas 138 x 138cm
LINDA JUDGE Portrait of the artist as my mother (self-portrait) acrylic and water based spray paint 168 x 71.5cm
KIM LEUTWYLER Imagined futures, gender congruence (self-portrait) oil on canvas 76 x 62cm
ROSY LLOYD Elizabeth (Dr Elizabeth Woodcock, founder, director and lead psychologist, The Selective Mutism Clinic, Sydney.) oil on canvas 76 x 101cm
KATHRIN LONGHURST Imminent Threat (Midori Goto, artist) mixed media on linen 121 x 121cm
ALISON MACKAY Self-portrait – screwed up oil on shellac on paper (4 panels) 48 x 120cm
ALI MARSHALL Self-portrait With Birdie’s Chair oil on canvas 120 x 90cm
BRIDGETTE MCNAB Self-portrait in St Moritz acrylic on polycotton 89 x 67cm
HEATHER MILLER Self-portrait at 32 oil on clayboard 61 x 46cm
FRANKIE MORGAN Queen of Overthinking (self-portrait) acrylic on canvas 72 x 55cm
ELIZABETH NELSON Self-portrait oil on canvas 84 x 72cm
FIONA O’BYRNE Chloe (Chloe Hooper, writer) oil on linen 40 x 30cm
SUSAN O’DOHERTY Nerissa Lea – The Night Painter (Nerissa Lea, artist) acrylic on canvas 182 x 122cm
LORI PENSINI The Conversation #3 (self-portrait) oil on raw linen 52 x 80cm
ROBYN RICH Silent Tears (self-portrait) oil on timber panel 19.5 x 23.2cm
RACHAEL ROBB Self-portrait with Otto Dix postcard and bottled water oil on board 41 x 31cm
JENNY RODGERSON Mum’s purple cardigan (self-portrait) oil on linen 76 x 60cm
JENNIFER ROSNELL Anne and Shane in their round house (Anne Tenney and Shane Withington, actors and activists) oil on board 80 x 50cm
LYNN SAVERY Bad Ass Bitches (Eloise de Silva and Charles Wong) oil on canvas 81 x 137cm
ANNE SMERDON Self portrait with Schiele and Vonnegut oil on canvas 100 x 75cm
LORIBELLE SPIROVSKI Motherhood (self-portrait) oil on canvas 180 x 130cm
LIZ STUTE Melbourne’s old rattler (self-portrait) oil on canvas 102 x 76cm
VICKI SULLIVAN Ronni (Ronni Kahn, Oz Harvest founder) oil on linen 90 x 70cm
JILL TALBOT Empty Nesters (David Lindsay & Jill Talbot) oil and acrylic on birch ply 62 x 73cm
PAMELA TIPPETT Still here, still painting (self-portrait) oil on panel 45 x 30cm
MEZ TRUSKETT Maximalist (Maryanne Coutts, artist) acrylic 150 x 100cm
DEBORAH WALKER At The Studio (self-portrait) oil on Belgian linen 90 x 120cm
NAOMI WHITE A cuppa tea with Lucy, Roscoe, Cheezel, and Mayday (Lucy Culliton, artist) oil on board 100 x 140cm
VANESSA WRIGHT Knitting Nanna, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Morley) oil and acrylic on linen 150 x 120cm
ZUZA ZOCHOWSKI Self Portrait in Studio 2023 oil on linen 36 x 27cm
MICHELLE ZUCCOLO Inherent possibilities – David Palliser (David Palliser, artist) oil on Italian canvas 80 x 70cm