39 (self portrait)
Anne Smerdon
- Sitter: Self Portrait
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 42cm x 42cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
- Categories: Female artist
About the artwork
Painted completely from life, Anne Smerdon captured this self portrait in her studio from a mirror. It is not a flattering likeness. It is an honest one.
During this time, Smerdon was experiencing personal difficulties. Watching her father navigate dementia, she witnessed him trying to join together what is real and what is imagined into one coherent narrative. “I found myself similarly fractured, pulled in too many directions to hold a single, coherent shape.” She painted what she saw: a face approaching middle age, gravity taking hold, the pace of life speeding up and mourning the loss of youthfulness yet acknowledging that there are more important things in life. “I am told it is not how others see me. But it is how I see myself.”
About the artist
Anne Smerdon is a Brisbane born, NSW-based early career artist. Trained in architectural design at the University of Queensland and has studied with various mentors including Michelle Tully from Studio Escalier in France and Mina Mohtasham from Lyme academy in the USA. She was a contestant on the ABC’s Portrait Artist of the Year in 2025 and has been a finalist in Australian art prizes, including the Portia Geach Memorial Award and Wollumbin Art Prize.
