Sinead Davies The Irish immigrant – portrait of Claire Dunne OAM

Sinead Davies has painted fellow Irish-born Australian Claire Dunne OAM, who Davies describes as ‘a gifted thespian and author, with success in film, TV and radio, including several written works on the writings of Carl Jung’.

Davies was introduced to Dunne after Dunne’s brother emailed her, saying he thought his sister deserved to be painted for the Archibald. ‘And I agreed.’

The portrait was painted over a year, with two major sitting periods. ‘I fought to portray Claire’s intelligence and intensity,’ Davies says. ‘Exploring colour harmonies and settling with the combination of purple, gold and green, I also took inspiration from Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro’s Edo-period women and paid homage to Utagawa Hiroshige’s Green bird sitting on a camellia after discovering Claire had experienced and admired Japan.’

Davies was born in Wexford, Ireland, and moved to Australia in 1983. She studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art, London, and has a Master of Arts from the University of New South Wales. This is her third time as an Archibald Prize finalist.