Natasha Bieniek Rachel Griffiths

Natasha Bieniek’s subject is acclaimed actor and director Rachel Griffiths AM.

‘When you google Rachel Griffiths, you’re automatically hit with a lot of glamorous, red-carpet-type images. It’s the public Rachel; the celebrity and actor recognised for her iconic roles. What I want to achieve in my portrait is very different,’ says Bieniek.

‘My painting is about Rachel in her home. It reflects an intimate moment, something that is unfamiliar to the public eye. She doesn’t play a character or put on a facade. She is unmasked and herself.

‘I painted Rachel just weeks after giving birth to my second child. It was a beautiful, intense and deeply strenuous time. Those sentiments have inevitably contributed to the complexity of my painting. It’s intricate and emotive, but I hope it reflects her in an honest and real way.’

Bieniek was born in Melbourne in 1984. She has been an Archibald finalist on six previous occasions and won the Wynne Prize in 2015. Her highly commended 2016 portrait of Wendy Whiteley is included in the Archie 100 exhibition.

This year, Griffiths celebrates 100 years of the Archibald Prize as the host of a three-part ABC documentary series Finding the Archibald.