Unveiling spotlights a recently completed portrait commission or figurative work from some of the best and most active members of the Portrait Society of America. This month, Kim Azzarito, Assistant Director of the Portrait Society, interviewed Jaq Grantford about her self-portrait, 2020, that won The Darling Prize.

Unveiling

Jaq Grantford: 2020

By Kim Azzarito

Recently, Australian artist Jaq Grantford won The Darling Prize, a national prize for Australian portrait painting, for her self-portrait, 2020, which was completed during the Covid-19 lockdown. The painting depicts the artist with a direct gaze, her hands covering her mouth, and a dishevelled bun of hair with several paintbrushes sticking out at all ends. The work, Grantford recalls, was a reflection on her time spent during the pandemic.

“In Melbourne, we had the longest lockdown in the world, totalling 262 days over six separate lockdowns,” Grantford explains. “We had curfews and travel restrictions preventing us from going further than 5 kilometers from our home. For me, the pandemic has been a time of mixed feelings. There’s fear and concern for the safety of others, and uncertainty about seeing my daughter and mother when the borders closed. And then in contrast, there was a guilty relief that the chaos of life could simply stop. That I could enter the studio and create.” 2020, oil on canvas, 39½ x 33½"According to Grantford, the hands across her mouth in the painting represent the masks that have become a part of our everyday lives. “But it’s a mask that also expresses shock and fright about the pandemic,” she explains. “The paintbrushes represent me as the artist, finding time in my studio. I do often put paintbrushes in my hair and behind my ear when working, so I don’t lose them in the mess of materials on my side table.” But now, Grantford says, that is no longer possible. “Shortly after finishing this painting, I was diagnosed with cancer and lost all my hair. Although it has since started to grow back, I feel some level of disconnect from the woman with a full head of hair in this portrait.” Currently, Grantford is working on another self-portrait showing herself one month after finishing chemotherapy. “I’ve always felt the need to document aspects of my life through art,” she says. “It’s rather confronting to paint myself bald and sick. But I think it’s good to share, especially as cancer is so common now and affects many people.”

In addition to her fine art practice, Grantford has written and illustrated numerous children’s books. As a young child, she was inspired to become an artist after visiting the great European museums with her family. “Michelangelo became my hero, and I was amazed by his art,” she recalls. “It became clear in my mind that I wanted to be an artist.” Grantford’s work is held in private and public collections around the world, including the MEAM European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain; Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, and many other collections. —