ANNA MOULD Finalist in the Archibald Prize 2024

June 5, 2025

Anna Mould has been selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2024 for her work ‘Complicit’.

The artist’s subject is Joan Ross, a Scottish-born Australian artist whose practice examines the ongoing effects of colonisation in Australia. On her finalist work, Mould says: “Joan is a friend and mentor of mine, and a supporter of emerging Australian artists. Drawing on our shared ideas, Complicit is a portrait of privilege. Joan appears as a queen, swathed in robes, shimmering with the hi-vis yellow hue that recurs throughout her own work. Surrounded by bejewelled symbols of power, she wears the Crown of Scotland and reaches for the Sovereign’s Orb, which symbolises the Christian world and, by extension, the British monarch’s dominion. A golden outline of Australia is embroidered on the globe.

The painting references neoclassical representations of Queen Victoria and contemporary photographic portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II, as well as elements of Joan’s work, which frequently borrows from 19th-century colonial art. The application of watery paint seeks to undermine the sense of power and strength usually projected by royal and aristocratic portraits, and challenges illusions of divine and infallible authority.”

Anna is a first-time Archibald finalist and the recipient of the 2023 DMG/NAS Award with her first solo exhibition Soft Focus featured at Dominik Mersch Gallery earlier this year.

The Archibald Prize exhibition will open at the Art Gallery of NSW on 8th June 2024 with the winner announced on 7th June at 12pm.

Read more.

Image caption: Anna Mould, ‘Complicit’, synthetic polymer paint, embroidery thread, rosewater on canvas, 255 x 164 cm






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