Lewis Miller Small self-portrait

Lewis Miller won the Archibald Prize in 1998 with a huge portrait of painter and friend Allan Mitelman.

‘Allan talked me into doing that one very large,’ says Miller. This time he has entered a small picture, encouraged by the fact that last year’s Archibald Prize was won by a diminutive painting.

Miller has had several self-portraits in the Archibald Prize in the past, including a large, full-length figure and a nude.

Miller works regularly with copper, both for his etchings and paintings. He first painted on copper around about 15 years ago. ‘It’s a good way of reusing etching plates once the plate has been editioned, and I like the surface,’ he says.

This self-portrait is now in the collection of Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW.