Kendal Gear Self-portrait

Kendal Gear’s painting comes from a recent series of self-portraits for which she has chosen various interior spaces to reflect on the different areas of her life.

‘My self-portraits reference some of the ways that women are valued in society,’ she says. ‘The setting of the kitchen and the ornaments on the windowsill were used to denote themes of domesticity, femininity, sexualisation and maternity. From leftover remnants of long-gone stereotypes, to attitudes within sections of contemporary popular culture, I’ve noticed how some ideals and gender biases have unconsciously permeated my identity and self-worth up to now.’

Born in Perth in 1990, Gear studied Fine Art at Curtin University. She has been a finalist in the 2018 Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize, the 2018 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, and the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture in 2016, 2017 and 2018. This is her first time in the Archibald Prize.