Del Barton

‘Archibald Porch Thoughts’

For as long as Del Kathryn Barton can remember, all she wanted to be when she grew up was as an artist. Her healthy childhood obsession with drawing became her focus and by following her intuition and passion, now at 40 years-of-age, Del is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading figurative painters.

In 1993, Del graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales and currently lives and works in Sydney where she is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. In 2008, Del was awarded Australia’s oldest and most prestigious art awards – The Archibald Prize, for a self-portrait with her two children and was a finalist in 2007 and 2011. In March this year, her portrait of actor Hugo Weaving saw her win her second Archibald.

With a major solo show coming up in October, Del was happy to put her brushes down and welcomed me on to her studio Porch to tell me more about her artistic celebration ahead of her first ever trip to the Mornington Peninsula.Del will be part of a discussion group and presentation when the four week Archibald Prize exhibition is unveiled exclusively in Victoria at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery from 8 June.

What are you currently working on for your solo show in October?

I am working on eight major paintings for that show. The content of the paintings are beasty women decorated with roots and leaves.

Where does your inspiration come from for such themes?

I don’t really have a starting point in terms of inspiration, there is always a lot turning over and I always have recurring themes throughout my practice. Sometimes there is clarity on why I am using a particular content, but I mostly work in an intuitive way.

Do you just sit down and try to come up with figurative themes for an upcoming exhibition?

I think if I had the luxury of more productivity there might be more beginning points and end points because the work takes a long time. Often ideas are flowing over a number of years and intuitively informing the next body of work. There aren’t really radical shifts in the practice. My work mainly deals with the figure and the female figure.

Being a figurative painter as such, why do enjoy portraiture work?

It’s not the core of my practice but I feel portraiture is at the heart of figurative art genre. Portraiture is a celebration of our shared human experience. For me, entering in a prize like in the Archibald for example, it gives me an excuse to prioritise on that kind of work.

How do you go about deciding on people you want to paint in portraits such as Hugo Weaving?

There are two main criteria. Firstly, I paint people who I love and know very well and secondly people who I admire greatly. Hugo was not someone who I had met before. I am very passionate about film and I’m huge fan of Hugo’s work both onscreen and on the stage. I wanted to celebrate him because I had a sense that the work he chooses is from a sensitive and informed place and I resonated with that.

Did he know you were planning to submit his portrait for the Archibald Prize?

To take some of the pressure off I approached him about doing a portrait project. In my mind the intention was to enter the Archibald with it, but in saying that, there is always the possibility that you’re not happy with it or it doesn’t work. The idea of the Archibald wasn’t discussed from the beginning but it was work I ended up feeling happy about and that sort of emerged along the way.

Was he easy to work with?

Hugo was such a delight to work with and I felt the project flowed. It turned out that his partner is an artist and his daughter is studying art so he came into the studio very knowledgeable about art and I wasn’t expecting that. He was very sensitive to the dynamics of the studio and very respectful towards that.

What did Hugo say when he heard the news?

It truly was an unexpected win. He was really thrilled for me.

You will be part of an evening conversation session alongside two other Archibald finalists Heidi Yardley and Sarah Hendy on June 14. The discussions will be moderated by portraiture expert Dr Vivien Gaston. What do you hope artists will draw from your personal and professional experiences that you will speak about?

More than anything I would hope artists will walk away feeling inspired. It’s a hard road being an artist and my personal truth is that you always come back to the energy of the work and that is what ultimately sustains you, the joy of making work.

What is your Porch Thought for The Day?

“My favourite artist, Louise Bourgeois quoted, ‘art is a guaranty of sanity.’”