Latest news with #Spirovski
Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Finger-painting of Australian virtuoso musician wins Archibald People's Choice
Sitting in the audience hearing yidaki (didgeridoo) virtuoso William Barton perform with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last October, Manila-born artist Loribelle Spirovski was so moved she began to sob. She felt compelled to meet Barton, but was too shy, so pianist husband Simon Tedeschi provided the introductions. A month out from the deadline for the Archibald Prize, sitter and subject finally came together for a joyful portrait which won Spirovski the 2025 Archibald Prize People's Choice award on Thursday. Unknown to Barton, Spirovski had been suffering a hand injury – a form of repetitive strain aggravated by scoliosis which the artist attributes to long hours spent bent over painting. 'Earlier this year was very rough,' she said. 'I genuinely had a moment where I thought I was going to quit being a full-time artist and maybe do a psychology degree because I was getting all these signals like, 'You know what, maybe, I should stop this and do something more practical.' Loading Then came a eureka moment – the artist ditched the brush to paint her final composition with fingers and gloves. Accepting the $5000 prize, Spirovski said she had worried she might not do justice to someone like Barton, who had the 'dignity of an ambassador and the modesty of a boy'. 'I can never thank you enough for this, Will. This portrait came when I needed it most.' Spirovski was inspired to throw her paintbrush away while playing the musician's renowned composition, Birdsong at Dusk, as background music. 'As the music began, my hand set the brush aside, and I dipped my finger into the soft, pliant paint. I turned the volume up, the music guiding me,' she recounted in her artist statement. 'Without a brush, painting was almost painless. As the portrait painted itself, I felt alive in a way I hadn't for a very long time.'
7NEWS
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Loribelle Spirovski's finger painting of Indigenous composer and didgeridoo player William Barton voted Archibald prize people's choice
Winning the Archibald Prize People's Choice award is hard enough, but doing it with a painting method you've never tried before adds another level of achievement. Loribelle Spirovski was forced to abandon the paint brush and take matters into her own hands to develop Thursday's winning portrait of Indigenous composer and didgeridoo player William Barton. Suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome, causing nerve pain in her extremities, she became inspired to drop the brush and try the simpler method of finger-painting to soothe her strained hands as Barton's music played in her studio. 'As soon as I heard his voice come out, artists talk about feeling possessed, feeling taken over by something intangible,' Spirovski said. 'I physically threw the brush away ... it was the most fun I've ever had painting.' A seven-time entrant into the Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portrait competition, Spirovski's work topped the People's Choice vote. More than 40,000 people voted, the highest ever tally in the 37-year history of the award. 'I physically threw the brush away ... it was the most fun I've ever had painting.' A seven-time entrant into the Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portrait competition, Spirovski's work topped the People's Choice vote. More than 40,000 people voted, the highest ever tally in the 37-year history of the award. Her abstract winner comes as a surprise in a category where photorealistic portraits of well-known celebrities often attract more fans. 'It was so heartening for me that the Australian public would go for something a little more challenging if it's emotionally captivating,' she said. News of the win came at a busy time for didgeridoo virtuoso Barton, who was finishing a European tour with the Australian Youth Orchestra, but he still found time to share his musical talent at the presentation. 'It's about that feeling I want to give people each and every day through the power of music,' he told AAP. Spirovski takes home $5000 for winning the People's Choice award and says she hopes to be back in the running at next year's exhibition. 'If I find the right person, the right circumstances are there, and they feel energetic and interesting, absolutely,' she said. The finalists in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW until August 17 before touring regional galleries. The $100,000 Archibald Prize went to four-time finalist Julie Fragar whose portrait of fellow artist Justene Williams depicts the artist floating among the stars above the materials of making art, her daughter looking on. Abdul Abdullah meanwhile snatched the $3000 Packing Room Prize with a fantastical snapshot of mate Jason Phu atop a loose-tongued horse and surrounded by rainbow-coloured birds.
Perth Now
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Artist goes from nerve pain to people's champ
Winning the Archibald Prize People's Choice award is hard enough, but doing it with a painting method you've never tried before adds another level of achievement. Loribelle Spirovski was forced to abandon the paint brush and take matters into her own hands to develop Thursday's winning portrait of Indigenous composer and didgeridoo player William Barton. Suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome, causing nerve pain in her extremities, she became inspired to drop the brush and try the simpler method of finger-painting to soothe her strained hands as Barton's music played in her studio. "As soon as I heard his voice come out, artists talk about feeling possessed, feeling taken over by something intangible," Spirovski told AAP. "I physically threw the brush away ... it was the most fun I've ever had painting." A seven-time entrant into the Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portrait competition, Spirovski's work topped the People's Choice vote. More than 40,000 people voted, the highest ever tally in the 37-year history of the award. Her abstract winner comes as a surprise in a category where photorealistic portraits of well-known celebrities often attract more fans. "It was so heartening for me that the Australian public would go for something a little more challenging if it's emotionally captivating," she said. News of the win came at a busy time for didgeridoo virtuoso Barton, who was finishing a European tour with the Australian Youth Orchestra, but he still found time to share his musical talent at the presentation. "It's about that feeling I want to give people each and every day through the power of music," he told AAP. Spirovski takes home $5000 for winning the People's Choice award and says she hopes to be back in the running at next year's exhibition. "If I find the right person, the right circumstances are there, and they feel energetic and interesting, absolutely," she said. The finalists in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW until August 17 before touring regional galleries. The $100,000 Archibald Prize went to four-time finalist Julie Fragar whose portrait of fellow artist Justene Williams depicts the artist floating among the stars above the materials of making art, her daughter looking on. Abdul Abdullah meanwhile snatched the $3000 Packing Room Prize with a fantastical snapshot of mate Jason Phu atop a loose-tongued horse and surrounded by rainbow-coloured birds.
9 News
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- 9 News
Artist painted Archibald-winning portrait with fingers after nerve injury
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Renowned artist Loribelle Spirovski has won the 2025 Archibald Prize People's Choice award for a portrait made entirely by finger painting. Phillippines-born Spirovksi's oil-on-canvas portrait of Indigenous didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton was selected after 40,842 visitors to the Art Gallery of NSW voted during the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2025 exhibition. Spirovski is a four-time Archibald Prize finalist and sat down to paint Barton, a Kalkadunga man and acclaimed composer, while recovering from a nerve injury. Archibald Prize ANZ People's Choice Award 2025 winner, finger painting of William Barton. (Supplied) She said painting him using her fingers instead of a brush made her feel "alive in a way I hadn't for a very long time". "When it came time to work on William's portrait, I played his composition Birdsong at dusk . As the music began, my hand set the brush aside and I dipped my finger into the soft, pliant paint," she said. "I turned the volume up, the music guiding me. Without a brush, painting was almost painless." The two first crossed paths in October last year during a concert featuring Barton and Spirovski's partner, concert pianist Simon Tedeschi. Spirovski said she was immediately taken with Barton's presence and was "certain" she would paint him. "I am infinitely grateful to William for allowing me to paint him and so humbled by everyone's responses to the work," Spirovski added. Artist Loribelle Spirovski posing with her award-winning portrait. (Instagram/@loribellespirovski) "It has been a difficult few years and this whole experience is the most beautiful reprieve and reward." Spirovski is the ninth woman to win the People's Choice Award since its inception in 1988. A mostly self-taught artist, Spirovki was also a finalist in the 2017 Archibald Prize for her painting John Bell at home , in 2018 for Villains always get the best lines and in 2019 for Meg and Amos (and Art). "Congratulations to Loribelle Spirovski for her well-deserved win and for her magnetic portrait of William Barton, rendered with expressive paint strokes and lit by Barton's radiant smile," said Art Gallery of NSW director Maud Paige. The finalists in Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2025 will be exhibited at the Art Gallery until August 17. arts Australia national New South Wales CONTACT US
Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Finger painting of Australian virtuoso musician wins Archibald People's Choice
In the last four years, Manilla-born artist Loribelle Spirovski had come close to giving up on painting while nursing a debilitating injury that sends pins and needles into her hands and makes holding a brush difficult and painful. On Thursday, Spirovski was named winner of the 2025 Archibald Prize People's Choice award with a joyful portrait of yidaki (didgeridoo) virtuoso William Barton, painted entirely with gloved fingers and hands. Director Maud Page said the portrait was painted under incredible duress and with resilience which captured the energy and spirit of Barton. Spirovski said when she first met Barton she was too shy to ask him to sit for her and worried she might not be able to do his talent justice. 'I can never thank you enough Will.' Barton sang and played his yidaki in celebration. Spirovski had been inspired to throw her paintbrush away when she worked on Barton's portrait in her studio and played the musician's renowned composition, Birdsong at Dusk, as background music. Spirovski had first asked Barton to sit for her after a concert last October at the Sydney Opera House featuring both Barton and Spirovski's husband, concert pianist Simon Tedeschi. 'As the music began, my hand set the brush aside, and I dipped my finger into the soft, pliant paint. I turned the volume up, the music guiding me,' she recounted. 'Without a brush, painting was almost painless. As the portrait painted itself, I felt alive in a way I hadn't for a very long time.' Spirovski's tactile portrait was the clear favourite of 40,842 people who visited the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2025 exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. This is the highest total number of votes ever received since the $5000 prize was first awarded in 1988.
