Elizabeth Barden is an Australian contemporary figurative artist.

Barden’s work is included in public and private collections worldwide.

Career highlights include being represented in the permanent collection of the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, with the portrait of Indigenous performer Christine Anu – ‘Waiting For Zipporah’.

‘Waiting for Zipporah’ has been featured in many Gallery educational programs and publications, and toured nationally in ‘Bare’, a curated show presenting states of undress in portraiture.

Exhibiting highlights include two solo exhibitions in a public gallery, and group shows –nationally and internationally.

Elizabeth Barden has been a multiple times finalist in many prestigious exhibitions including the Portia Geach Memorial Art Prize, the Lester Prize, the Salon de Refuses of The Archibald Prize, the Lethbridge Art Award, The Gallipoli Art Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize – in which she was also awarded 'People's Choice', The Kennedy Art Prize, the Brisbane Portrait Prize, the Darling Portrait Prize, and was an award recipient in the 107th Allied Artist of America Annual Juried International Exhibition.

Elizabeth was a founding member of Portrait Artists Australia, is a member of international exhibiting group PoetsArtists, and is an 'Associate Living Master' - Art Renewal Centre, USA.

I regard myself as a storyteller.

Through my paintings I can tell visual stories of people, to highlight uniqueness and strengths as we seek ways to understand ourselves, and our communities.

This has always been my focus, and will remain so. I hope that by painting individuals, I add to the Australian identity, moments in time of our collective history.

Elizabeth Barden is an Australian contemporary figurative artist. Barden’s work is included in public and private collections worldwide.

Career highlights include being represented in the permanent collection of the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, with the portrait of Indigenous performer Christine Anu – ‘Waiting For Zipporah’.

‘Waiting for Zipporah’ has been featured in many Gallery educational programs and publications, and toured nationally in ‘Bare’, a curated show presenting states of undress in portraiture.

Exhibiting highlights include two solo exhibitions in a public gallery, and group shows –nationally and internationally.

Elizabeth Barden has been a multiple times finalist in many prestigious exhibitions including the Portia Geach Memorial Art Prize, the Lester Prize, the Salon de Refuses of The Archibald Prize, the Lethbridge Art Award, The Gallipoli Art Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize – in which she was also awarded 'People's Choice', The Kennedy Art Prize, the Brisbane Portrait Prize, the Darling Portrait Prize, and was an award recipient in the 107th Allied Artist of America Annual Juried International Exhibition.

Elizabeth was a founding member of Portrait Artists Australia, is a member of international exhibiting group PoetsArtists, and is an 'Associate Living Master' - Art Renewal Centre, USA.

As a person who values his time and privacy, I found it difficult to agree to have my portrait painted at first . I had pictured myself sitting with bowls of fruit. The Sydney sun cascading through a well placed Venetian for hours upon hours, pausing only to invite my blood to circulate to regions that had previously been squashed for the sake of ART.

I am happy to inform you that my experience was nothing like what I had imagined. Elizabeth Barden is a whisper of artist, meaning she met me and took photos and sketches of me while introducing herself to me and my family. She then outlined what she hoped to achieve with the portrait and at the end you realised as you shook her hand to leave, that the sitting was done and like a whisper she left you wondering what had just happened and if YOU had done the moment justice. After a while I got a glimpse at the finished painting and I was embarrassed and amazed and flattered at how much I look like my children and my mother.

Thank you Elizabeth for an experience that was worth a thousand words.

Jay Laga'aia, Actor

Elizabeth Barden is an Australian contemporary figurative artist. Barden’s work is included in public and private collections worldwide.

Career highlights include being represented in the permanent collection of the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, with the portrait of Indigenous performer Christine Anu – ‘Waiting For Zipporah’.

‘Waiting for Zipporah’ has been featured in many Gallery educational programs and publications, and toured nationally in ‘Bare’, a curated show presenting states of undress in portraiture.

Exhibiting highlights include two solo exhibitions in a public gallery, and group shows –nationally and internationally.

Elizabeth Barden has been a multiple times finalist in many prestigious exhibitions including the Portia Geach Memorial Art Prize, the Lester Prize, the Salon de Refuses of The Archibald Prize, the Lethbridge Art Award, The Gallipoli Art Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize – in which she was also awarded 'People's Choice', The Kennedy Art Prize, the Brisbane Portrait Prize, the Darling Portrait Prize, and was an award recipient in the 107th Allied Artist of America Annual Juried International Exhibition.

Elizabeth was a founding member of Portrait Artists Australia, is a member of international exhibiting group PoetsArtists, and is an 'Associate Living Master' - Art Renewal Centre, USA.

So that's what you saw in those hands? The Storyteller! Well you tell a wonderful story yourself, Elizabeth. The idea...that's what it is...it's quite brilliant and makes this a very original painting. I can'tsay I have ever seen a portrait anything like this one. It is the diffused light, the hint of the mystic and the intensity that for me make this a very authentic rendering of character. You have created a compelling aura. The colour and composition seem to follow the hands which of course follow the story. Although I am way past affectation, having seen myself on film and in photographs for 40 working years, I spend little time thinking about how others perceive me. I usually only think about whether people believe what I am saying. You catch this quality splendidly. The Storyteller is quite unlike your other body of work. It seems to go to a quite different place. While some of your other striking portraits invite people to ponder the beauty or the strength of character, strangely this painting asks people to think about the Story, about the world that I have seen, about the human condition and how some events affect each one of us deeply. That is a brilliant, inspired act of creativity. Thank you for such thoughtfulness in the way you use your great gift.

Jeffrey John McMullen AM – Journalist

Elizabeth Barden is an Australian contemporary figurative artist. Barden’s work is included in public and private collections worldwide.

Career highlights include being represented in the permanent collection of the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, with the portrait of Indigenous performer Christine Anu – ‘Waiting For Zipporah’.

‘Waiting for Zipporah’ has been featured in many Gallery educational programs and publications, and toured nationally in ‘Bare’, a curated show presenting states of undress in portraiture.

Exhibiting highlights include two solo exhibitions in a public gallery, and group shows –nationally and internationally.

Elizabeth Barden has been a multiple times finalist in many prestigious exhibitions including the Portia Geach Memorial Art Prize, the Lester Prize, the Salon de Refuses of The Archibald Prize, the Lethbridge Art Award, The Gallipoli Art Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize – in which she was also awarded 'People's Choice', The Kennedy Art Prize, the Brisbane Portrait Prize, the Darling Portrait Prize, and was an award recipient in the 107th Allied Artist of America Annual Juried International Exhibition.

Elizabeth was a founding member of Portrait Artists Australia, is a member of international exhibiting group PoetsArtists, and is an 'Associate Living Master' - Art Renewal Centre, USA.

Quite apart from being jaw-droppingly delighted with the incredible quality of Elizabeth's work on my portrait – I absolutely loved the process from beginning to end, Her grace and artistry is obvious, not only in her paintings, but the way she dealt with me as her subject.

Drew Anthony – Dancer, Choreographer