New Madonna
Archibald Finalist 2025
Oil on linen
71 x 55.6cm
Working primarily as a portrait artist, Brittany Jones says she is ‘at the front end of what feels like a lifelong relationship with self-portraiture based on much self-reflection’.
‘I chose to include my son in this self-portrait to commemorate his life with me earthside at roughly the same amount of time he spent inside before he was born,’ says the first-time Archibald finalist. ‘I drew inspiration for the pose from the classical depictions of the Madonna and Child.
‘As the painting progressed, the Madonna and Child pose became more and more apparent, as did the visual difference in my son’s and my ethnicities. I began to see us with an outside gaze. The very nature of our appearances introduces a dramatic shift that challenges and reimagines the traditional iconography.
‘New Madonna suggests a move beyond the traditional religious or mythological context to encompass the diversity of modern motherhood and emphasise its universality across different cultures.
‘And, at the end of the day, it’s also just a self-portrait of me feeding my son.’
