Tsering Hannaford (b. 1987) took up painting in her mid-twenties after attaining a degree in psychology at the University of Adelaide. She later studied art history there, but as a practitioner she is largely self-taught, and has undertaken short courses in painting, life drawing and anatomy at the Adelaide Central School of Art; the Grand Central Atelier and the Art Students League, New York; and at Studio Escalier, France. Also mentored by her father – the distinguished portraitist Robert Hannaford AM – Hannaford has been selected for the Archibald Prize every year since 2015 and has been a finalist for the Portia Geach Memorial Award and the Doug Moran Portrait Prize on multiple occasions. Specialising in portraiture and still life, Hannaford says that, whatever her subject matter, she endeavours to capture 'a certain quietness and stillness'. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies in Australia and overseas and has undertaken official portrait commissions for many clients including Melbourne Girls' Grammar, the Supreme Court of South Australia, the City of Adelaide, and the Government of New South Wales.
