Elizabeth Barden (b. 1965) grew up in Brisbane and gained a diploma in art teaching from Queensland University of Technology in 1985. She moved to Cairns in 1990 and has lived and worked there ever since, holding her first solo exhibitions at the Cairns Regional Gallery in 1999 and 2003. ‘It has always been my fascination to paint people’, Barden says: ‘I hope that when I paint someone, I can inject a feeling that goes beyond skill or technique, beyond outward appearance to what lies within.’ She has featured regularly among the finalists for prizes including the Portia Geach Memorial Award (in 2019, 2016 and 2001–2004); the Lester Prize (formerly the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture) in 2019; the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award (for which she won the People's Choice in 2004); and the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2020. A founding member of Portrait Artists Australia and a strong advocate on behalf of artists working outside of major cities, Barden’s work is represented in public and private collections here and overseas. The National Portrait Gallery acquired her portrait of singer and performer Christine Anu in 2004.
