We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Winner: Sir John Sulman Prize 2019

McLean Edwards The first girl that knocked on his door

oil on canvas

153 x 122.5 cm

This is a painting about romantic engagement. My protagonist holds an apple/phone and is surrounded by new-growth leaves. There is a tree stump, stripped bare; febrile and baleful with one eye open. My hero’s coat is of the ‘look at me’ variety, a map of roads, the pattern a bitumen colour and rather uneven.

McLean Edwards, 2019