Diana Wood Conroy is a textile artist, painter and emeritus professor of visual arts at the University of Wollongong. Over a six-decade career, she has created hundreds of beautifully woven tapestries, connecting ancient and modern art, and authored several books.

‘I chose to paint Diana for the Archibald Prize because we share a love of geometry, colour, shape and pattern,’ says Madeleine Kelly, a German-born artist who lives in Wollongong. She is a first-time Archibald finalist.

‘This portrait melds Diana’s obsession with numbers and patterns with the structure of the painting. I expose the method I used by having Diana’s arm rest on the foundation of the triangle, which is fundamental to the geometry of the work.

‘The loom through which we see her is a field of lines that has the effect of creating a passage between the viewer and Diana’s creative power. The threads in between facilitate a kind of entry into her big, deep eyes,’ says Kelly.

‘By magnifying the eyes, I make them stare back at the viewer, with an assertive, determined quality, intensifying her gaze. There’s an asymmetry to them, which has a much more interesting effect than straight realism.’