Artist Marie Smith’s work titled Stephanie has been shortlisted for the Zurich Prize.

Sculptor shortlisted for prestigious portrait prize

Michelle Taite

A Cavan artist is set to have her art on display in the National Gallery of Ireland having been shortlisted in a prestigious competition.

Marie Smith has always dreamt of showcasing her art in Ireland’s top gallery and couldn’t believe when that dream became a reality.

“It’s massive. I was trying to think about how I felt about it and you go from being absolutely thrilled and excited about it to being terrified,” says Marie, visibly overwhelmed by her success.

“As an artist you go into a place like the National Gallery and think - would my work ever be here? So, to get that opportunity and recognition for what I do, it is just massive and terrifying at the same time.”

Marie’s key to getting her art into the gallery was her sculpture, ‘Stephanie’, one of the 26 works shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize Competition.

Marie created ‘Stephanie’, a life-sized ceramic head, in the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts in Dublin over a two-day period. She then brought it back to her studio in Cavan Town where she further developed it to her liking.

“I worked directly with Stephanie Johnson for two days, modelling the portrait in clay.

“During this time, I was able to get a likeness through looking and a sense of her spirit through spending time with her. Stephanie has a unique style. I felt it was important to highlight her shaved hair and eye makeup, although it was challenging to do so in clay.

“Taking the information I had collected from our time together, I was able to finish the portrait over a long period in my studio. When the clay had been prepared and dried, it was fired in a kiln.”

The Zurich Portrait Prize Competition is an annual competition showcasing contemporary portraiture and is open to artists from across Ireland, and Irish artists living abroad.

Marie had heard about the competition before, however her usual work which features full bodies wouldn’t fit the criteria. Once she finished her recent creation, she decided to enter it for the first time.

Little did she know she would be so successful.

“I received an email a couple of weeks ago just to say that I had been shortlisted. As an artist, you’d regularly be entering work for different things so you’d get used to receiving that rejection letter back. When this came it was really good.”

Marie’s first port of call was to share the good news with her mother. When she brought ‘Stephanie’ to her family home however, she was met at the door by her dog who barked and jumped, believing the sculpture was a real person.

The artist then called the sitter, Stephanie Johnson, to inform her the replica of her head would be displayed in the National Gallery.

“I couldn’t tell anybody because we were sworn to secrecy until it was officially announced. So when I could tell somebody else I told Stephanie. She’s delighted, she’s thrilled. She just can’t believe it and she’s looking forward to seeing it at the national gallery.”

All shortlisted pieces will be on display in the National Gallery from November 26, 2022 to April 2, 2023.

The winner will be announced in December and receive a cash prize of €15,000. They will also be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000.

Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works.