Rhoda

Cradled in Yellow

50 × 40 cm

Oil on Shellac paper

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About the work

Painted from memory after years of drawing and painting the figure from life.

About the artist

Rhoda Kirk is a Western Australian artist whose work moves between figuration and abstraction, grounded in life drawing and painting from observation. She was a 2026 finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award and won the South Perth Emerging Artist Painting Award that same year.

Rhoda Kirk — Artist Biography Rhoda Kirk is a Western Australian artist whose work explores the human form through a practice that moves between figuration and abstraction. Her paintings are grounded in a deep commitment to life drawing and painting from live models, maintaining a strong connection to Perth's figurative art community. Her approach draws from both traditional and contemporary painting methodologies. Rather than adhering to rigid realism, she uses glazing and scumbling to build atmosphere and depth, pushing form toward abstraction while maintaining structural presence. Rhoda's artistic development has been shaped by studying in Italy with contemporary masters, particularly Vincent Desiderio at the International Centre for the Study of Painting (2025, 2026), She holds an Honours Degree in Fine Art (2015) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2013) from Curtin University, Perth. In 2026, Rhoda was a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award at the S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney with Arrangement in Grey and White: Portrait of the Artist (after Whistler). She also won the South Perth Emerging Artist Painting Award in October.

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