Images of Eyes Gallery I
Art work from Australia
Watercolor Paintings by Cherry Hood
(Winner of the 2002 Archibald Prize)

Cherry Hood was a finalist in the 2001 Archibald Prize with her watercolor of art lecturer Matthys Gerber.  By unanimous vote of the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, she won the 2002 Archibald Prize for her huge contemporary watercolor portrait of acclaimed young Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi (portrait not included in this exhibit.)

This exhibit of Cherry Hood's works consists of four watercolor portraits included in the short story "Harold's End" by J. T. Leroy; four watercolors from Hood's "Ayesha's Child" exhibit in Melbourne in October 2004; and the portrait of "Friends & Lovers."

Biography of Cherry Hood
Excerpts from her website

Cherry Hood is best known in Australia for winning the Archibald Prize with her oversized watercolour portrait of Simon Tedeschi.  Her work is represented in many important Australian art collections, including the BHP Billiton Collection, Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, Artbank, and many regional art galleries.

Hood has become well known for her haunting, large-scale images of young boy’s faces. In recent years she has added the female face to her repertoire, but adolescent boys, with androgynous features, still dominate each exhibition.  Hood want the viewer to be confronted by these faces, the huge scale, the eyes looking back at the viewer, the passive pose all add to the edgy difficult experience of viewing these works.

Hood starts by photographing her subject; some she knows, others she bumps into.  From each series of 50 or so photographs a couple will inspire a painting.  The resulting artwork takes on a new identity and is never a straight-forward likeness or portrait.  She noted that she asks "the boys not to smile as I photograph them, and it’s amazing the range of facial expressions you get.  I never paint smiling children.  A smile fixes a meaning – it makes the painting look like a snap shot photograph, I want my work to be more complex than that, more demanding on the viewer."

Hood paints these images using watercolour on canvas or paper.  "I use canvas to get scale, I prefer paper it is far more beautiful and far more difficult but I can’t get scale which is an important aspect of the work."   The dribbles and runs of the watercolours stain the canvas or paper with soft melting marks. Hood is interested in the juxtaposition of detail as in the eyes and facial features with the looseness of the rest of the painting. The long drips ad a sort of structure to the work and grid which holds the work together.

Hood has travelled widely and has exhibited in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Zurich and Toronto, as well as across Australia.  Her art career began after she graduated with a Masters of Visual Art from the Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, in 2000.  This was followed by her first solo exhibition in 2001 and winning the prestigious Archibald Prize for Portraiture in 2002.  In 2003 she won the Kedumba Drawing Award and was a finalist in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize, the Dobell Drawing Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Whyalla Art Prize, the Hutchins Work on Paper Prize, and the Archibald Prize between 2004 and 2007.

Watercolor Illustrations in "Harold's End" by J. T. Leroy

"Harold's End" is a short story by J. T. Leroy.  The story was described in Vanity Fair (Dec. 2004, p. 152) as "Blessed with haunting watercolour portraits by Cherry Wood...[the story] slices deep into a world of unbearable sadness and beauty."

"Oliver" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor on paper
1500 x 1020 mm
An illustration in "Harold's End"

"Crayon & Mildred" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor on paper
1500 x 1020 mm
An illustration in "Harold's End"

"Gotti" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor on paper
1500 x 1020 mm
An illustration in "Harold's End"

"Serenity" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor on paper
1500 x 1020 mm
An illustration in "Harold's End"

Watercolor Portraits in Melbourne Gallery Exhibit

The four watercolors below are from the "Ayesha's Child" exhibit of Cherry Hood's paintings at Arc One Gallery in Melbourne in October 2004.

"Beji, 2004" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor and absolute matte on canvas 
with damar varnish, 1800 x 1800 mm
From "Ayesha's Child" exhibit

"Bashir, 2004" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor and absolute matte on canvas
with damar varnish, 1800 x 1800 mm
From "Ayesha's Child" exhibit

"Farid, 2004" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor and absolute matte on canvas
with damar varnish, 1800 x 1800 mm
From "Ayesha's Child" exhibit

"Iqbal, 2004" by Cherry Hood
Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor and absolute matte on canvas
with damar varnish, 1800 x 1800 mm
From "Ayesha's Child" exhibit

Hood's Diptych of "Friends & Lovers"

"Friends & Lovers" by Cherry Hood
Diptych Image Copyright © by Cherry Hood
Watercolor on canvas with acrylic medium and varnish
Each canvas is 1800mm wide by 2300 high

Information about Cherry Hood:

   Website:  http://www.cherryhood.com 
   Contact:  use website page

   The press release of "Harold's End" by J. T. Leroy
   A review of Hood's works by Robert Nelson, from Australia's "The Age."

Images of Eyes Gallery has more information about the Archibald Prize

Originally published May 17, 2005
Exhibit republished Apr 7, 2007, with minor edits
Page updated Mar 15, 2010

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