Portraits

2010 - Present
Influenced by Barkley Hendricks, Alice Neel and Kehinde Wiley, my portraits combine traditional and more playful elements together.  I tend towards female sitters, presenting women as subjects not objects and tend to contrast coventional poses with vibrant hues and contrived environments. 

This self-portrait marks turning 35, gaining my Australian citizenship, and completing my Masters in Art Curatorship. Wearing a bold, pink satin suit, I present myself not as muse, but as author. The work claims space for female subjectivity and self-determination. It resists passive depiction, asserting a feminist narrative where the woman is not object but agent—sovereign, seen, and in command of her image—like the Queen of Pentacles I find myself secure and stable.











©2025 Caroline Esbenshade

caroline@cesbenshade.com
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Acknowledgement 

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the country on which I live and work and their connections to the land. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous peoples today.