For most artists living in the Australasian region, entering the Archibald Prize features high on the bucket list.
For Melbourne-based artist Troy Argyos, this dream was realised earlier this month with the completion and entry of his portrait featuring Greek Australian actress Maria Mercedes.
Drawing from classical realism, the 25-year-old embraces the shared cultural heritage of the subject and its artist through the added detail of the mati (evil eye).
“It’s a very unusual painting because we have the mati, which I’ve got on my mouth. He gave it to me to hold and I just had this feeling: ‘put it up against your mouth’,” Mercedes tells Neos Kosmos.
For the artist, the evil eye is a significant feature, a family heirloom previously belonging to his grandmother and passed on as a symbol of protection, while for Mercedes, it helps to communicate various aspects of her identity.
“It’s very meaningful for me, it’s about protecting your truth, being free to say and express yourself, your talent, whatever you decide to do in life. And it’s also like the third eye as well, being very spiritual and intuitive,” she says.
The meeting of the two artists is almost a perfect case of serendipity; a family connection and subsequent fundraising event bringing the duo together.
Offered a scholarship to the prestigious Florence Academy of Arts, family and friends gathered to help raise funds for the rest of the expenses for Argyros.
There he met Mercedes for the first time, following which he saw her perform in the successful play Master Class, in which she starred as opera great Maria Callas.
“That was my first time seeing Maria perform and it really moved me how much emotion she conveyed as Callas, and that was a big inspiration for the painting,” Argyros tells Neos Kosmos.
With the guidelines of the Archibald stating that the subject must be “a man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics”, Mercedes fit the bill perfectly.
“I was really excited about the idea of painting Maria; we share our Greek heritage, so that’s a big part of it. I think what she does as an actress and singer, it’s like siblings of art. She’s another Greek artist who I can relate to on that level,” he says.
The process commenced with a visit to the actress’ home, where the two sat in the kitchen over a bowl of soup, getting to know one another.
“I think it was important for him to be around my energy, to see where I lived and to see what makes me as a person, my tastes. Then he started sketching,” Mercedes explains.
Aside from his artwork, the artist lends his talents to future generations, working as a casual high school art teacher, while also featuring in a number of exhibitions.
Between his many commitments, he worked tirelessly on his Archibald entry, which took approximately three months to complete from a series of sketches and photographs he had taken of Mercedes.
Both came to the agreement that it would be best that she view the painting once completed, an emotional moment she will never forget.
“You expect to see what you see in the mirror per se, but for me, looking at that painting, it embodied not just myself, but my family, my heritage. I didn’t look for perfection, I looked for the spirit of what he had captured and I loved it. I just cried. It was just amazing,” she says.
“The style of art that Troy specialises in, it’s very old school – the masters of Italy and France, that was the style. I believe it’s a bit of a dying art in this day and age, so it’s almost like he’s from another era. He’s a very old soul.”
For the young artist, it has been an unforgettable experience through which he says he has grown and developed his craft.
“It’s been a really good journey going through the process. I had a lot of conversations with my friends that I made in Florence about painting and they gave me good advice, which I took on board.”
Though his entry was not selected as a finalist, for the artist, being a part of the process has been a great honour in itself.
In the meantime, he is working towards his next goal: “Before I turn 30, I want to go back to Florence and study a full year at the Florence Academy. After all, it’s the birthplace of what I do.”
To view the Archibald finalists, visit www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes’archibald/2015
For more information on Troy Argyros and to view his work, visit www.troyargyros.com/