Sorcha Frances Ryder

Wide Awake, 2023

Photograph | Unframed: 60 x 70 cm; Framed: 61 x 70 cm

‘Wide Awake depicts my friend Sarah in her bedroom, lying awake in the early hours, isolated and contemplative. Sarah and I graduated college together. We have since been tackling “coming-of-age” in our mid-twenties. This portrait represents a feeling of restlessness and the efforts one makes to soothe oneself by consuming media as a temporary distraction from reality and the weight of looming adulthood. The picture’s themes and textural qualities are inspired by the artist Nicole Eisenman’s painting Morning Studio of 2016.’ 

Visit the artist's Instagram account

Go back to the shortlisted works