What do you want to be when you grow up?
This is the question Lauren Blunden was grappling with when she began to draw the self-portrait which won her the prestigious Young Archies prize on Saturday.
The budding young artist from North Kellyville has been entering the contest “for a bit of fun” since she began high school during the 2020 Covid lockdowns.
“I’ve loved drawing since I was little, but that’s probably when I started to take it seriously,” she told Lighthouse. “Obviously, I had a lot of extra time in Year 7 thanks to Covid.
“As I got older, I wanted to do more original pieces. I got into self-portraits because I didn’t have access to the outside world.”
Macquarie University student Lauren Blunden won the 16 to 18-year-old category of the 2026 Young Archies competition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photo: Art Gallery of NSW.
This is Blunden’s third appearance as a finalist in the Young Archies and her first win. She has never taken any art classes outside of school and said she does not come from an artistic family.
“My mum’s a nurse and my dad’s a locksmith. I drew multiple portraits for this year’s competition, and it was my mum who encouraged me to just go with the first one,” she said.
“I feel like the contest turned into a personal challenge because I had entered so many times. I treated it like an opportunity to put myself out there and to see how much better I could get.”
Blunden’s winning self-portrait took her about 50 hours to draw in pencil and was inspired by her struggle to decide what to do after high school.
She used overlapping layers and visual distortion to “express how parts of the self can coexist without clarity or cohesion.”
Between by 18-year-old artist Lauren Blunden. 'My work narrates the transition into adulthood and the struggle when grappling with identity, passions and pursuits.' Photo: Art Gallery of NSW.
In her spare time, Blunden is a swimming coach and avid sports fan.
“I was always considering whether I should study and do art ‘professionally’ or not,” she said. "If I could go back in time and tell my Year 12 self anything, it would be not to stress so much. There's still so much time to figure out what you want to do and that doesn't end with high school."
The 18-year-old is now studying mechanical engineering at Macquarie University and feeling inspired after a successful first semester.
“At the end of Year 12, I decided I’d like to use my creativity and problem-solving in a practical career. Mechanical engineering is quite broad. You can really do anything with it because it’s about how systems function.”
She chose to pursue a career in STEM so that art “remains a passion,” and said she’s “excited to see where university takes me.”
Lauren Blunden poses with the other winners of the 2026 Young Archies competition. Photo: Art Gallery of NSW.
More than 4300 entrants submitted portraits into the junior version of Australia’s famous Archibald Prize this year. Seventy finalists were selected across four age categories.
Wayne Tunnicliffe, the gallery’s director of collections and exhibitions, said the competition fostered “curiosity, confidence and visual literacy”.
The finalists comprised a mix of single, double and even triple portraits, including 12 self-portraits, six mums, 10 dads, one sister, seven brothers, five friends, three teachers, eight granddads, five grandmas, four uncles and a couple of cousins.
“As always, the portrait showed the influence of connection and the admiration these young artists had for their family and community,” Tunnicliffe said.
The 70 Young Archie finalists will be on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until August 1 in a free exhibition alongside the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes.