Loribelle Spirovski Australian, b. 1990

Lives and works in sydney, Australia

Loribelle Spirovski is a multidisciplinary painter based in Sydney, Australia. Born to a Filipino mother and a Yugoslav father, she migrated to Australia in 1999—a formative experience that continues to inform the emotional and psychological terrain of her practice. Working primarily in oil, Spirovski’s work navigates the tension between the internal and external, the analogue and the digital, the classical and the surreal. Her layered, psychologically rich compositions often feature the human form suspended within ambiguous spaces, reflecting both personal anxieties and broader cultural dissonances.

A graduate of the College of Fine Arts, UNSW (2012), Spirovski draws influence from a diverse set of artists and thinkers, including Francis Bacon, David Lynch, and Olivier Messiaen. Her practice—ranging from traditional portraiture to dreamlike figuration and vibrant pop surrealism—exists in a constant state of flux, embracing contradiction as a vital source of creative energy. “I’m most compelled,” she says, “by the friction between the historic weight of oil paint and the fractured narratives of the digital age.”

Spirovski has been living with thoracic outlet syndrome since 2020—a painful condition that makes holding a brush difficult. In search of a solution, she discovered that finger painting offered a nearly painless alternative. Wearing protective gloves, she developed a technique that ranged from delicate filigree, to broad, expressive strokes. The tactile immediacy of finger painting has reinvigorated her practice, providing both physical relief to help her confront pain through the act of making. Spirovski plans to continue exploring finger painting, even as her recovery allows for a gradual return to traditional tools.

She has exhibited widely across Australia, Europe, and the United States, with notable exhibitions at the LA Art Show (Arcadia Contemporary), House of Fine Art (London), Nanda\Hobbs (Sydney), and Metro Gallery (Melbourne). Spirovski has been selected as a finalist in Australia’s most prestigious portraiture award, the Archibald Prize (2017, 2018, 2019, 2025), as well as the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Lester Prize, and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (semi-finalist).

Her accolades include winning the Naked and Nude Art Prize (2021), the Bluethumb Art Prize (2021), and the People’s Choice Award at the Kilgour Art Prize (2015). She is the winner of the Archibald Prize 2025 ANZ People's Choice Award.