Effie Pryer: Closet Dramas

These paintings borrow from the idea of a closet drama - a play meant to be read in private rather than performed. Acknowledging the privilege of a comfortable suburban life, I have a habit of casting myself as the tragic lead in the minor dramas of modern convenience. In this case I've leaned into that absurdity - the way privilege can turn lost keys into a full-blown existential narrative - and staged these tiny spectacles as a series of paintings.

Last year, while working on a project involving over 150 icon paintings of Christian saints and martyrs, I became fascinated by the contrast between the serene expressions and lavish materials used to depict often absurdly violent acts of martyrdom. The experience offered an unexpected perspective on my own catalogue of grievances, making them seem comparatively ridiculous on the drive home, but also inspired renewed interest in finding reasons to work with rich colours and materials again in my own work.

In Orthodox iconography, images are painted on wooden panels within a recessed border,

or kovcheg (“ark”), marking a sacred space set apart from the everyday world. The figures sometimes extend slightly beyond this boundary, symbolising transcendence and inviting spiritual connection. My miniature closet dramas, by contrast, remain firmly contained within their frames as scenes of indulgent unreality.

— Effie Pryer, 2025

Effie Pryer is a Tasmanian artist living in Nipaluna/Hobart, working primarily as a portrait and figurative painter in oils. Her professional experience as a paintings conservator informs her traditional technique, as well as using the unique qualities of Tasmanian timber panels both as support and an integral part of the finished artwork. The paintings often dislocate well-known classical narratives by reproducing them in awkward, contemporary contexts, questioning whether we can sometimes take ourselves and art a little too seriously. Effie has been a finalist in national portrait and figurative painting prizes and undertaken recent portrait commissions for the University of Tasmania and Parliament of Tasmania. 

Read Effie Pryer's Bottom of the World interview

Read Briony Downes review in Art Guide

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