In her role as a body positivity activist, Canberra's April Hélène-Horton is known as The Bodzilla - bolshie, brash and beautiful.
Sitting in an all-white space in Kingston, posing for a portrait for the Archibald Prize, April is still beautiful but this is a different version of herself.
More April, less The Bodzilla. A little softer. A little more inward-looking.
"For a lot of what I do online, talking about body positivity, and talking about self-acceptance, it's about being bright and colourful and taking up space and being unapologetic and sometimes that can be really loud-looking," she said.
"But I am soft and I do like being seen as kind of 'goddess-like' and something a little bit more - not so modern, almost.
"It's not for those other dimensions of my personality to be seen and not to be just a talking head. I think we spend a lot of time having a specific persona. So this is 'of me', not necessarily The Bodzilla."
Canberra artist and founder of Re/ Artists Collective, Alexandria Brock, was a fan of April way before she knew that the influencer, with almost 40,000 Instagram followers, was a local, living in the Canberra region.
When Alex moved from Sydney to Canberra four months ago, she set up a meeting with April and quickly decided to paint her for the 2025 Archibald Prize.
"There's already quite a lot of diversity in the Archie and The Bodzilla is a must-paint for this and many other reasons," Alex said.
"I chose April because, 'Yes, her iconic aesthetic needs to be captured in a portrait' but also because her messages about self-love - and people minding their own business when it comes to other people's worthiness and appearance - need to be immortalised and amplified."
Alex was inspired by a feminine, pretty art nouveau work by Alphonse Mucha for the portrait, which is her second for the Archibald, painting hip-hop artist Tuka in 2018.
But while Mucha's subjects were anonymous and interchangeable, Alex was determined to emphasise April's uniqueness and individuality.
"It's a cool style but Alphonse often just depicted actresses and models," she said.
April added: "And those people, by virtue of that industry and its standards, mean you're getting the same type of person over and over.
"It's nothing about the person specifically. The industry generates more of the same, more of the same."
Alex said: "Mucha's works are incredible but they're all the same, it's almost the same person every single time. So I thought it would be really cool to have a completely different subject matter but in a similar style."
Little touches add personality to the future portrait such as using a magazine like Mucha did, but the one in April's painting has the title Bossy.
It is the first time April has sat for her portrait, and says she has trusted Alex to portray her true self.
"I think I'm excited because I've had such a lovely time getting to know Al that now I think what she's going to capture is her seeing me but as I want to be seen," April said.
The butterfly on April's shoulder for the portrait is a feminine touch, with a powerful message.
Alex intends to donate a portion of any prize earnings generated from the portrait to the Butterfly Foundation, which offers support for eating disorders and body image issues.
"After struggling with eating disorders myself and being saved by the Butterfly Foundation, I know they, and the influence of advocates like The Bodzilla, actually make a pivotal difference in improving people's self-perception, mental well-being and lives," Alex said.
April was more than happy to again support the cause, working previously with the Butterfly Foundation.
"The Butterfly Foundation is one of the most incredible organisations I have ever worked with," she said.
"The passion and respect the team have for the lived experience advocates they work with is so valuable. The work they've done and will continue to do is literally life-saving."
Alex is thrilled to be working on a piece that has so many layers, just like its subject.
"I want to see April's portrait on exhibition in Australia's most popular portrait competition so that people can make no mistake - every body is portrait-worthy. Every body is worthy. Everybody is worthy," she said.
Dates for the 2025 Archie are yet to be announced. Keep an eye on Re/ Artists Collective's and The Bodzilla's Instagram accounts for updates on their collaborating.
