Most beautiful

For the second year in a row a graduate from UNSW's College of Fine Arts (COFA) has won the Archibald Prize.

Del Kathryn Barton, who has a Bachelor of Fine Art from COFA, where she also taught for three years until 2003, has won the 2008 Archibald Prize for her painting You are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella.

"This painting celebrates the love I have for my two children and how my relationship with them has radically informed and indeed transformed my understanding of who I am," she says.

"The title of the work - You are what is most beautiful about me - alludes to that utterly profound 'in-loveness' that all mothers have for their children. Both my children have taken my world by storm and very little compares to the devotion I feel for them both. The intensity of this emotion is not something that I could have prepared myself for. The alchemy of life offered forth from my inhabitable woman's body is perhaps the greatest gift of my life."

Known for its vibrant, figurative imagery, Barton's work combines traditional painting techniques with contemporary design and illustrative styles.

The Archibald Prize is now in its 87th year.