Art student Erika Elizabeth Sorby, 21, said she had wanted to enter the prestigious art competition since childhood.

“I thought this year is going to be the year,” she said. “I made it my goal to apply.” 

Sorby, who is a third year fine art and teaching student at the University of Newcastle, works as a barista at Cafe Tempest, Wallsend.

The coffee shop is located close to Ms Hornery’s office and this is how Sorby and the politician became acquainted. Although Sorby said she knew of the MP since childhood. 

“We have had a good relationship and I know she is well respected in the community and I thought she met the criteria of the competition,” Sorby said. 

In the mixed-media work Ms Hornery is depicted with a state champion greyhound named Ollie. 

“With the whole ban in NSW (greyhound racing), she has been a part of trying to overturn that,” Sorby said. “Our local electorate has a lot of greyhound owners who are responsible, and she was working on their behalf.

“There is a metaphor that they are both state champions, the dog for racing, and Sonia for our electorate.”

There were several sittings with both Ms Hornery and Ollie to complete the abstract work, which uses loose lines and continuous drawing. 

“She was very humble and modest,” Sorby said. “She is a good face to work with. I started by sketching it out.

“It’s a bit of mixed media, there is some wallpaper in there, acrylic and it came together … it took about four months.”

It is the first time a portrait of Ms Hornery has been entered into the Archibald Prize. 

Sorby won the University of Newcastle Student Art Prize in 2016 for an animation work. She has exhibited in several university group shows. After graduating she plans to concentrate on teaching while making art on the side. 

The work will be shipped to Sydney on July 3, with finalists and the packing prize to be announced on July 20.