Boyup Brook artist finalist in WA art awards

There is the $50,000 first prize donated by The Lester Group, $10,000 Tony Fini Foundation artist prize, $7,500 people's choice donated by the Baldock Family, plus $500 each for two ‘highly commended’ artists, supplied by HU Kendall & Co. 

More than 300 emerging and professional artists entered the prize, with the forty finalists to be exhibited in partnership with the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) from November 1 to 27.

Winners will be announced on November 10. 

Now in its eleventh year, this event is WA’s only portrait prize and is highly regarded by artists nationwide.  60 per cent of the entries have come from interstate.

Fourteen of the finalists are from WA and 26 nationally. 

The Black Swan Prize for Portraiture is presented by the not-for-profit organization ARTrinsic Inc.

This is the second time that Lori has been a finalist in as many years, entering last year with her portrait of her son. 

“This is my cousin Elo, she is wearing a dress made from the banksia ashbyi, a metaphoric fabric representing the spirit and resilience, the mettle, through the ages, of the women in our family,” Ms Pensini said. 

“These flower spikes and fruiting cones have born, in feast and famine drought and downpour, buds of great beauty and artistry in their capacity as women to overcome.

“I wanted to focus on the complexity and intricacy of the family unit, observing with great interest the role of certain personality traits that have threaded their way through the generations.”

Thirty finalists aged from 12 to 17 years were also chosen for the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture for Youth Exhibition. 

These youth works will be on display at Brookfield Place in Perth CBD from October 30 until November 24 2017.