Printmaker wins People’s Choice

A LOCAL linocut has won the public vote in this year’s Sunshine Coast National Art Prize.

Printmaker, Amanda Western, was one of 40 finalists whose work was exhibited at Queensland’s Caloundra Regional Gallery, where she took home the competition’s People’s Choice Award for her Country Lane piece.

She said she’s honoured to have been awarded the accolade, which was announced earlier this month.

“It was extraordinary and I had the privilege of doing an artist’s talk up there,” she said.

“I was able to reflect that it was such an appropriate prize for me and a real gift to me. I see printmaking as art for the people.

“Because of the editioning process, you can produce a number from the original art piece and create them at an affordable price point so it’s accessible for people have an original piece in their home.”

Country Lane was based on Buninyong’s Shaws Road, a familiar location for Western that she’s spent years driving up and down on.

Introducing wildlife to her original photo inspiration, Western aimed to use the rural road setting to comment on the ever-present ecosystem that surrounds us.

“People were delighted I included birds and few marsupials,” she said. “It kept them engaged longer, and allowed for the conversation around conservation and emergency recovery.

“It made them aware of other people’s journeys, people who’ve gone through a terrible natural disaster, and how if they’re working to support their environment to recover, it’s an empowering ability to take action and recover themselves.”

Western will follow up with her next national entry at Sydney’s Hornsby Art Prize, as one of 65 finalists out of 565 entries.

“It’s a different piece I’ve entered [called Moment Shared] which is a little bit different from my other work,” she said.

“It’s different subject matter in that it’s in an urban environment. I was in Southbank one evening in Autumn near VCA and there was a woman on a phone and I asked to take her photo.

“It’s not in a country landscape but there was something about the work that was so entrancing to me. There’s autumn leaves so there’s still that link to the environment within an urban setting.”

The winning works will be announced on Friday 25 October.

Moment Shared is currently on display at Gallery 10, where Western will be doing an artist’s talk tomorrow at 3pm.