Natasha Walsh has been announced as the winner of the 2018 Kilgour Prize for her sensitive self-portrait on marble ‘Within the Studio’. The prestigious annual award is one of Australia’s most respected prizes for figurative and portrait painting.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said that the City of Newcastle is proud to have an annual national prize of this stature housed at Newcastle Art Gallery.
“The diversity and quality of the entries is impressive each year and the 2018 entrants are no exception. The reputation of the Kilgour Prize continues to grow, with the Prize attracting a large number of entrants and a significant audience to the gallery.
“I congratulate Ms Walsh on joining a prestigious list of accomplished artists to have taken out the Kilgour Prize.”
Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton said The Kilgour Prize encourages Australian artists to pursue - and to push the boundaries of - portraiture and figurative painting.
Natasha Walsh explains that her painting came about after she was secluded in her 'suitcase sized studio' for several months, where she was exploring the nature of the self-portrait.
"Beginning to feel quite trapped within this self-reflecting space, I conceived of this painting where my painted self is likewise trapped within the studio which has folded in on itself inside a convex lens," said the artist.
