Art prize on the landscape

WA artists passionate about the State’s unique landscape will soon have their work showcased in Claremont.

Their landscape works will be on display for a week-long exhibition at the Showground as part of the annual Perth Royal Art Prize for Landscape, an annual competition traditionally run in conjunction with the Perth Royal Show.

The winner of first prize will take home $20,000 and the opportunity to sell their artwork during the stand-alone exhibition.

Among the 60 shortlisted WA artists is Applecross-based artist Katie Glaskin, who has used the exhibition as an opportunity to comment on an issue close to her heart.

Her work Inlet View, Denmark is of the Denmark landscape and uses acrylic on canvas in pops of bright colour to add an element of celebration.

Glaskin told PerthNow she had been visiting Denmark on and off since her early 20s.

“It’s incredibly beautiful and I love it,” Glaskin said.

“But over the last decade I’ve seen the effects that climate change is having on the area.

“It’s now subject to drying because of climate change, so painting it for me is about celebrating the place but also thinking about the impact climate change is having which is drying the landscape.

“To see that impact is devastating.”

Inlet View, which is part of a larger collection called The Road to Denmark, will be on display alongside work from other Perth artists that was handpicked from more than 200 entries.

Glaskin said she hoped her work would create an ‘emotional response’ from those who saw the piece.

“I’m really interested in the aesthetic affect, which creates that emotional response to something, so I hope that the work will connect with people on that level,” she said.

“I’m interested in trying to achieve a certain luminosity in paint with colours, so what you’ll often see in many of my paintings is a series of colours coming through from underneath, from behind the colours, to the top.

“I’m delighted to be chosen as a finalist; it’s really fantastic and a lovely affirmation.

“There are many excellent WA artists who have entered and been shortlisted, so it’s wonderful to be in among that crowd.”

The winners of the 2022 Perth Royal Art Prize for Landscape will be announced on Thursday, September 1.

The exhibition will be open for public viewing for the first time outside of the Perth Royal Show from September 2 to 10, 10am to 4pm daily, at the Claremont Showground.

Glaskin is working on a solo exhibition she hopes to hold in March next year.