2021 Drawing Prize winning artwork draws the eye

2021 Drawing Prize winning artwork draws the eye
2021 Drawing Prize winner Lucy Chetcuti with her winning work. Image: Evana Ho / ANU.
Wednesday 11 August 2021

An evocative artwork that suggests liminal space has won the ANU School of Art & Design (SoAD) 2021 Drawing Prize.

There were 29 finalists of this year’s competition, which celebrates the breadth and depth of the drawing practice of students at SoAD. This year’s winner was Lucy Chetcuti, a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons) student majoring in Painting.

“I’m very honoured, and I certainly wasn't expecting to win,” says Lucy, whose prize was $1,000. “I was really, really happy to be a finalist and to have my work shown in the School of Art & Design Gallery, so it's a really lovely surprise.”

The entries were judged by a panel of SoAD academics and guest judge Stephen Payne (BA (Hons) ’02) – Artistic Director and CEO at Megalo Print Studio.

“The increased number of applicants, and finalists, for the ANU Drawing Prize this year was definitely reflected in the diversity of the works on display,” Stephen says. 

“With almost every workshop in in the School of Art and Design represented, the finalists demonstrated a truly impressive range of techniques, themes and indeed interpretations of the very concept of ‘drawing’.”

Lucy’s winning work was untitled and used oil and mixed media on polycotton. The work, which stood approximately one metre tall, was one she described as an intuitive drawing.

"[It’s] a little bit like an automatic drawing but I do have a vague direction in mind,” she explains. “I have been working with compositions that show the sensation of passing through shrubbery and branches.”

“It's a gestural drawing that suggests liminal space, passing from one place to the next, with everything floating organically but strangely and without any weight. I really love drawing and it feeds into many other things I am working on in my honours project."

Stephen noted the qualities of Lucy’s work that made it one he kept returning to.  

“In viewing the finalists, I found myself coming back to Lucy Chetcuti’s work for its subtle combination of playful and thoughtful elements, both considered and aleatory,” says Stephen. “I felt that Lucy showed in her piece a deep understanding of composition and texture – and also presented a beautiful evocation of the asarotos oikos, the ‘unswept floor’ of Greek and Roman mosaics.”

Voting for the Drawing Prize People’s Choice Award closes on 26 August. The winner will receive a 12 month membership to Megalo Print Studio. All the finalists’ works are on display in the ANU School of Art & Design Gallery and can also be viewed online. 

Vote now: https://anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3xvc6NWEzMCfum


Written by Evana Ho / ANU

This news story was originally published on the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences website.

Updated:  17 August 2021/Responsible Officer:  Head of School/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications