Image above: Sarah Tomasetti Kailash from the Air 2019 oil and incision on fresco plaster 220 x 130 cm
Congratulations to Melbourne-based artist Sarah Tomasetti who has been announced as the winner of the John Leslie Art Prize 2020 at the Gippsland Art Gallery.
Tomasetti’s enigmatic painting Kailash from the Air depicts the sacred Tibetan mountain Kailash from a high perspective, painted using the Renaissance method of oil and incision on fresco plaster. The work explores the artist’s concern for the Earth’s changing natural environment. Tomasetti was awarded $20,000, and this magnificent work has been accepted into the Gippsland Art Gallery Collection.
Tomasetti’s winning painting was selected by judges Simon Gregg (Gallery Director) and Erin Mathews (Gallery Curator) from a field of fifty finalists chosen by guest judge Robert Nelson (Art Critic, The Age) and senior Gallery staff. In all, 409 entries were submitted for the 2020 John Leslie Art Prize, from a total of 334 artists.
In the video below, hear from speakers Simon Gregg (Gallery Director), Cr Alan Hall (Wellington Shire Council Mayor) and the winning artists of both the John Leslie Art Prize, and Best Gippsland Work.