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Boyup Brook artist Lori Pensini unveiled as 2022 National Capital Art Prize finalist

Melissa PedeltyManjimup-Bridgetown Times
Lori Pensini in her home art studio at her sustainable agricultural farming property in Boyup Brook.
Camera IconLori Pensini in her home art studio at her sustainable agricultural farming property in Boyup Brook. Credit: Lori Pensini: Supplied

A Boyup Brook artist is in the running for a prestigious national gong for her striking painting putting a dark spin on the natural world around her.

The 2022 National Capital Art Prize finalists were announced last week, with local creative Lori Pensini being shortlisted under the new Sustainability Prize for her piece World’s End, showcasing her depiction of a landscape beyond its tipping point because of environmental damage.

Pensini was one of only five WA finalists out of the 129 from across Australia and one of only two from regional WA.

The emerging talent said she was halfway through her piece when she learned applications were open and was glad she threw her hat in the ring.

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“It was poignant that I was painting it at the same time the art prize was open for submissions, so I thought I would give it a go,” she said.

“I already had the understanding of the genre and what they were looking for.”

When Pensini received the news that she was one of the finalists, she was surprised and humbled but couldn’t resist a few celebratory fist pumps.

“I am personally invested in my artwork and people get the sense that you are connected to it, so to be listed as a finalist was the validation that I needed,” she said.

Pensini, who has lived in the South West, Great Southern Wheatbelt and Pilbara regions, said she had a strong connection to nature through her time in regional WA and based most of her work on the world around her.

“I started by painting what we were doing, the landscape, the horses, but my art practice transitioned into depicting the spirit of the landscape and my relationship with it instead,” she said.

World’s End sets a dystopian view of a landscape beyond its tipping point, unable to maintain ecological equilibrium from the plague-like blindness of our environmental mismanagement.
Camera IconWorld’s End sets a dystopian view of a landscape beyond its tipping point, unable to maintain ecological equilibrium from the plague-like blindness of our environmental mismanagement. Credit: Lori Pensini

Ms Pensini said that the way people view art in regional WA has come a long way in the past 30 years but that at times she really had to learn to listen to her gut that told her that art was an integral part of her being. She encouraged others to do the same.

The finalists’ artworks will now be taken to Canberra for the final round of judging, with the winners for each category to be announced in early September.

National Capital Art Prize co-founder Robert Stephens said he was thrilled to see the unique, thought-provoking and inspiring artwork across a wide range of styles and mediums.

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