February 16, 2016

UOW Executive Dean judges Blake Prize winner

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, Professor Amanda Lawson, was an invited member of this year’s judging committee for the well-known Blake Prize for Religious Art.

Mumbai artist Yardena Kurulkar was the winner of the 64th Blake Art Prize for her work, Kenosis, 2015, announced on Friday night 12 February at the Casula Powerhouse.

The $25,000 prize is awarded to the work deemed best at encouraging conversation around spirituality and religion in the 21st century.

Kurulkar’s was the first international artist to win the prize from a field of 80 finalists.

Her series of photographs depict a raw terracotta replica of her own heart taken using a 3D printer, which was then immersed in water, causing it to slowly decay.

“I create moments of confrontations between life and death,” she said, pointing out that the heart is the first organ to develop in a foetus. My works are acts of surrender to the inevitability of the end. They are presented as part of a cycle of continuous regeneration … discovering my own mortality and contemplating our collective fear of death.”

In Christian theology, kenosis refers to the act of emptying your own will to become totally receptive to God.

The now-biennial competition attracted 594 entrants from seven countries including France, Germany and America.

Along with Professor Lawson, other members of the judging panel were the CEO of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello and Indigenous artist, Leanne Tobin.

The Director of the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Kiersten Fishburn said the judges were unanimous in their decision.

The Blake Prize exhibition is being held at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre until April 24 before touring to galleries around Australia. Entry is free.

The Blake Prize for Religious Art was established in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. It was named after the artist and poet William Blake.