Sydney-based Indigenous artist Carmen Glynn-Braun has been awarded the 2018 TWT Excellence Prize, selected from more than 200 graduating students presenting work in the University of NSW Art & Design’s ANNUAL 18 Graduate Exhibition.
Glynn-Braun was awarded $5,000 by TWT Property in recognition of her work Untitled 2018 which explores the Indigenous women’s experiences with the Assimilation Policy (1951 – 1962), an Australian policy designed to obliterate Indigenous bloodlines entirely by removing children from their families and ultimately ‘breeding out’ skin colour over generations.
Glynn-Braun’s work considers how countless Indigenous women lost their children under the act and consists of four flesh-coloured paint skins that imitate the various skin colours of Indigenous Australia today, post-Stolen Generations. The paint skins are hung alongside each other, fairest to darkest in solidarity, standing as evidence of the continued survival and resilience of Aboriginal people.
Established in 2017, the annual TWT Excellence Prize is awarded to the top graduating artist presenting work in the ANNUAL 18, Australia’s largest and most diverse national showcase of graduate contemporary art, design and creative media. The exhibition is free to the public and open until 8 December 2018.
Carmen Glynn-Braun commented: ‘I am ecstatic to receive the TWT Excellence Prize, especially given I am graduating amongst many brilliant artists. I feel incredibly humbled and full of hope that our (Indigenous communities’) very important stories have not only been well received but embraced. I hope my practice can remain a positive platform to preserve and honour Indigenous life experiences.’
Glynn-Braun was chosen from 200 graduating artists by a judging panel including: Dean of UNSW Art & Design Ross Harley, UNSW Deputy Head of School (Design) Dr Mark Ian Jones, UNSW Senior Fine Arts Lecturer Debra Phillips and Arts Initiatives Manager at TWT & Bridging Hope Charity Foundation, Ariel Zhang.
The shortlist included the two highly commended artists Billy Bain and Dennis Golding, and artists Lisa Carrett, Zoe Gojnich, Angel Robertson and Aisya Yusoff.
TWT Director Stephen Fitzpatrick said, ‘TWT is delighted to announce Carmen Glynn-Braun as the 2018 winner of the TWT Excellence Prize and we look forward to seeing how her artistic practice grows in the future. TWT is proud to support of this wonderful exhibition and celebrate the next generation of artists, designers, makers and digital media creators.’
A statement from the judging panel: ‘Carmen’s work Untitled 2018 is original in its theme and concept and innovative in its use of materiality incorporating acrylic paint, gold enamel and cosmetics. The judging panel was particularly impressed with Carmen’s ability to engage complex themes of identity and place in such a cohesive body of work. The judging panel are excited to see what Carmen will achieve with the generous support of the 2018 TWT Excellence Prize.’
The 2018 exhibition will be presented across seven venues at UNSW Art & Design’s Paddington campus including UNSW Galleries; Kudos Gallery; AD Space; Black Box; Interactive Media Lab; The Lecture Theatre; and Makerspace: Virtual Reality Lab.
The inaugural TWT Excellence Prize winner, Jessica Long, won the prize in 2017 for her video work titled Apartment Block No. 10, a four-minute video work that paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and featured 10 sequences of apartment night-life.
The A&D ANNUAL 18 is exclusively supported by Bridging Hope Charity Foundation.
EXHIBITION DETAILS:
28 November – 8 December 2018
Event and Venue Details: https://artdesign.unsw.edu.au/whats-on/events/ad-annual-18-graduate-exhibition
