It came as little surprise that artist Raewyn Lawrence’s painting Smoke won the Eurobodalla Art Prize in 2020.
Smoke’s quiet, meditative expression is beautiful and thoughtful.
Perhaps we need such contemplations and creative ways of viewing our changing world, even more so now …
Covid has certainly encouraged us to reflect and to value internal time, to find ways to self-soothe in the face of anxiety. To notice the spaces in between.
So too, as climate change accelerates, we are being asked to question our hyper-responsiveness and what we value. To step off the treadmills of addictive consumption, to pause amidst uncertainty, and to reconsider …
‘ It is a painting that you can feel, smell… the artist managed to capture a quiet moment within a very chaotic period.’
Daniel Soma
Eurobodalla Art Prize Judge 2020
Raewyn Lawrence speaks about the making of her work:
” Smoke came from a small, quick pencil sketch of a bush track. A compilation of inspiring moments I’ve felt on some of our many beautiful walking trails. I hadn’t initially intended to paint a charred landscape, but in transferring to canvas with colour, it was never going to be anything else.”
“Like many, I feel the past summers fire experience has left an unusually high level of anxiety, still sitting quietly within us.”
“The thick smell of smoke, the continuous sounds of sirens and low flying aircraft, the constant packing and unpacking of precious belongings in the care. Not knowing where or when the fire will arrive. The need for a moment of peace and calm was overwhelming.
We all just wanted the fires to stop. With that said, there is a strange beauty in the colours. The orange glow of the sun through it’s smoky filter, contrasted with the blue from the smouldering ground and in using those colours, I have tried to find that moment of peace within my painting. “