Selected from a field of 47 finalists, Hornsby artist Wei Bin (Jeffrey) Chen is the winner of the 11th annual NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize, an acquisitive art prize of $20,000, awarded for the best ‘plein air’ painting of NSW subject.
As a previous finalist in the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize, Chen says he is incredibly happy and excited to be selected as the winner in 2018, calling it ‘a dream come true!’
Wei Bin (Jeffrey) Chen, Farm
A dedicated proponent of the plein air tradition, Chen says, ‘When painting in plein air, the brush captures the soul of the landscape and the dancing light as the wind blows through the trees. The painting truly comes alive.’ In creating his prize-winning work, Chen considered how the shadows of the gum trees across the landscape mirrored the clouds stretching across the sky; ‘It was very beautiful and gave a strong depth and perspective to the landscape. I attempted to capture the energy and emotion I felt on the canvas.’
Chen compares the landscapes of his youth in China to those of his home in New South Wales: ‘In my home town of Zhongshan in Guangdong province, there are few places where you can see across such vast areas of unbroken undulating landscape. The farms were flat fields of rice crops and vegetables, a world apart from the rolling hills and twisted gum trees of the New South Wales landscape I painted.’
The winning work, entitled Farm, will become part of the permanent collection of the NSW Parliament, joining previous winners such as Robert Malherbe, Guy Maestri, John Bokor, Isabel Gomez, Rodney Pople, and Noel McKenna.
The 2018 NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize Exhibition at NSW Parliament is on show until 19 October 2018.
