We congratulate Sydney-based artist Jody Graham, winner of the $25,000 acquisitive Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2022, for her work titled Cinder Dance.
From over 400 entries, this year’s judge, Dr Andrew Frost, writer, critic, curator and documentary maker, selected forty-six finalists for exhibition. He commended the entries of Margaret McKenna, Luanne Mitchelmore and Nadia Odlum before announcing Graham’s work as the recipient of the 2022 award at the opening event on Friday 25 February at Adelaide Perry Gallery in Sydney.
Jody Graham, Cinder Dance
In a statement about the winning work, Graham said: “While researching the Black Summer Fires, I was impacted by stories from people who were affected. During this time, I connected with Den Barber, who runs Yarrabin Cultural Connections (YCC). Den is an Aboriginal man, descendant of the Traditional Custodians from Mudgee of the Wiradjuri people in the central tablelands of New South Wales. What I discovered from Den helped me understand more about cultural burning and how it is all about caring for the environment. When I made Cinder Dance, I invited nature to participate in the process and submerged the drawing into a dam. I then used rocks and tree sap to mark and colour the drawing, and hit and swung large charcoal branches at the drawing.”
The Adelaide Perry Prize finalists’ exhibition continues until 25 March 2022 at Adelaide Perry Gallery, Croydon, Sydney.
