Kate Stevens wins the inaugural Evelyn Chapman Art Award

The Evelyn Chapman Art Award provides a $50,000 scholarship for an Australian painter, male or female under the age of 45, to ‘engender the encouragement, development and rewarding of artistic skill, through furthering the training and knowledge and skills of Australian painters.’

The new award was established in the memory of Evelyn Chapman (1888-1961), an Australian painter and the first female artist to depict the devastated battle fields, churches and towns of the western front after the First World War.

Evelyn Chapman, 1919, unknown photographer. Collection: Australian War Memorial

Kate Stevens’ winning work Gaza forms part of an ongoing series exploring how we process images of war from the domesticity of the home.

‘I felt inspired to enter this prize upon seeing the beautiful black and white photograph of Evelyn Chapman sitting at her easel painting the ruins of the Western Front – a pioneer for women interested in the subject of war, not afforded the opportunity we have today to combine painting and motherhood, says Stevens. ‘It is a great privilege to receive this award and I look forward to using this opportunity to immerse myself in learning about Australia and war today, and the works of Australian war artists, so that I can bring a deeper understanding to a new series of paintings on the subject.’

Kate Stevens, Gaza

Stevens has spent the last eighteen months painting images of the ruins of Aleppo from drone footage on YouTube, and a series of explosions in Gaza painted from news photos on her mobile phone. As the winner of the award, Stevens aims to develop this series of work with research at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and further her understanding of recent experiences of Australians at war and the history of the nation’s war artists.

S.H. Ervin Gallery Director Jane Watters said, ‘This new award celebrates the history and future of Australian painting as it offers contemporary painters working in oil and tempera a wonderful opportunity and unrivalled freedom to develop their artistic practice and education. The award is important because it encourages the development of traditional techniques while helping to create a platform for contemporary artists to forge new paths and further the development of the medium in the future. The quality of the 2018 finalist works is testament to the vitality and experimentation present in the tradition today.’

Stevens was selected from a finalist group of seven artists, who each submitted three oil paintings and a proposal, judged by a panel consisting of artist Ann Cape, artist Yvonne Langshaw, and artist and Head of Royal Art Society of NSW Art School Greg Hansell.

The winning work will be on exhibit at the S.H Ervin Gallery until Sunday 2 December 2018.

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