Overview
- Lewer, who was selected Friday by Art Gallery of NSW trustees in a unanimous vote, won the $100,000 prize from 1,034 entries and 59 finalists.
- The life-size painting presents Ken as a working artist against a yellow ochre ground that evokes the heat and light of her Country after Lewer spent a week with her community in the APY Lands.
- Ken is a senior Pitjantjatjara artist and ngangkari, or traditional healer, who works at Tjala Arts in Amata and is also a finalist in this year’s Wynne Prize.
- The win adds to a small but growing record of Archibald awards for portraits of First Nations sitters, increasing national visibility for Indigenous cultural leaders.
- The gallery also named Gaypalani Waṉambi the Wynne winner and Lucy Culliton the Sulman winner, with the combined exhibition running May 9 to August 16 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.