Aesthetica Art Prize: Painting & Drawing Showcase

At Aesthetica, we celebrate the visual arts in all forms and that’s why the Aesthetica Art Prize welcomes entries from artists working in all mediums. Artists may submit their work into any one of the four categories; Photographic & Digital Art, Three Dimensional Design & Sculpture, Painting & Drawing, Video, Installation & Performance.

Earlier this month, we showcased a selection of images from last year’s Photographic & Digital Art and Installation & Performance categories. This selection was taken from the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2012, available to purchase here.

Still in need of inspiration? Here’s a selection of images from the Painting and Drawing category. Enjoy!

Kerry Day: How do you exercise? #1

Kerry Day concentrates on the human figure and in particular the nude. Her practice is rooted in a rigorous dedication to life drawings and her works of the human body are powerful and have an economy of line that is bold and democratic. Day works with and combines different processes to produce new bodies of work that explore the human figure in motion. How do you exercise? #1 began as three separate 30 second life drawings, combined to make a quirky image of exercise.

Lisa Traxler: High Hopes 1

Utilising the essence of daily walks, Traxler’s work responds to the memory and feelings embedded in consciousness. Exploring the journey of self within the territory around her, Traxler vocalises in abstract paint or intricate stitched paper collages, layering and reworking as she questions and explores this inward journey. Traxler’s current work challenges the concept of self within a space, dissecting the idea through rich colour punctuated by geometric forms; portals into this mind mapping through paint and the sculptural form.

Michael Costello: Marat Rudux

Marat Rudux is a visual quote of David’s The Death of Marat in both pose and lighting. The arm hanging lifelessly is directly taken from Michelangelo’s pieta in both paintings; both are lit overhead and emply chiaroscuro. In the bath, David’s Marat receives treatment for eczema, while Marat Redux sits in a tin tub revealing both subject and artist’s reduced circumstance. David’s Marat clutches his pen. In Marat Redux, the subject’s lifeless arm has dropped the pen to the floor. This creates an effect of Wabi Sabi, the Japanese aesthetic based on the beauty of a moment of transience.

Natalia Davis: Blue Street #2

Blue Street #2 is taken from a series of works that mark a shift in Davis’ recent practice and demonstrate a renewed focus on the medium of paint and the painting process. Working solely oils, these new works range from large-scale figurative studies to increasingly abstract urban spaces. Although as subject matter these are not necessarily linked, Davis’ practice is underpinned by themes of process and formation, and the exploration of boundaries and territories can be identified throughout.

Jenie Gao: Loose

Jenie Gao specialises in woodcut and ink drawing. She received her BFA in Printmaking/Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and now resides in Milwaukee, where is continually growing and developing her studio practice and leading her own woodcut demonstrations. Her drawings are reminiscent of fable illustrations, yet lack the straightforwardness of moral lessons preached to us. These are interrupted moments that neither continue nor end. Gao’s processes are imbued with history; there is something decisive about putting things in ink and carving pieces out, forever.

The Aesthetica Art Prize is open for entries until the 31st August this year. For more information and to submit: www.aestheticamagazine.com/artprize