Natalie Places Third in Shaun Tan Awards
We’d like to congratulate Year 12 student Natalie Loach who received third place in the 2022 Shaun Tan Awards this week. There were 1600 entries, with 50 short-listed entries chosen to be exhibited.
The annual Shaun Tan Award is an award for young artists. This visual art award is open to Western Australian school students and encourages imagination, innovation and creativity.
“I am beyond thankful to the City of Subiaco and Shaun Tan for allowing younger artists to have a space to share and discover their artistic abilities through this amazing award. Especially seeing the work from the younger years really opened my eyes and gave me a chance to recognise the outstanding work from the younger children and how much artistic ability our youth has. I was very lucky to be shortlisted amongst 1600 applicants and then to finish third in the senior category. I am also so thankful to everyone I met through this event and the opportunities it has presented to me.
“A highlight from the night was meeting Shaun Tan himself. He video called us from Melbourne and provided personal feedback on each of the finalist pieces.
It was surreal hearing him talk about my piece and hearing the notes and feedback he had for it.
“It was a really rewarding experience. I would highly recommend younger student artists give it a go and enter a piece in 2023!”
Shaun Tan had the following to say about Natalie’s artwork.
“(It is) an unusually sensitive portrait that makes use of the tight framing to create a sense of intimacy. At one, calm and having interest in tension, it almost feels like it’s too close. As a self-portrait, the gaze turns unusually down and away but not in any evasive way. There is quiet confidence here. The little negative space above the shoulder is a great touch that holds everything together in an unassuming way, and it’s kind of a nice little mini painting inside the larger painting. All the details work together in a very clever way that you don’t even notice because you’re too busy looking at the portrait.”
The art exhibition is on at the Subiaco Library until 8 August.
Once again, congratulations Natalie.
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
