The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) and ‘the churchie’ are thrilled to announce Emily Parsons-Lord as the winner of ‘the churchie’ national emerging arts prize 2020. Parsons-Lord is the recipient of the non-acquisitive $15,000 cash prize donated by long-standing sponsor, BSPN Architecture.
The winner was selected by Tarun Nagesh (Curator, Asian Art, QAGOMA) and announced at the finalists’ exhibition launch live streamed via the IMA’s social media on Friday 18 September.
Emily Parsons-Lord’s large-scale video work Standing Still (with practice, one may learn to accept the feelings of groundlessness) (2020) explores climate change-induced cleaving and crumbling, and its residue as a site of extreme physical and emotional destruction. The work unmasks the tenuousness of our foundations, both physically and emotionally, as compounding heat stress buckles infrastructure and the affecting experience of watching the world crumble perturbs the human psyche.
Parsons-Lord is a New South Wales based artist whose practice is concerned with air and explosions. Her recent work has recreated the air from past eras in Earth’s evolution, recreated starlight in coloured smoke, and experimented with pheromones, aerogel, and explosions. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and participated in Primavera (2016), Liveworks (2017) and John Fries Award (2018).
Tarun Nagesh, the judge of this year’s prize said, “Emily Parsons-Lord’s gripping performances and interventions revel in the ability to invoke a feeling of wondrous possibility while gesturing toward an impending sense of loss. Through ethereal encounters, underpinned by rigorous intellectual and environmental enquiry, she appeals to our most instinctive bodily reactions and fundamental human concerns.”
Nagesh went on to say that, “the 2020 Emerging Art Prize reflects the immense diversity of talent and the great vitality of emerging practices in Australia today, where some of our most exciting artistic talents present us with pertinent questions and insights about contemporary culture and the state of the world. In a textured exhibition, peppered with examples of courageous material and intellectual enquiry and provocation, ‘the churchie’ finalists have provided poignant reflections on the past and speculative propositions toward the future.”
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘the churchie’ has showcased how a digitised model can be used to continue to run artists’ prizes and exhibitions online. To overcome the travel restrictions placed on the exhibition finalists and visiting audiences outside of Queensland, ‘the churchie’ have live streamed the major announcement and delivered the winner’s and curator’s speeches via direct video. A virtual walk-through of the finalists’ exhibition has also been made available for audiences to access at any time via the IMA’s website.
The $5,000 Special Commendation prize sponsored by Fardoulys Constructions was also awarded to Nabilah Nordin on the evening of Friday 18 September. Marina Pumani Brown and Georgia Morgan were also awarded the two Commendation prizes of $1,000 sponsored by Madison Cleaning Services.
A People’s Choice Award of $3,000 sponsored by Madison Cleaning Services will also be awarded at the conclusion of the exhibition.
The work of the 13 finalists will be on display at the Institute of Modern Art until 19 December 2020. The full list of finalists of ‘the churchie’ emerging art prize are: Nathan Beard, Tom Blake, Jessica Bradford, Marina Pumani Brown, Martin George, Yasbelle Kerkow, Guy Louden, Lachlan McKee, Georgia Morgan, Nabilah Nordin, James Nguyen, Emily Parsons-Lord, and Athena Thebus.
