Perry Prize People's Choice Award 2024
28 Mar 2024
Congratulations to Jody Graham, this year's Perry Prize winner
We congratulate Sydney-based artist Jody Graham, winner of the $25,000 acquisitive Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2022, for her work titled Cinder Dance.
From over 400 entries, this year’s judge, Dr Andrew Frost, writer, critic, curator and documentary maker, selected forty-six finalists for exhibition. He commended the entries of Margaret McKenna, Luanne Mitchelmore and Nadia Odlum before announcing Jody Graham’s work as the recipient of the 2022 award at the opening event on Friday 25 February at Adelaide Perry Gallery in Sydney.
Congratulations also goes to Emma Pattenden, winner of the 2022 People's Choice Award for her work, 'Mount William'. Emma's entry was voted 'most popular' by visitors to the Gallery who attended the Exhibition of Finalists.
In a statement about the winning work, Graham said: “During the time I was researching the Black Summer Fires, I connected with Den Barber, who runs Yarrabin Cultural Connections (YCC). Den is an Aboriginal man, descendant of the Traditional Custodians from Mudgee of the Wiradjuri people in the central tablelands of New South Wales. What I discovered from Den helped me understand more about cultural burning and how it is all about caring for the environment.
When I made Cinder Dance, I invited nature to participate in the process and submerged the drawing into a dam. I then used rocks and tree sap to mark and colour the drawing, and hit and swung large charcoal branches at the drawing.”
Jody Graham
