An artist researching screen-based contemporary art practice and how it reflects on human engagement with the natural world was last night awarded QUT’s $10,000 Hilde Chenhall Memorial Scholarship in Visual Arts.
Briony Law was presented the award by Professor Mandy Thomas, Executive Dean of QUT's Faculty of Creative Industries, who said Briony was in her final year of her Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours.
“Briony’s extraordinary creative work often takes the form of video installations. The selection panel noted her technically ambitious use of screen-based imagery and material objects to create unexpected viewing experiences,” said Professor Thomas.
“They noted that ‘as an investigation of the mediated condition of our concept of nature, her works are a thought-provoking and timely contribution to contemporary debates about our relationship to the environment’. I would add that her approach to the visual arts is exciting and innovative.”
Professor Thomas said the scholarship would allow Briony to develop work for a solo exhibition next year and purchase the necessary equipment to maintain her video practice as well as undertake an international residency.
The Hilde Chenhall Memorial Scholarship is a legacy of late Sunshine Coast painter Hilde Chenhall and was established in 2011 as QUT’s first visual arts bursary with the aim of helping disadvantaged artists kick start their careers and achieve their dreams.
“Winning this generous scholarship will be pivotal in setting up my creative practice outside the university context,” Briony said.
“It will enable me to execute the next steps of my professional career while contributing to the visual arts field more broadly. I am incredibly grateful for this rare opportunity and feel a keen responsibility to live up to the aims of the scholarship.”
More information about Briony and her artwork, can be viewed online.
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver, QUT Media, 07 3138 3151, amanda.weaver@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
