When Ivy Mutuku would walk through the Wyndham Art Gallery she never imagined her art would one day be displayed on the walls.
The Point Cook resident was recently awarded the Local Emerging Art Prize for her video titled ‘The Way She Looks’.
Mutuku said winning was almost like a “full circle moment” as she felt like her work was “sparked” in the very building it was being exhibited in.
“It is a split screen visualiser, it’s two perspectives in one .. .I wanted to give the effect of where it looks like two and we’re watching her, and essentially it ends with her watching us,” Mutuku said.
“Throughout the whole thing it flickers from one eye to both eyes…and we see a young African woman going throughout her days and we see a rollercoaster of emotions she feels through actions, symbolic themes, and just beautiful cinematography and lighting.”
Mutuku hopes people step away from viewing art work online and examine her work in “it’s own scale” in real life.
“I think all my work is, I never tell you what to think, I never tell you what to say. I know what it means to me, but I’m also intrigued to see what it sparks in other people. So what I hope it ignites in somebody is a thought, a conversation, an idea,” she said.
“It’s also like a form of research, ‘do I only feel this? or do other people feel this?’ I feel like in this world sometimes it can feel like we’re the only ones, but we’re actually not.”
The Wyndham Art Prize top award was given to Lilah Benetti for her photographic portrait titled ‘More like a River.’
Benetti said she was surprised when finding out she won the $15,000 prize for her art.
“I’m still shocked … it’s not that i don’t believe in myself or believe in my work, but it’s a complete different thing when you get that from an external source, let alone such a prestigious place as Wyndham Arts Centre,” she said.
“It was like ‘oh wow, you like it too?’ it still doesn’t really feel like a real thing. It’s really beautiful to feel like your work is being honoured.”
Benetti said she wanted to create something that reflected the changes that she’d been through over the last few years, both internally and within her community as a black person and as a queer person.
“I don’t necessarily always say I’m a queer artist or i’m a black artist…I’m an artist in my own right, but I’m starting to learn the importance of visibility,” she said.
“It was…acknowledging all of the growth and all of the change that had happened, kind of like a rebirthing.”
An exhibition featuring works from the Wyndham Art Prize finalists will be available for viewing at the Wyndham Art Gallery until August 7.
When selecting what art to present, curator megan evans said they have a commitment to show local and emerging artists.
“It’s a big of a jigsaw puzzle, trying to select the work and place the work so we end up with a really beautiful show and also a diversity of mediums,” she said.
“I think there’s really extraordinary talent [in Wyndham] and it’s growing.”
