Congratulations to the 2020 SACE Art Show's Eckersley Encouragement Award winner Abbey Wood! The Brighton Secondary School graduate won the award for her piece ‘Pagliacci’. Abbey will receive a gift pack kindly donated by Eckersley’s Art and Craft store.

"'Pagliacci' is an emotional self-portrait that was painted for the purpose of both normalizing and conveying my inner feelings. The original Pagliacci play heavily inspired my work, although, other artists inspired me to create this piece. The blue undertones and extensive use of colour in the face, was inspired by Wayne Theibaud. Where the bright white tones and neutral background was inspired by Édouard Manet. Hopper also sparked the idea of exploring clowns with his painting ‘Soir Bleu.’ Clown makeup and designs where researched before painting my face. Photography was done at home with harsh lights to create more shadow and dimension in my face. While taking photos, my arm was placed towards the bottom of the frame to balance the composition. Various paints were experimented with, oil paints seemed the most appropriate for the layered composition I was going for."

View Abbey's practitioners statement [PDF 30KB]