Congratulations to Marikit Santiago, who has won the 2024 La Prairie Art Award for her two works A Seat at the Table (Magulang) and A Seat at the Table (Kapatid).
The Western Sydney-based Filipina–Australian artist is the third to win the award, which was founded in 2022 with the aim of championing women artists. It is an acquisitive award, and Sanitago’s works will now be entered into the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ collection. She will also participate in an international residency that includes travelling to Switzerland to attend the Art Basel International Art Fair in June 2024.
The winning works depict two generations of the artist’s family. A Seat at the Table (Magulang) is a portrait of Santiago’s nanay (mother) and tatay (father), and A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) is an inverted portrait of Santiago and her sister.
“The La Prairie Art Award is a tangible reward for my parents whose sacrifice and hardship in migrating to Australia provided opportunity and the privileges of my upbringing, which, I firmly believe, allowed me to pursue a career in art while raising a family,” says Santiago. “It’s fitting that, through the La Prairie Art Award, portraits of migrant parents and their daughters will enter the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales where they will represent the Filipino and migrant communities from Western Sydney. It is a privilege to contribute to the culture of my communities with whom I share all my accomplishments.”
Beatrice Gralton, senior curator of contemporary Australian art at the AGNSW said: “Marikit’s paintings probe the artist’s relationship between art and life, career and family, myth and reality. Using oil paint and gold leaf alongside humble materials such as cardboard boxes and markers, Marikit produces rich and detailed compositions, layered with cultural and religious symbolism. Her deeply personal and meticulous practice explores her lived Filipina–Australian experience through the canon of Western art history. These paintings are a love letter to her family, her culture and Australia.”
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