Congratulations to Jo Davenport and Naomi Hobson who have been announced as finalists in the prestigious Len Fox Painting Award 2024.
Jo Davenport’s stunning work ‘Love Song Lost’ depicts the love song of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeaters. With the song critical for their survival, the species is dwindling due to the young birds losing their tune of the melody due to the scarcity of their elders.
‘For me colour and light are optimistic markers for the natural environment. Filling my painting with vivid yellows and dappled light, I hope to keep the life of this critically endangered little bird, the Regent Honeyeater, throbbing with life and spirit. - Jo Davenport, Extract from Artist Statement.
Naomi Hobson’s incredible work ‘Thrives in flocks’ depicts her life in Coen and the vibrant landscape surrounding her. With a jewel like colour palette, Hobson brings to life the joy of nature.
‘I paint scenes of everyday life; what it feels like to live here on the banks of the Coen River, in my Cape York Community of Coen. The landscape is so bright and vivid here. Every brushstroke expresses the innate embeddedness of my culture submerged deep within the textured layers of colour, line and shape. It’s the simple thing in life that I am attracted to… like the smell of rain, and a campfire, the feeling of the morning sun during wintertime in June, fallen flowers and seeds making way for new life; a new beginning, an apricot sky telling us that dry season is here and the calling of birds in the morning along the river…’-Naomi Hobson, Artist Statement
The exhibition of finalists will be on display at Castlemaine Art Museum from 27 September - 2 March 2025.
