Maitland Regional Art Gallery was packed to the rafters on Friday night for the announcement of this year's winner of the Brenda Clouten Memorial Prize.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The award went to 21-year-old Maggie Hensel-Brown, whose mixed media installations won her an 11-week exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
The prize received a record 14 entries this year, from as far as Singleton and Lake Macquarie, and was open to aspiring artists under 25 years.
"It means everything I'm so chuffed," Hensel-Brown said.
"To be 21 and to have your own solo show somewhere like Maitland Regional Art Gallery it's amazing.
"I felt like I was in with a chance, but it was a shock [to win]."
The young artist's work will be on display at MRAG from September 7 to November 11 and she will need some more artworks to make it a full exhibition.
"I'm very nervous; it's a much bigger gallery than anything I've exhibited in before," Hensel-Brown said.
The artist creates large-scale sculptures using raw, man-made materials and then weaves in feminine flourishes such as ribbons and frills.
She attended Linuwel in year 12 and is studying an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts at the Hunter Street TAFE Campus.
"It was her attention to detail her installations were just fabulous," prize co-ordinator and co-founder Vicki Woods said of the winner's work.
Ms Woods and husband Bruce established the prize in 2005 in honour of their friend Brenda Clouten.
"It started as a way to keep the memory of our friend Brenda Clouten alive, who we lost to breast cancer," Ms Woods said.
"But now it's about giving young artists an opportunity to grow."
