Katherine Gailer (AKA Katira) has been selected as a finalist for the Wyndham Art Prize 2021. Now in its seventh year, this annual contemporary art prize attracts entries from some of the best artists across Australia and offers a chance for local and emerging artists to exhibit alongside them.
In 2021 we are proud to offer a $12,000 non-acquisitive prize, a $5,000 acquisitive Local Emerging Art Prize and excited to announce that our $2,500 People’s Choice Award will be sponsored by Arts Assist this year.
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Painting details: Katherine Gailer, Mestiza With A Blue Mask, Oil Painting on canvas, 50 x 50 cm, 2021.
Originally from Colombia and currently working in Australia, Gailer draws on her diverse background to combine elements of sacred geometry, mythology, animals, and the spiritual realm, and pave the way for the development of a new archetypal imagery, steeped in primal feelings and strongly rooted in cultural and spiritual identity. Elements of balance and tension are often juxtaposed throughout her work, underscoring the main theme that looks at the complex relationship between fragility and strength, vulnerability and empowerment– elements which in essence come to define female experience.
Moreover the representation of the female subject is one of her core inspirations: the investigation of the female body as a symbol of sexuality, motherhood, beauty and ambiguity. Her work incorporates painting, drawing, and illustration.
