Multidisciplinary performance artist Ida Sophia has won the Art Gallery of South Australia’s $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize for 2023 — Australia’s richest award for artists under 40!
The winning 12-minute video piece, titled ‘Witness’, was chosen from a shortlist of 27 finalists and from more than 300 entries to the national art prize open to contemporary artists across any medium.
Ida’s emotive artwork was inspired by her childhood experience becoming ‘super religious’ after watching her father’s baptism, and showcases her being dunked in the water repetitively. It was filmed in a single take over 31-minutes in the water at The Pool of Siloam in regional South Australia.
Ida was overcome with emotion at this morning’s announcement, saying it was a ‘career highlight’ to win the prestigious award, held every two years. Her work will also now be acquired into AGSA’s collection.
This year’s judging panel included Aaron Seeto, director of Jakarta’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Nusantara; Perth artist Erin Coates; and Nici Cumpston, the AGSA’s director of Tarnanthi, the gallery’s festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
‘Ida Sophia’s winning work, impressed us with its sophisticated concept, personal symbolism, and emotional connection to the site of performance,’ says Aaron Seeto.
Other works from the diverse finalists range from a wooden sculpture by Olive Gill-Hille to Fremantle-based artist Emma Buswell’s installation of knitted jumpers, and a painting by Corban Clause Williams, of Western Australia’s Martumili Artists.
See all the shortlisted works from the Ramsay on show at the Art Gallery of South Australia until August 27!
