Local Artist Lori Pensini has won the People’s Choice award in Newcastle Art Gallery’s annual Kilgour Prize with her piece 'Pride and Predjudice'.
Mrs Pensini has taken out the award for 2018, with her intimate and loving portrait of her two cousins which conveys a story of the "social and political prejudices of the colonial era."
One in ten voters in the category voted for Mrs Pensini's work, depicting two girls in matching striped dresses, saying they felt a "serenity between two people" and "loved the women's faces."
"It becomes so apparent when viewing this intimate portrait that the artist has a strong connection to the subject," Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton said. Mrs Pensini has taken out the award for 2018, with her intimate and loving portrait of her two cousins which conveys a story of the "social and political prejudices of the colonial era."
One in ten voters in the category voted for Mrs Pensini's work, depicting two girls in matching striped dresses, saying they felt a "serenity between two people" and "loved the women's faces."
"Her deft skill in rendering their striped dressed further unifies the strong bond between the cousins."
The portrait also coveys the complex history of race relations in Australia and her recently discovered personal Aboriginal heritage.
The artist statement tells the story of her ancestors, who concealed in secret from all latter generations the marriage of two sons to local Noongar women.
Mrs Pensini was awarded $5,000 in prize money by local Artist Jack Noel Kilgourn.
Sydney artist Natasha Walsh won the offical prize in the competition with her self-portrait and was awarded $50,000.
The Kilgour prize exhibition will remain on display at the Newcastle Gallery until the 21st of October. 
