We are so proud of Lori Pensini for being chosen as the winner of the Kilgour Prize this year for her work 'Family'. JUDGES STATEMENT: 'There is a tension presented through this work - the portraits are haunting but also mesmerising' commented Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton. "it is not a divisive narrative, but one that embraces the individual stoires behind this family portrait. Artist Statement: These portraits are a continuum for myself and my art practice exploring the indigenous lineage to my ancestry. They are painted on family heirloom fine bone china English plates and are a tribute to the inter racial relationships of my colonial fore-bearers and the first people’s of the south west of Western Australia. Each plate is unique to itself, honouring individual endeavours and fortitude. Collectively they embody the sense of ‘family’, of intimate bonds forged and the endurance of fervent relationships that defied racial vilification of the times. The deliberation of painting on fine bone china english plates represents the fragility of our bonds and cultural identity, and delicately betrays the ruinous heavy hand of European colonisation both towards indigenous peoples and the Australian landscape.