Clare McFarlane was born in the small country town of Kojonup, but has lived on Perth since 1990. Clare completed a Masters and an Honours Degree in Fine Art from Curtin University, where she also completed a Graduate Diploma in Cultural Heritage. Much of her work contemplates the natural world, especially the local environment, our relationship to it and the way we express ourselves through our interpretation of it. She has used patterns as the image foundation and a metaphor for our culture and its conventions and its need for order and understanding. Clare’s recent work focuses on the rural environment and farmland on which she grew up.

She has been exhibiting for over twenty years having held many solo exhibitions in Perth and Melbourne and participated in multiple group shows. She has also completed a number of public art works and murals for various agencies including the State Government, Form, the City of Perth and the City of Subiaco. Her work can be found in numerous collections including the Cruthers Collection at UWA, Janet Holmes à Court Collection, Edith Cowan University Collection, Curtin University, Artbank, City of Perth, City of Bayswater, City of Wanneroo, Perth Children’s Hospital, as well as many private collections.

The prestigious John Stringer Prize – created in 2015 in honour of acclaimed curator, the late John Stringer (1937–2007) – commissions six contemporary Western Australian artists to create new work from which the winning artist will be determined by a secret ballot conducted by The Collectors Club members.

The exhibition features new work created specifically for the Prize by Merrick Belyea, Theo Costantino, Daniel Kristjansson, Clare McFarlane, Ross Potter and Lea Taylor, in a range of media including drawing, painting, photography, installation and textiles.

The John Stringer Prize is a non-acquisitive, annual award aimed at recognising and supporting outstanding Western Australian visual art practice and is generously supported by The Collectors Club and the Kerry Stokes Collection. The Prize was established in memory of John Stringer, renowned Curator of the Kerry Stokes Collection and advisor to The Collectors Club, who passed away in 2007. It honours John’s life and the legacy of his influence on and contribution to local visual arts and culture. In keeping with John’s passionate devotion to the arts, and his wish to see greater patronage of local talent, the Prize is intended to encourage and support Western Australian artists.

The Prize, which was conceived and facilitated by The Collectors Club, connects locally based artists with collectors, thus contributing to the vibrancy and economic viability of the Western Australian art scene.

The John Stringer Prize 2021 is open 19 November – 15 December 2021.

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