The award, first established in 2022, is intended to champion the work of Australian women artists.
Presented by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Swiss luxury skincare house La Prairie, the La Prairie Art Award supports Australian women artists through an international artist residency and the development or expansion of a new body of work. The artist’s work will also be acquired by the Art Gallery for its collection.
Western Sydney-based Filipina–Australian artist Santiago was selected by the Art Gallery and La Prairie and her two paintings A Seat at the Table (Magulang) and A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) will enter the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ collection.
Santiago will also travel to Switzerland in June 2024 to attend the Art Basel International Art Fair 2024 as a guest of La Prairie.
Santiago’s tender portraits, destined for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, portray two generations of Santiago’s family – her parents and her sister – with magulang translating to ‘parents’ and kapatid to ‘sibling’ in Tagalog.
A Seat at the Table (Magulang) depicts the artist’s nanay (mother) and tatay (father) at one end of a table laid with lechon (roast pig), banana leaf and a bird of paradise flower. A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) is an inverted portrait of Santiago seated next to her sister at a table laid with narcissus daisies and a python snake, a symbol of temptation and sin. The works also feature marks made by Santiago’s three young children, who are credited as artistic collaborators in much of her work.
“The La Prairie Art Award is a tangible reward for my parents whose sacrifice and hardship in migrating to Australia provided opportunity and the privileges of my upbringing, which, I firmly believe, allowed me to pursue a career in art while raising a family,” said Santiago after the announcement.
The artist said it was fitting that portraits of migrant parents and their daughters will enter the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales where they will represent the Filipino and migrant communities from Western Sydney.
“It is a privilege to contribute to the culture of my communities with whom I share all my accomplishments,” she said.
Art Gallery of New South Wales senior curator of contemporary Australian art, Beatrice Gralton says Marikit’s paintings probe the artist’s relationship between art and life, career and family, myth and reality.
“Using oil paint and gold leaf alongside humble materials such as cardboard boxes and markers, Marikit produces rich and detailed compositions, layered with cultural and religious symbolism,” says Gralton.
“Her deeply personal and meticulous practice explores her lived Filipina–Australian experience through the canon of Western art history. These paintings are a love letter to her family, her culture and Australia.”
Santiago is the third recipient of the annual award, which was granted to Sydney-based artist Thea Anamara Perkins in 2023 and Melbourne-based artist Atong Atem in 2022.
Swiss luxury skincare house La Prairie is known worldwide for its support of the arts and of daring women artists. In addition to the La Prairie Art Award, the brand is a major sponsor of Art Basel Hong Kong, Basel and Miami and West Bund in Shanghai since 2017 and the patron of iconic cultural institutions such as Fondation Beyeler (Switzerland), MoMa Ps1 (US) and Centre Pompidou (France).
Santiago’s works A Seat at the Table (Magulang) and A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) are on display on as part of the Making Worlds exhibition on lower level 1 of the Art Gallery’s North Building until 28 July 2024.
