Q&A: Atong Atem on her La Prairie Art Award
I came back from the residency with a stronger sense of my artistic intention, my aesthetic interests and a much more global view of my work as an artist as well as many new opportunities to realise these changes.
Atong Atem is an Ethiopian-born, South Sudanese artist and writer based in Melbourne. In 2022, she was the inaugural recipient of the La Prairie Art Award for her work A yellow dress, a bouquet 2022.
A partnership between the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Swiss luxury skincare house La Prairie, the La Prairie Art Award champions the work of women artists. It comprises of the acquisition of artwork for the Art Gallery collection and an international artist residency. As part of the award, the recipient travels to Zurich, Switzerland and attends the Art Basel international art fair as a guest of La Prairie. We asked Atong Atem about this experience.
Atong Atem with her work A yellow dress, a bouquet 2022 at the award announcement
How has receiving the award influenced your practice and career over the past year?
Receiving the award was a really pivotal moment. It provided me with an overwhelming amount of exposure, which led to a lot of opportunities to present my work to new audiences. The prize also allowed me to access resources and equipment that were previously out of reach but also allowed me some space to slow down somewhat. The residency meant that I met people who I am now working with and has opened up some really exciting future opportunities internationally.
Could you tell us about the international residency you undertook as part of the award? What were the highlights?
I spent some time in Switzerland with representatives from the La Prairie team and some of their network. We were mostly in Zurich but were treated to trips to the countryside and a very inspiring day at Art Basel. It was incredible to have free reign of some major institutions like Kunsthaus, Fondation Beyeler and Museum Haus Konstrucktiv among many others. We attended dinners and events and several private tours that added to my desire to do as much arts-based research as possible while on the residency. I spent several more weeks in Europe, including time in Paris, London, Spain and the Netherlands, focusing on visiting museums and galleries for research and inspiration. I was also able to attend several meetings with curators and artists in some of the cities I stayed in with the support of Art Gallery of New South Wales staff.
Photos by Atong Atem from her residency
The La Prairie Art Award focuses on supporting and showcasing Australian women artists. How important is it to you that these opportunities exist for women artists practising today?
It’s been an honour to be part of an award that prioritises women artists in Australia. I think it’s imperative that the arts be equitable and honestly reflect the world and people we live amongst. Making opportunities that aim to flatten structural imbalances is an important way to do that and has materially improved my arts career.
After a momentous year, what is on the horizon for you in the coming years?
I’m mostly working on creating work in a slow and intentional way. I think it can be difficult for emerging and mid-career artists to be slow and deliberate with their practice, at least that has been my experience. It has often felt impossible to support myself as an artist with slow, conceptual work but I now have more resources available to me than ever before so that’s what I plan to do.
My practice has always been centred on research and a conceptual relationship to history and I think the resulting works should be as considered and deliberate as the concepts that inspire them. I’m excited that I’m finally able to do that in some capacity. I have several works in the next few years that I hope will reflect this new direction.
Atong Atem at home in 2022, photo: Kristoffer Paulsen
What advice would you pass on to future recipients of the La Prairie Art Award?
The award is an opportunity at its core. I think it can be whatever the recipient wants it to be, so my advice would be to be intentional about what you want from this high level of recognition and support. I think I realised that maybe midway through. If I were to receive the award today, I would start with an honest and introspective conversation with myself asking why I make art at all then extrapolate my desires from there.
The 2023 recipient of the La Prairie Art Award is announced on 14 March 2023.