Lorena Levi, winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2022 joins the judging panel for this years competition. Here, the oil painter shares her advice for other artists submitting their work and shares some of the artworks that inspire her own art practice.
Above image: Growing pines, 2022, Lorena Levi, Oil on wood, 75 x 100 cm | 29.5 x 39.3 in
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
Lorena: My name is Lorena Levi, I’m a narrative portraiture artist based in London. My work switches between portraits of people in my personal life looking at their internal worlds and relationships, and research projects where I use the internet to collect information about strangers in unorthodox methods (chat room sites, psychoanalytical papers, trip advisor reviews), again interested in their psychology.
Sisters, 2019
Lorena Levi
Oil on MDF, 90 x 100 cm | 35.4 x 39.3 in
What have been your exhibition highlights of 2022? Who are the artists or artworks you were most inspired by this past year?
Lorena: A more recent one that impacted probably every portrait artist including myself was the Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery. His earlier paintings where he exaggerates the size of the eyes are particularly impactful for me. They’re arresting paintings where the viewer can have a window into the subject’s personality through their demeanour and gaze.
I saw the Annette Messager: desires, disorders at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and found her act of story telling through sculpture really moving. Her method of displaying her inner world through tangible objects felt really intimate.
Work mother, home father, 2021
Lorena Levi
Oil on wood, 40 x 60 cm | 15.7 x 23.6 in
How important do you think awards and competitions are for artists today?
Lorena: I would always recommend newer artists to apply to competitions and prizes. It’s a really excellent way to get your work seen by people you’d find more difficult to access otherwise. When I decided to do art full time I put so much attention and time into applying for competitions and exhibitions. I got a lot of rejections but some successes and it’s not only great for building thicker skin but gets your work seen by those already in the industry.
A kind of family portrait, 2021
Lorena Levi
Oil on MDF, 70 x 50 cm | 27.5 x 19.6 in
What will you be looking for in the entries submitted to the competition this year?
Lorena: As cliché as it is I’ll be looking for something I haven’t really seen before. Work that makes me want to see what other paintings the artist has done and how their style will continue in future work. I’d really like to see artists paintings have an intimacy between painting and viewer but also something that holds a form of universality where people can recognise the theme of the painting in their own life and past experiences.
Do you have any advice for artists out there thinking about entering Jackson’s Painting Prize this year?
Lorena: Don’t overthink what you should put in, don’t think about which painting will win you a prize. Base it totally off what work you love and what work you felt passionate about when creating. Submit work that is intrinsically you and your style.
It’s disappointing that there isn’t at least one
older woman on the judging panel.
Hi Sandy, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Representation is always something we keep in mind when curating a panel of expert judges for the Jackson’s Painting Prize and this is evident in the panels from past competitions. We take great care in inviting a balanced panel of judges, but those who we invite are not always able to commit. That said, we hear you and will continue to take this into consideration when selecting future panels. We are excited to see the selections from this years team of expert judges and we welcome any suggestions for future panel members. Best, Clare