Lori Pensini

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2024 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist and Gallerysmith, Melbourne]}

Artist Statement

Budgerigars have adapted to survive in harsh inland conditions of Australia. They are nomadic and flocks move on from sites as environmental conditions change particularly the availability of food and water. For us on the land, budgerigars are a synonymous sign of abundance and fortuitous times. We would only see them on really good season, the flocks of thousands would fill the skies in fluid, choreographic spectacle. 

The budgerigars in this piece are metaphors for hope as we endure one our driest periods on record in Western Australia. The drought has withered everything, the dust unrelenting, dispiriting despair. I look beseechingly to the natural world, surveying cues from the sky and birds for signs of change, the promise of rain and the chance to feel alive again, unfettered, vital.