Canberra artist, E.L.K has won the 2010 Australian Stencil Art Prize for his ‘Saul Williams’ stencil artwork.
Winning $2000 for his ingenious efforts, E.L.K’s photo realist stencil of American poet, writier, actor and musician Saul Williams blew away the judges with its technical skill.
E.L.K’s winning piece will be exhibited along with 19 other finalists at Oh Really Gallery in Newtown, Sydney from November 11-21.
As a self taught artist, E.L.K has spent the last six years creating and honing his own technique of painstakingly meticulous stencil art. At first glimpse, it’s hard to believe that something so photo realistic was created with a spray can.
Spending up to 200 hours on each artwork, E.L.K describes the process as a secluded one, with only his dog, music and audio books to keep him company. He makes the stencils by carefully cutting out layer upon layer of shade and detail from recycled acetate plastic. He then uses a spray can to build up the image from the lightest colour to the darkest.
In 2008, E.L.K won the Most Popular Piece at the Melbourne Stencil Festival Poster Competition. He was a finalist in the first Australian Stencil Art Prize in 2009. His work was put on display together with Parisian, Blek Le Rat, a.k.a ‘Godfather of stencil art’ in Los Angeles, USA. His artwork has also been shown in numerous countries including Iran, Germany, Britain and Australia as well as in youth workshops in Australian venues such as the Belconnen Art Centre and the National Portrait Gallery.
Winning the Australian Stencil Art Prize is another great step in E.L.K’s career.
One of the main goals of the ASAP is to appreciate stencil art and to reward stencil artists. And with the amazing artworks that came out this year, they have done exactly that.
