Monument to interpretation

FOR artist Belinda Fox, winning the inaugural $10,000 Paul Guest Drawing Prize could not have come at a better time.Ms Fox, a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, entered a watercolour entitled Monument that was described as extraordinary by judge Roger Butler.Her piece was announced the winner of the non-acquisitive prize during a special opening at Bendigo Art Gallery last night.The Brunswick-based 35-year-old said she had been struggling to make ends meet as a full-time artist.She is also mum to 11-month-old Billie.“It has been hard with bills mounting up, but to be awarded the Paul Guest Drawing Prize was such a big boost and a vote of confidence for me as an artist,” she said.Mr Butler, who flew in from the Nation Gallery of Australia in Canberra, described the winning watercolour as a mystery with sinister undertones.“The work doesn’t reveal itself as soon as you see it; rather, it invites you to interpret it through its complexity,” he said.“I’m intrigued by the use of the ink blot suggesting a duality in the work – we see an army tank on one side, while on the other the tank’s form has morphed into something seemingly more sinister.”Mr Butler said selecting the winner was incredibly difficult, but it had been an honour to take part.Thirty-seven artists and 36 works were shortlisted for the inaugural Paul Guest Drawing Prize.The display opens this morning at Bendigo Art Gallery and runs until October 10.