OCAD University congratulates graduate Rajni Perera on being named as one of the five finalists for the 2021 Sobey Art Award, which is jointly administered by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation.
Perera, who represents the Ontario region, completed her BFA in Drawing and Painting at OCAD U in 2011.
Her work explores diasporic mythology through the lens of science fiction. Drawing upon her own rich visual experience of immigrant culture, and her environmental concerns arising from colonialism and the ravages of capitalist-driven resource extraction, she imagines an off-world that is triumphant.
She has had exhibitions in venues around the world, including Tramway in Glasgow, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto, the Colombo Art Biennale in Sri Lanka, and Art League Houston.
Perera is a recipient of several grants, including from the Canada Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. A recent project is Traveller, a mixed-media series that portrays immigrants as humanity’s future victors, in a place where “the formerly displaced are presently powerful, safe, protected and flourishing.”
About the Sobey Art Award
Globally recognized as one of the world’s most generous privately funded prizes for contemporary visual artists, the Sobey Art Award celebrates the careers of emerging Canadian artists of all ages through financial support, an exhibition highlighting the practices of the five shortlisted artists, as well as national and international recognition.
The overall winner of the award will receive $100,000 while each of the four other shortlisted artists will receive $25,000. The remaining 20 longlisted artists will receive $10,000 each. In addition, the five shortlisted artists will be featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada during the fall of 2021.
Five OCAD U graduates, along with Perera, were among the longlist of arts for the 2021 award.
OCAD U graduates among past winners
Last year, two OCAD University graduates, Georgia Dickie and Tsēmā Igharas, were among the 25 recipients of the 2020 Sobey Art Award. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes were made to the 2020 award program so that each of the 25 artists on the jury-selected longlist received $25,000.
Artist and OCAD U alum Stephanie Comilang won the prestigious Sobey Art Award in 2019. The artist, representing the Ontario region, was awarded Canada's most prestigious contemporary art prize worth $100,000.