Online Exhibition

Tour Art Competition 2021

2021’s Tour Art Competition challenged new artists to submit an artwork based on the theme of 'Forces of Nature’

Our 2021 Tour Art Competition competition challenged entrants to create an artwork inspired by the theme of ‘Forces of Nature’.

Artists were asked to create works that celebrate, represent and question our insoluble relationship to nature. They could take opera as the inspiration or interpret the theme through ideas of cultivated gardens and celebrated landscape views, or wild, complicated natural phenomena and threatened environments.

Glyndebourne curator Nerissa Taysom said of this year’s entries: ‘This year we have received an extraordinary response to the Tour Art Competition, with entries from 18 different countries. The standard has been exceptionally high and we’ve seen a diverse range of techniques, from painting and printmaking to sculpture, photography and digital art. The Tour Art Competition continues to uncover new and emerging talent and we are excited to be showcasing global perspectives on the theme of nature. Keren Golea is a worthy winner. Her painting, Emergence, already demonstrates her mastery of figurative art. Her confident handling of paint, photographic level of detail and exquisite balance of colour transform nature into a revelatory moment.’

Born and raised in the Philippines, Golea discovered her potential in painting at age 17. A few years later, following the completion of a Bachelor Degree in Business Economics, Golea enrolled at Oxford Brookes University, where she is currently in her third year studying Fine Arts, specialising in portrait painting. Growing up, Golea found herself surrounded by beautiful forests, beaches, and islands, and nature is one of her biggest sources of inspiration.

Her winning entry Emergence is painted in oils, a medium the artist likes to use for its versatility and complexity. The woman featured in the painting is a representation of human vulnerability, beauty, and resilience, whilst the water and the composition of light represent the natural forces that surround us.

Keren Golea’s piece can be seen on the cover of the Tour 2021 Programme, which can be ordered from our online shop now.

For prices or to enquire about any of the works in this exhibition please contact our curator Nerissa Taysom – nerissa.taysom@glyndebourne.com

Winner

Emergence
Keren Golea
Oil on linen
122 x 91.5 cm

‘I was completely ecstatic when I found out that I had won the competition. After I painted Emergence I have realised that I have so much potential within me. Potential that is untapped, dormant, capped, unused and hidden, and that challenged me to go on with the work that I’m doing and release that potential inside me. Although I was a little seed, the potential of being a forest is within me. This competition reminded me of my potential or human’s potential; that we can always do what we haven’t done yet and that we are our own raw material for greatness.’