Another Win for a Young Sri Lankan Born Artist – Dilara Niriella

Dilara Niriella, a Sri Lankan born artist residing in Sydney, grabbed the first prize – tertiary at the Mosman Youth Art Competition 2018 held on the 17th of March at the Mosman Art gallery, Sydney.

The Mosman Youth Art Award is a popular competition with over 500 entries received annually.

Young artists aged between 12 – 21 submit artworks in a variety of media. The internationally renowned artist Ken Done AM initiated this prestigious art prize in 1988. Ken returned as a judge for the competition which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Presenting Dilara with the winning prize, Ken stated he was absolutely mesmerized by how she had captured a true likeliness of her subject who incidentally is her father, Anupa Niriella.

The work named “Sorry to interrupt…” depicts Dilara’s father at work at a surgeon’s table. The painting will be on exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery till the 15th of April.   Dilara, a one time Young Archies award winner is a presenter on channel 7’s “Get Arty” art show and also is currently sitting for a degree in Fine Arts at the University of NSW.