Basil Sellers Art Prize 2024 winner Lexie Watt
About the artist
Lexie Watt’s practice is grounded in the Australian landscape, with a particular fascination for trees shaped by weather, time and endurance. She seeks out specimens that are bent, twisted and ‘have something to say in their stature,’ rendering them with meticulous graphite detail and restrained watercolour washes. Her multi‑disciplinary background includes porcelain, inks, printmaking and children’s book illustration, with six published picture books, including one she both wrote and illustrated.
Winning artwork
Title: Windblown tree - Bombo Headland
Medium: Graphite pencil with watercolour
Dimensions: 93 × 57 cm
This prize‑winning work captures wind‑canted trees on Bombo Headland. Watt visited at different times of day to observe shifting light across twisted branches. Predominantly in graphite, the drawing is heightened with subtle washes and a limited palette.
Practice and approach
Watt’s method is slow and observational: she structures form and texture in graphite, then adds minimal watercolour to modulate light and tone. Her landscapes often reveal resilience—places where exposure writes itself into bark and limb.
Exhibition and recognition
Selected from a national field of finalists, Watt’s work was exhibited at the Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre in Moruya from 7 December 2024 to 1 February 2025. She was announced as the winner of the Basil Sellers Art Prize on 6 December 2024.