A pair of oil paintings exploring the subject of autism won the $400 People’s Choice Award in the Youth Art Exhibition at the Darlington Arts Festival in November last year.

The artist, Manon Mason (18) of Darlington, enjoys working with children and is looking after a boy on the autism spectrum. “I love him very much,” she declared. “I think the subject is not talked about enough and should be looked at from a different perspective.”

In her artwork diptych, titled ‘Intrusion’, Manon sees the mood of the first painting as dark, portraying intrusion, discomfort and physical interaction. A swarm of wasps, which she made from wire, invade the canvas from above.

The second painting is warmer, more comforting: “There’s no physical interaction. In the first, the wasps are scary and intrusive, but in the second they are presented in scientific diagrams and text – not confronting. I hate wasps,” she added.

Manon has loved art from an early age. “It runs in the family – my gran, my auntie and my mum all love it. I especially love drawing children. It was one of my ATAR subjects and I still love doing it as a hobby.”

Having graduated from Helena College, Manon is enjoying a gap year and looking forward to entering Curtin University in 2020. In the meantime she wants to learn sign language. “I am interested in communication,” she explained, “I want to be a teacher and continue working with kids.”

The People’s Choice award is sponsored annually by the Mundaring Bicentennial Scholarship Trust (administrators of the Robert Juniper Award for the Arts), as part of the Darlington Arts Festival Youth Art Exhibition which is open to students aged 13 to 18.