CONTEMPORARY ART AWARDS 

Aaron McGarry 

New South Wales, Australia

Faggot #2

Synthetic polymer on linen

W121.5 x H152cm
2016
 

Representing a burden easy to bear, a faggot was a standardised Medieval unit of measurement. These are life-sized representations of this unit. Each bundle is individual and possessed of a unique character. They are treated as portraits of a thing of beauty. Differentiated by their bindings, knots and timbers, they are unified by meaning and scale. Constrained within a box and a constructed plane, they spill from this visual plane, breaking the boundaries. These works seek to question the notions of meaning, intent, and language. They address the symbolism of the faggot, in both its historical and contemporary significations.

Glenelg Jetty

Watercolour on crescent board
W69 x H59cm
2016

My art is an expression of life, reflective, an emotional response to people and nature, a savoring of the moment, the lifting of life, the observation and the emotional tie between the subject and the heart. Illustrations, raw art created outside the boundaries of official culture to satisfy an inner need. The overwhelming desire to share the experience of a world, an outsider looking in, a journey, the visual image is primarily a vehicle of my storytelling impulse.

Poe

Mixed media on watercolour paper

W42 x H29cm
2016
 

I love the addictive drama of drawing in charcoal. Through the process of layering and veiling charcoal, pastel, and gesso, my gestural marks may reveal an emotionally charged image, which offers me - and perhaps you - a seductive path in and into the darkness.

Data Rock (Take Me Somewhere Nice)

6 Archival inkjet prints face mounted to 6mm acrylic

W121 x H40cm each

2016
 

A series of abstract landscapes created by sequentially copying the colour of every pixel in six 100px by 100px images and pasting it successively to create entirely new images from the sampled pixels. Pixels interest me because they are the smallest controllable element of a picture. The aesthetics of copy and paste is, to me, the epitome of the transformative philosophy of sampling, and is the perfect response to the bombardment of media imagery. I believe that everyone should be able to create art, and thus meaning, out of the cultural materials of the everyday.

Traversing

Giclee ink print on archival cotton rag paper framed behind glass

W100 x H76cm 

2016
 

Kate Bender’s colourful abstract paintings are an immersive exploration of the internal spaces of the mind. The paintings are a sensorial experience that emanates a luminosity heightened by multi-directional light sources, radiating a charge of energy or a sense of tranquillity, while an overriding harmony arises from the colour relationships. The elements of both abstraction and illusionism create an uncertainty of the spaces and forms within, which invites further contemplation on the nature of ambiguity.

Untitled (Immersed Twelve)

Oil on canvas

W84 x H71cm

2016

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My work combines opposing wheel thrown forms; the vessel and non-vessel, the familiar and non-familiar, and the practical and abstract to extend the perception of three-dimensional objects associated with practical use. This combination occurs in still life painting and my practice investigates what happens when it is brought into three dimensions. 

The objects are unified by their symmetry around a central axis, the basis of wheel thrown form. I use colour and the placement of objects to give a sense of harmony and balance. A range of ceramic materials is used to disrupt their cultural status.

Paused Composition No.4

Wheel thrown stoneware and glaze

W50 x H25 x D20cm

2016

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A study in pattern and life, this piece is sublimated to metal and hangs as a finished item without distraction and borders. The pattern displayed is large, asymmetrical and limitless. The subjects; a pea plant and timber fence, come together in this piece to illustrate the congruous growth in everyday repetition. The study highlights aging, conformity, and metamorphous while bringing together the dichotomy of mystery and intrigue. Hidden in plain sight is the beauty of pattern and repetition on a grand scale.

Our Lives are Patterns

Brushed aluminium

W50.5 x x H76cm

2016

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This work reflects my interest in memory, perception, and reality. The aim of the work is to communicate the poetic in the everyday, showcasing the unfamiliar in the familiar. There is a limited colour palette and a careful use of negative space. The fact that it is dawn and covered in snow was a challenging aspect.

Winter Landscape

Acrylic on canvas

W76 x H61cm

2015

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Three Boxes

Animation

1920 x 1080 pixels

2016

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Eight Sticks on Rock Shelf and Sand (2016) is an ephemeral work that plays on perspective. By using the rock shelf half a meter above the sand and alternating the stick colours accordingly, I was able to capture the image as a whole. This image is no# 438 in a series of works created using only what is found on the ground and in that moment, using no tools and no photoshop. Everything must connect to create the harmony and balance I seek. The materials, the background, the weather and even myself, must all be in alignment to achieve the outcome.

Eight Sticks on Rock Shelf and Sand

Giclee limited edition print

W62 x H63cm  

2016

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This is Max

Oil on board

W36 x H40cm

2016

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Expression and gesture remain the primary focus of my work. It is within these still moments of suspended time, an exploration of self and identity is possible. 

Engaging in moments where the masquerades of daily life are disrupted, I consider the canvas as a type of mirror. Convinced that answers can only emerge by looking outward, I attempt to seize instances where emotion is unlocked.

Distracted by the idea of time, I find myself consumed in a place where past meets present, present distorts past, and timelines are absent. My artwork continues to reflect a place where the real and imagined collide. A place where reality is indistinguishable from the fabricated. A place where consciousness, subconsciousness, and unconsciousness meet.

I created this ring with the intention of bringing back to life a convict brick resourced from the demolition of a dilapidated convict built out-house. The shape and form are important aspects of the narrative associated with this piece. I wanted to preserve a piece of history, open up a conversation about the past, while simultaneously showing respect to the original maker of the brick. The piece, a collaboration of the past craftsperson with myself. Tasmania’s convict history tells a story of crime, punishment, toil, endurance and survival in some of the severest, yet most beautiful environments in the world.

Convict Brick Ring

Sterling Silver, found convict brick, and resin

W2 x H2 x D1.2cm

2015

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Never before have we had the tools to publish our daily minutia so explicitly. We share a lot of ourselves via social media, but how much are 'selfies' used to hide what we’re truly experiencing? 

In depicting the peculiar and often disturbing nature of the 'selfie’, my work takes aim at the selectively curated life. Through painting on a polyester surface with artificial lighting, I intended to convey the superficial undertones of the 'selfie' culture – the crafted and masked identity. I invite viewers to consider why individuals share their selfies online and explore the disparity between the authentic and virtual self.

Given a Pelting

Charcoal, ink, and gouache on paper 

H100 x W180cm

2015

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With a background in classical dressage training, Flett's 'Quagga' series are both dynamic and anthropomorphic. Exquisitely detailed zebras inhabit white space, evoking the extremities of rage, stress, and exuberance. Extensive study of horses as both rider and artist gives Flett the ability to channel her emotion into the very musculature of her subjects, translating feelings into the contortion of a zebra's spine, or the weight distribution and positioning of hooves. Flett's understanding of animal psychology adds an additional layer for further anthropomorphism; wild zebras constantly fight, establishing systems of dominance and submission and engage in herd politics and game play.

Celestial Perversion

Single-channel video and sound installation

Variable

2016

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   There is a classical antiquity to the act of human sacrifice or ritual murder. However, acts of dedication and self-sacrifice endure in their symbolism. The residue of the prehistoric human sacrifice is clear in the offering of self-identity.

An absence of response from the deity is considered to be a pacification of the deity, however, the desire for contact and reciprocation prevails. Within this work, we draw on unrequited love as analogous to relationships with the divine. It is the willingness to accept suffering and the poetry of desire. 

Invert

Acrylic on stretched canvas

W61 x H61cm

2016

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My work explores the relationships between colour, shape, and material, to construct ambiguity in the pictorial order of marks. Specifically, I am investigating how colour, in the form of a painterly mark, can be deconstructed by the diversity of textures within my ‘canvas’. The materials in my ‘canvases’ are present as representational objects but also forgotten, or forced to become an illusion, by the diversity of colour in the painted marks. The aim of my work is not to challenge the use of traditional painting materials but instead, formally create a tension between painted (illusionary) and constructed (representational) mark making.

Doubled My Mark

Mixed media

W301 x H194cm

 2015

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Arrested Silence

Porcelain

W30 x H21cm

2015

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Terrain

Porcelain

W29 x H20 cm

2015

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 In my current self-portrait series titled, Back in 5 minutes (2016), I explore the interchanging roles and rituals of everyday life that I have thrown myself into - motherhood, artist, lover, wife and employer (amongst others). 3:30pm. I lost me in my body (2016), is a reminder of the interludes of daily life required to help us reconnect with our current, often depleted selves. Through a fractured self-image, I am contemplating what is happening to me, trying to feel human again and the idea that I can pin “me” to the wall, but I cannot pin 'myself' down.

3:30pm. I lost me in my Body

Collage on arches paper 

W42 x H59.4cm

2016

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 In my current self-portrait series titled, Back in 5 minutes (2016), I explore the interchanging roles and rituals of everyday life that I have thrown myself into - motherhood, artist, lover, wife, and employer (amongst others). 10:15pm. Every way I move is the wrong way (2016), is a reminder of the interludes of daily life required to help us reconnect with our current, often depleted  selves. Through a back-to-front self-image, I am contemplating what is happening to me, trying to feel human again and the idea that I can pin 'me' to the wall, but I cannot pin 'myself' down.

Covet

Oil on Canvas

W61 x H76 cm

2015

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 Covet  (2015) speaks of the consequences of desire for possessions and power, and the subsequent emotions of loneliness and loss of identity. Inspired by a trip to Rome, Obelisks that dot the city were taken from Egypt as the Romans acquired control of the empire. These trophies of conquest were later converted from pagan to Christian monuments by the addition of new markings. The Roman Empire eventually fell, despite the possessions and control. Coveting is not just a part of human history but of the human condition, proving to be just as prevalent in today's society.

The Garden

Rocks, sand, fabric stones, 3D glow in the dark print, and LED's

W2 x H3m

2016

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 The Arrival (2015) is a camera based-performance. It explores the psychological relationship between trauma and memory, and it is intended to embrace the vulnerability and fragility in human nature, and hold the space in the gap of memory.

The Arrival

Archival print on fine art paper

W84.3 x H59.4cm

2015

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Muted Tones

Acrylic on Linen

W100 x H140cm

2015

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I Apprectiate 

Watercolour on paper

W69 x H47.5cm

2016

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I Appeciate (2016) features 40 of my closest friends and family reincarnated as little orange monkeys. After the greatest year of my life, it was one way to show my appreciation for them. 

The fragility of experiencing the loss of a loved one can be very overwhelming and the strength can be only gained back through the grieving process. Glass as a material is fragile, however, the glass beads weaved into a structure becomes strong. Deconstructing my grandfather's shirts was part of exploring aspects of the grief I've experienced. But constructing objects with the shirt fragments - building on and around them with the beaded structures - makes them whole again. The absence and the loss are suggested, but the new and whole object expresses the new experience of becoming resolved with his memory.  The translation of my feelings provides the opportunity for engagement and self-growth.

Bath-Time

Oil, charcoal, and acrylic on board

W90 x H120cm

2015

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 The interaction between women as artists and women as models is a private space where the traditional roles of spectator and subject are continuously challenged. This work was an outcome of a project titled Pose and Otiose which explored this space. As both a woman and an artist I was interested in how figurative art could contribute to a diverse understanding of women’s sensuality in context to a western society in which women’s bodies remain an object of obsession, caught between sexual advertising tropes and superficial feminist critiques.