Finalist Exhibition 2018 | Contemporary Art Awards

This self-portrait is essentially a multi-layered and multi-faceted exploration of balance. I have explored the concept of balance through colour, shape, dark & light and also the aspect of balance within myself. Having had a long and tumultuous relationship with a variety of forms of self-expression, I have stumbled across a style of creating that I feel embodies my wish to create something beautiful, unconventional and controversial in its aesthetic. This work combines my love of folk-art & decorative elements, with the desire to explore spiritual aspects of myself, concepts of idealism and juxtaposition. Self Portrait in Winter (2017) is a pivotal or climactic piece in a series of abstract and surreal pen drawings.

Self Portrait in Winter

Mixed media on canvas

91 x 122cm

2017

Al Roberts

Tasmania, Australia

Every day, when I put my work shirt on I quickly contort my body into peculiar positions, so I do not have to undo any of the time-consuming buttons. I save approximately forty seconds per day putting on and taking off my shirt this way. Over the average working person’s life, it can save forty seconds per day, three minutes and thirty-three seconds per week, 2.66 hours a year, which equates to five full days over a 45-year working career. That’s a lot of time you can save from merely not wasting your time with buttons.

David

Bronze

61 x 19 x 26cm

2017

Gripping for Life

Archival inkjet print

70 x 46cm

2017

Alberto Monte Rego

Queensland, Australia

Like a lot of my work, this piece began with an intended play with simple photographic techniques to bring movement and life to the subject. Secondary, through the editing process, a phase of revelation begins, when appreciable lines, shapes and colours combine to create a narrative. "Gripping for Life" reflects those elements and appearing forms, a dark, deep, perhaps damaged picture of our depressed forests. But, it also reveals a strong, resilient and alive state. Focusing on aesthetic values, the image is intended to stimulate our visual senses and encourage reflection on our relationships with nature.

In the Process of Healing (2017) is an immersive installation of photography, sound and space which attempts to remove the stigma around trauma and normalise conversations that are difficult. In the Process of Healing (2017) tells a story of hope and survival. Responding to the stories of institutional abuse and growing rates of suicide, I have worked with a local refugee family to create a moving and respectful collection that reflects the process of healing. My vision is to give hope. To document the invisible lives, drowned by society's attempts to maintain normalcy through keeping their eyes shut, pretending that lives don't exist, referring to them as numbers. These are important conversations to have in our community, and this installation provides a contemplative and physical space for conversations about trauma and moving forward in life. "
The room with the 'Chair of Nails' is terrifyingly effective and heightens a physical sense of traumatic experience within the body and the mind. The floating images on fabric depict a family of refugees with their faces hidden, conveying a sense of fear, hope and the journey towards healing.

Aldona Kmiec

Victoria, Australia

Aldona Kmiec | Invisible Lives - Chair of Nails | 300 x 120cm | Photographic on fabric | 2017

Invisible Lives (From the Process of Healing Series)

Installation View

2017

Invisible Lives

Photograph on fabric

120 x 300cm

2017

Invisible Lives - Chair of Nails

Antique chair, old barb wire and nails

Variable

2017

Alejandra Sieder

New South Wales, Australia

I am here in front of you. My soul is a fire, brilliant and powerful as yours. I control my thoughts, and I convert them into real evidence that is created from my mind. I have the potential to create everything I want, like you, in harmony with the Universe... All my thoughts are like seeds, they have life itself, and through my magical hands, they become realities when the environment is perfect to materialise them. I have my own power as you have yours. We are together through the path on this same Earth. I invite you to go on a journey inside your mind, your soul, and your skin and then find your own extraordinary gift. Have you realised all the power you have in your cells?

Shaping thoughts into physical manifestations

Acrylic, oil and ink on canvas

150 x 120cm

2017

Amalea Manifis

New South Wales, Australia

Anamnesis in classical philosophy is the act of significant remembering; it does not simply refer to the past, but its resonance within the present. Anamnesis and its antithesis (historical amnesia) are central to the work of Amalea Manifis. Her work is an active reconstruction of the past from the fragmentary remains of an original trace. Amalea focuses on her own ancestor’s history, particularly the genocide in Smyrna in 1922. Without the individual and collective memory, narratives between generations can be silenced, barred from entering the field of history.

Anamnesis

Oil on board

90 x 90cm

2016

Amandeep Kaur

Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Amandeep Kaur experiments with digitally created photomontages that have layers of deliberately fabricated liminal spaces in which the idea of the self is explored. Amandeep creates the works using digital photographs of various local and foreign spatial environments that she has visited in the recent past. Her work is often women-centric and questions the displacement, dislocation and also the connections and negotiations of women through the journey of transmigration. Her current works are titled ‘Liminal Mindscapes’ as they explore possibilities of belonging to multiple places and the merging of local and global environments through multiple auto-ethnographic narratives.

Liminal Mindscapes (Aussies Clouds in Tokyo)

Digital print - limited edition of 9

118.9 x 84.1cm

2017

Amber Countryman

Queensland, Australia

I realise a dirty old piece of coal, and white satin gloves don't usually have much in common, but what connects them? MONEY. This coal jewellery is meant to represent wealth and excessiveness. I wanted to inspire questions of cost...not to the wearer, but to the environment. I want to ask if the economy, jobs and personal fortunes hold more value than the environment we rely on to sustain us. I want to suggest renewable, long-term energy sources as a more viable option than this dirty old piece of coal...leave it in the ground.

What's the Cost

Coal, jewellery findings, stand, satin gloves and fabric

30 x 20 x 30cm

2017

Amica Whincop

Queensland, Australia

"If I should die this very moment, I've never known completeness, like being here with you" - Lamb (Gorecki)

It is a constant effort to find balance amidst the unpredictability and chaos of life. Nature becomes the place I turn to where the chaos becomes calm, and the contradictions find balance. My art-making reflects this constant search to capture the beauty, tranquillity, and balance inspired by the rhythms and energy of the natural world. The mystery and the wonder that emerges within the natural world are sources of endless inspiration.

Gorecki

Ink, acrylic, enamel, aerosol on canvas

152 x 76 x 3cm

2017

Anastasia Parmson

New South Wales, Australia

I want to take drawing past its conventional two-dimensional format by combining it with other mediums such as sculpture & ready-made, video & performance, social media & augmented reality. To not just seen – but experienced.

Stripping everything down to the line - that is the most basic form of every drawing. A way to simplify, to blank out heavy implications and make things more light and approachable. Ultimately, I want my work to be about drawing people together. Perhaps creating a world in drawing can strip away enough preconceived notions to allow for a new space of co-existing.

Untitled (My space at May Space)

Ready-made objects, paint, paint marker

82 x 151 x 127cm

2017

Andy Mullens

Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Hear! Hear! (2017) is a sculpture featuring two megaphones pressed face to face. This piece was born out of my frustrations at contemporary political and social attitudes. I repeatedly found myself feeling futile despite my efforts to campaign for what I believe. Driven by an interest in the phenomenon of echo chambers and social media algorithms that only serve to reinforce one’s beliefs, this work questions these modes of communication and consumption. I also interrogate the effectiveness of trying to convince “the other side” of our own beliefs: it seems no-one wants to have their mind changed, including myself.

Hear! Hear!

megaphones and timber

70 x 30 x 20cm

2017

Anna Russell-Smith

Queensland, Australia

Inspired by my love of the earth and to make use of everyday disposable materials my series of ‘Tyred Forrest’ artworks were born. The tyres used were found on the side of the road and from this an art piece transpired into something appealing. Interestingly, the steel cable inside the tyres is used to make the tree branches.

Each year in Australia, the equivalent of 48 million tyres reach the end of their life, only 16% of these are domestically recycled. Around two-thirds of used tyres in Australia end up in landfill, are stockpiled, illegally dumped or have an unknown fate.

Tree of Hope

Recycled tyres

80 x 105 x 8cm

2017

Annalise Fogg

Queensland, Australia

Growing up in beautiful sunny Queensland, Moreton Island became our annual camping holiday. There is something about the clear blue waters, fresh air and abandoned beaches that relaxes me. Each trip we trek up to the lighthouse at the end of the island. The array of blue hues that spread from coast to coast is filled with an abundance of marine life. As the waves crash up onto the rocks below, the sea turtles become clear in a cloud of white foam. I get to see this view every year as I sit on the seat that overlooks the island.

This piece is a response to the movement, colour and calmness that I feel at the lighthouse. Although the waves may crash, the sounds of the water hitting the rocks from a distance are mesmerising. Combining acrylic with water and manipulating the angle of the canvas while wet, I was able to portray a calming movement that takes you from one edge to the next. The closer you look, the more you will see. Separating forms, developing cells and intricate dots create a piece that allows you to look close, close your eyes and hear the ocean.

Beneath the Ocean Current

Acrylic on canvas (solid oak frame)

125 x 65 x 10cm

2017

Arjang Razzazian

Victoria, Australia

Universal Punk (2017) puts together the visual icons that once belonged to a counterculture; to bring to attention that it is now fed by consumer fashion industry and homogenised to be a part of the mainstream market. So, if the counterculture still exists, it cannot be defined by such clichés.

Universal punk is made of everyday advertisements objects: mannequin, leather necklace, ice cream cone, stilettos and headphone.

Universal Punk

Glass, resin, found objects

34 x 34 x 22cm

2017

Carmel Louise

Victoria, Australia

This artwork consists of 8 hand cut layers mounted to create one piece. This process emulates many levels of the gentrification process occurring across Melbourne. It begins with acquisition/demolition of defunct warehouses, then construction of “contemporary apartments”. As a result, the traditional industrial flavour of the area has been transformed by a new demographic. The businesses now sell gourmet everything, to provide for the population boom which in turn drives the need for more housing. The result becomes a metaphor for both the deconstruction process/ reconstruction of our neighbourhoods into something new, contemporary and divergent from its past.

Constructional No.1, V1 in 3D

Mixed media

100 x 100cm

2017

Beyond the Illusion of Hope and Despair

Boxed frame with Giclee Print on photo rag

90 x 60cm

2017

Danae Thyssen

South Australia, Australia

When we let go of the illusion of hope and despair, we recognise there is only love. Challenges are just misguided reminders that we can adapt and overcome. We can survive any situation that presents itself.

Transformation begins when we relinquish fear and open ourselves to the magic of possibilities. The time for change is here, the time for change is now. Let go of the old self, let go of all things holding oneself back. Now is the time to manifest our divine purpose and live in the power of true identity. It is time to step into thine most authentic self and awaken the soul.

Daniel Kneebone

Victoria, Australia

The Jewelled Rose II, takes a luxuriously illustrative look behind the curtain at the opulent and sensuous world of burlesque. This image portraying renowned burlesque performer Zelia Rose a leading Australian burlesque performer who actively contributes to the vaudeville scene in Australia and Internationally. Therefore, the aim of the work is not only to shed light on the burlesque industry but to reveal the artists who continue to cultivate this genre in Australia. Capturing a moment of evolving drama, creating a sense of wonder and intrigue, bringing the viewer to a foreign midpoint between reality and illusion and revealing the freedom of expression that is burlesque.

The Jewelled Rose II

Archival digital print on galerie prestige gold fibre silk - edition of 10

100 x 80cm

2017

Angel Peacock portrays Lola Ramone an Australian burlesque performer through narrative art. While society worships archetypical heroic male football images, there is no female equivalent — but for me, the answer is burlesque. Strongly influenced by women’s attitude and spirit, the artform comes to life through theatricality and strong visceral archetypes. Angel Peacock aims to shed light on the burlesque industry and how these performers inspire women to embrace their femininity, as well as shine a spotlight on the artists who make this unique cultural scene what it is in Australia.

Angel Peacock

Archival digital print on galerie prestige gold fibre silk - edition of 10

100 x 74cm

2017

Daniel O'Hanlon

Queensland, Australia

Torn was a vision I had for some time, by using metal slugs from a metal punching machine that is left to waste I created this sculpture with these slugs which enabled me to created this piece with all the curves and details in this piece of art work. The name Torn has come from this piece as it has an incomplete look about it is exactly what I visioned

Torn

Metal slugs from CNC punching machine

52 x 30cm

2017

Daniel Sherington

Queensland, Australia

Transition 4 (2017), is a drawing that highlights the beauty that lies within the transitionary movement of Ballet: as performed by my sister. The piece captures my sister seconds before a ‘Grand Jette’. Decontextualizing her from her surroundings, and floating her on the page, she surreally exists just within that moment: the moment of the in-between; of freedom; and of the free fall. For each movement in dance to be complete, there exists a transitionary stage. These stages, which precede and follow the movement, are something that appears completely raw: moments of duality where freedom dilutes the immense amount of concentration and discipline to create what everyone is waiting for.

Transition 4

Ink on Arches paper (300gsm)

90 x 113cm

2017

There's something ironic about making an endangered animal entirely out of plastic. Blowing air in it - to pretend that it's there.

Hippo in Plastic

Ink on Arches paper (300gsm)

87 x 113cm

2017

Ella Baudinet

Victoria, Australia

Ella Baudinet is a Melbourne based artist working primarily with oil paints. Baudinet's work focuses on the individual’s unique perceptions of abstract expressionist aesthetics. Combining elements of expressionism, abstraction and pseudo-surrealism, she explores the parallels between the conscious and subconscious mind. While we sleep, we are submerged in an environment created and perceived simultaneously by our own minds. Our brains are a virtual reality system, providing us with sensory stimuli based on our own experiences, emotions and the person’s characteristics. Our subconscious mind is highly active while awake and determines how we perceive our surroundings. As dreaming transports us from one state of mind to another, Baudinet's paintings provide a parallel platform by inviting the viewer to envision representational characteristics in the work, thus creating the individual's unique experience.

Genesis

Oil on canvas

76 x 122cm

2017

Elmari Steyn

Western Australia, Australia

Eyrie: S28o37.595’/E116o25.327 (2017) is an abandoned eagles nest tree at Gullewa in Western Australia. It is part of my current printmaking project that explores the interaction that we allow ourselves with nature, through trees, especially unusual, individual and expressive trees, even misshapen trees. Every tree expresses its own unique narrative, character, size, shape and function. Whether in untouched wild places or in urban settings, trees retain their individuality, their true form and nature; their connection and relationship to an area, with its climate, wind and setting. Each work is of an individual tree, reproduced as a copper-plate line and aquatint etching.

Eyrie: S28o37.595’/E116o25.327

Etching and aquatint on archival paper

20 x 30cm

2017

Umbra: S33o38.347’/E115o01.567 (2017) is a unique tree located in a car park at Yallingup in Western Australia. It is part of my current printmaking project that explores the interaction that we allow ourselves with nature, through trees, especially unusual, individual and expressive trees, even misshapen trees. Every tree expresses its own unique narrative, character, size, shape and function. Whether in untouched wild places or in urban settings, trees retain their individuality, their true form and nature; their connection and relationship to an area, with its climate, wind and setting. Each work is of an individual tree, reproduced as a copper-plate line and aquatint etching.

Umbra: S33o38.347’/E115o01.567

Etching and aquatint on archival paper

15 x 30cm

2017

Eugene Rubuls

Queensland, Australia

“Nature is my religion, and the earth is my temple.”
My paintings express my infinite admiration for the diversity of colour, form and textures of the natural world. This is something I want to share with everyone who is ready to see it.
My artworks are inspired by some of the most spectacular visual images of the underwater world that have not only aesthetic impact on the viewer, but can also trigger emotions and important questions. When you love something, you naturally want to protect it so I would like my art to be a window into a world not everyone has the opportunity to see. My goal is to capture and preserve unique habitats and scenes, exquisite moments and create a visual depiction of the natural world - an endangered world, which sadly may not be here in the future.

Clown Fish

Oil on Canvas

60 x 75 x 1.5cm

2017

Chasing Coral

Oil on Canvas

122 x 92 x 3.5cm

2017

Greg Flynn

Queensland, Australia

This acrylic painting is in memory of those families of the 'FV Dianne' boating tragedy. This fishing vessel sank in wild seas off the town of 1770 in October 2017. Only one survived, two bodies recovered and four bodies unaccounted. This piece combines the underpainting tinged with red representing hope and despair, but also fear, isolation, hopelessness and the tempest at the time. The limited palette and the intensity of the angles express the torment of those on board and the families left behind.

Always Remembered

Acrylic on Canvas

40 x 40 x 3cm

2017

Helen Oprey

New South Wales, Australia

I play with paint, colour, texture and proportion in an attempt to portray work that is beautiful, unique and intimate. My style is emotional and not constrained by the limits of realism. Each artwork is an experiment and adventure to push my learning which creates something new to me, but always, in the end, the painting has to hold together. Thus I never get bored, and it helps to keep my work fresh.

The Lived in Room

Acrylic and textured paper on Canvas

102 x 102cm

2017

Letter to my Daughter (2017) is an emotional artwork depicting my daughter as she endures inevitable life struggles. It is what all mothers know of their daughters - that although life is sometimes hard, unkind, unfair and confusing, they are ALWAYS beautiful to their mothers. I have depicted my daughter with her big bright eyes in a sea of colour and chaos. LIFE

Letter to my Daughter

Acrylic and textured paper on Canvas

101.5 x 101.5cm

2017

Hugh Kerr

Tasmania, Australia

Carnival (2017) is about behaviour under the mask of anonymity. I recently re-read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Although allusions to indigenous people in the book often seem euro-centric and essentially racist, it remains a fascinating examination of the human condition. The boys’ donning of disguises worn and gradual descent into barbarism and to me has resonances with current trends in society and particularly social media where anonymity (or at least distance) removes normal rules of behaviour.

Carnival

Acrylic and ink on paper

52 x 70cm

2017

Rapacity is a stark illustration of the physical functions of human settlements. As well having an ideal for the best of human settlement, promoting general well-being, harmony, equality, vibrancy and the sharing of knowledge and culture, I feel it is important to examine them at their worst. Rapacity presents a view of a city as an almost cancerous entity, the embodiment of the insatiability of human consumption which sucks in the resources and degrades the surrounding land.

Rapacity

Ink on paper

30 x 41cm

2017

Jae Hyun Kwon

New York, United States

I see my sculptures as a residue of a series of unconscious struggles in pursuit of my cultural identity. Technically, my sculptures are American household commodities wrapped in Hanji, Korean traditional handmade paper. Through giving a Korean colour and texture to an American commodity, I investigate the issues with merging two different cultures.

Bottles

Dyed Korean handmade paper, beer bottles

18 x 12 x 22cm

2017

Scape 2-17

Tooling board (high-density polyurethane foam) finished with beeswax

13 x 30 x 19cm

2017

James Gardiner

New South Wales, Australia

This sculpture is part of a series that has been running since 2011. Based on the influences such as natural eroded and stratified rock formations, science fiction and my interest in cities and the way they form or agglomerate over time. The series first emerged from an investigative exploration for 3D printing artificial reefs at full scale; sculpture was used as a method to free up my thinking and to explore form and topology.

This work is in tooling board, a high-density polyurethane foam which has similar properties to timber while having superb strength, durability and can take extraordinary levels of detail. The sculpture is part of an investigative endeavour to develop new tooling techniques with sculpture. The sculpture series also includes stone, recycled timber and lost foam castings with pewter.

Photographer: Ben Guthrie

Jan Bird

Victoria, Australia

The painting, Jandamarra’s War (2017), was initially inspired by Paul Kelly’s song “Jandamarra/Pigeon” (on his album "The A to Z Recordings). This led to further research into the true story of Jandamarra, an Australian Aboriginal man who led a rebellion against invading pastoralists in defence of his people's ancient land and culture.

Jandamarra's War

Eco dye, charcoal and oil on canvas

110 x 110 x 2cm

2017

A mere 18 years after the death of Jandamarra, where the aboriginal people were chained and shot for spearing stock, the aboriginal population had now learnt to live peacefully with the white landowners and adopted a more European lifestyle. Many aborigines proudly enlisted in WW1 despite being afforded very few rights in the country they fought for.

Forgotten Heroes

Eco dye, charcoal and oil on canvas

110 x 110 x 2cm

2017

Janelle Amos

South Australia, Australia

This limited edition archival pigment print captures my ephemeral nature mandala of roadside Pomegranates from my hometown. My dear childhood friend and I would spend sunny days exploring, climbing and eating from this very tree. Constructed in the elements of the moment and photographed in the natural Autumn light.

My art practice is a contrast of ephemeral mandalas and abstract paintings. My work is intuitive, allowing the natural elements around me to guide the outcome. Engaging with nature has opened up a creative response to my everyday emotional life, and put me in touch with my honest creative expression.

History with a Tree

Archival pigment print on textured fine art paper

64 x 64cm

2017

This limited edition archival pigment print captures my ephemeral nature mandala of Australian Natives from my hometown, aching of my personal connection to my country through my immediate natural environment. Constructed in the elements of the moment and photographed in the natural Autumn light.

Native Home

Archival pigment print on textured fine art paper

64 x 64cm

2017

Jeramie Scahill

New South Wales, Australia

Like a surreal dream, a mix of components come together from different times and experiences. Uniting together to form an an abstract story that stretches the imagination and begs for an explanation. Sending the viewer on a journey of self interpretation. A black goose egg bound with silver bands with silver spikes each end. A Gothic Faberge egg suspended like a plumb bob swinging from two hardwood twigs collected from the very top of an ancient tree. Two twigs are bound with silver wire and held taught from the weight of the pendulating egg. A mirror finished Stirling silver pyramid emerges from a block of charcoal like like a contemporary growth causing a juxtaposition of upward energy against the downward strain of the pendulum. The charcoal plinth made from the core of an old tree with the story's of its battles with decay and life itself evident at every angle. Hollowed out by the smallest of ants and weather and time, the whole sculpture seems to teeter on the edge of being swallowed into its depths. An uncertain balance of nature and machine swinging precariously by a near invisible force.

Dreamscape

Stirling silver, goose egg, charcoal, wood

20 x 20 x 90cm

2017

Jonathan Garcia Mainou

Toronto, Canada

My main purpose is to explore the aesthetics of the everyday through abstract visual stories about the city I live in. Using the urban landscape as a canvas, I deconstruct conceptual images as a way to escape from my daily life. By using a digital camera, I detached the sense of art from the tool and leave it to the viewer to see art as the everyday and the everyday as art. I choose not to edit the photographs as a way to examine and challenge the idea of purity and our personal perspectives on beauty.

Religion

Plexi Glass Mount

57.5 x 73.2cm

2017

Jude Hotchkiss

New South Wales, Australia

These paintings articulate a dark testament to the unknown while holding the potential for a new genesis. There is a maelstrom of duelling powers, dark calamitous events that breed an uncertain future in a tumultuous world. At times an underlying planet is viewed from above, fractured cloud obscuring the geometric makings of a now disappearing civilisation. A feeling of profound change and upheaval lies in the violent forces overriding the geometries of a once structured and considered place. Terrible uncertainty prevails, the future is unclear, and the moment is yet to play out, for better or worse.

Earthburst

Oil and medium on canvas

122 xx 122 x 4cm

2017

Stormforce

Oil and medium on canvas

122 xx 122 x 4cm

2017

Julie Hollis

Queensland, Australia

I wanted to be whimsical, and contemporary. I used white to make her hair sing, to move, to bounce. I imagine the viewer seeing her and smiling, be moved by her emotion but, wonder why she is frowning. I intended this image to be punchy and a little mysterious.

Little Miss Worrywart

acrylic on canvas

50 x 40 x 2cm

2017

Kate Bender

New South Wales, Australia

Kate Bender’s oil paintings embody the representation of light, and the perception of and the interplay between space and form. Ostensibly the works are an illusionistic depiction of imagined forms and spaces, within which exists a harmony of colour, light and shape invoking within the viewer a sensorial experience evocative of emotion, mood, and music.
Abstraction is merged with elements of illusionism creating a simultaneous ambiguity and degree of playfulness in the immediate visual and sensorial experience. The undetermined forms float in a fictional space; at times open, ethereal and intangible; other times closed, appearing substantial and three-dimensional.

It Just Feels Like

Oil on canvas

76 x 84cm

2017

Longing for Love and Light

Oil on canvas

76 x 61cm

2017

Katrin Terton

Queensland, Australia

I am drawn to organic materials such as beeswax, shed snake skins, feathers and hair as well as found objects. The chair and ladder in this piece are recurring metaphors in my work; representing contemplation and the wish to reach new places internally or externally, the need for stillness, the wish to escape, the desire to evolve. The seeker is open to step into new worlds and explore the liminal space in between while questioning where he or she came from and where the journey may lead…

A Seekers Thoughts

Beeswax, wire, hair, grass, feathers, shed snakeskin, timber

44 x 96 x 7cm

2017

Kay Armstrong

New South Wales, Australia

Working with a limited palette, this was about mark making to create a sense of movement on the page. It's also about ageing, the inevitability of it all.

Down the Plughole

Ink, acrylic, digital print on paper

21 x 29cm

2017

Working with a limited palette, I wanted to create something visceral, veinous and organic. I am obsessed with layers. They seem to me, a way to develop a sense of time/memory within a two-dimensional form.

Gills of the world

Ink acrylic, cardboard on paper

21 x 29cm

2017

Kym Frame

Queensland, Australia

In the Hold (2017) explores the human experience of holding and processing pain. An installation, the piece is comprised of a seated female form made from handmade banana fibre paper and a bundle of notes on hexagonal pieces of translucent paper. From a tear in the figure's left shoulder, light spills out, and at her feet, a panel glows. Atop this panel, a pile of the notes, some of which have fallen into tessellating patches, rest. Filled with memories and messages, these words capture the fears and burdens of 150 different women and represent the strength, vulnerability and resilience of women.

In the Hold

Handmade Banana fibre paper, methylcellulose, steel, cardboard, led light, waxed paper, human hair.

60 x 130 x 130cm

2017

Lauri Smith

New South Wales, Australia

This work explores my interest in the relationship between people and their pets, that friendship and love between them that is like no other. I wanted to represent the importance of animals and how we are inherently similar to them and share the same love/heart. This sculpture is a portrait style of an elderly woman and her anteater/human-like pet to represent this concept. The pet is holding a human heart as an abstract offering of the love shared.

Rita + her pet Jude

Silicone, wire, foam, hair and wood

55 x 60 x 45cm

2017

This work titled The Secret Conversation of Snow Yaks (2016) came from a vivid dream I had about three snow yak men set amongst a snowy landscape. These creatures were having a secret conversation which I (as the viewer) interrupted. I was inspired to recreate this other-worldly dreamed vision and continue to explore these ideas further.The process began with the initial concept/drawing to sculpting, mold making, casting and finishing, these creatures take on a life of their own.

Secret Conversation of Snow Yaks

Silicone, wire, and mohair

40 x 15 x 25cm (all three pieces together)

2016

Leah Doeland

New South Wales, Australia

Do you hear the insects buzzing? Can you hear a bird calling? Is that a voice or just the whisper of the wind chasing its way throughout the leaves high above your head? Sweet and aromatic scents fill the air – breathe deep – Awaken your senses, Awaken your soul.

As an artist, I am continually inspired by the beauty of nature and the wonder of creation. Through my art, I explore imaginative aspects of our natural world. My work intends to captivate and calm the viewer while imparting a sense peace.

Awakening

Acrylic on canvas

101 x 76 x 3.5cm

2017

Leah D Jeffries

South Australia, Australia

Painted in a manner that refers to a simpler time, yet the subject matter highlights a contemporary phenomenon. A compelling self-portrait with Leah’s children. The eldest ten years old, along with her smartphone also in its 10th year. With all this device offers, does it take more than it gives? We are physically present, but mentally and emotionally absent, transfixed, doing anything but being present to what is important. “Just a sec…”

Just a sec...

Oil on canvas

108 x 122cm

2017

Leah Mariani

Victoria, Australia

Doll Face (2017) is part of my latest series, I'm Just a Girl, which considers the way we view women. There is increasing social pressure for women to undergo procedures to stay looking young. Woman want clear, wrinkle-free skin, clear eyes, white teeth, perfect hair, long eyelashes, plump lips. Soon we will all look like dolls.
The pattern of the vintage dolls is achieved by adhering cotton fabric onto the canvas before painting in oils over the top. The dolls are innate, lifeless objects that have no facial expressions, much like women who have had too much Botox.

Doll Face

Printed cotton fabric, gesso, oil on canvas

41 x 41cm

2017

Ready to Serve (2017) is part of my latest series, I'm Just a Girl, it considers the way we treat women. The painting has dual meanings. Firstly, it makes reference to how women are often described as edible objects ("yummy mummy" for example), though the use of the pieces of cake in the clothing. Secondly, woman are often expected to wait on men (mothers, secretaries, waitresses). Often in the corporate world, if there is a sole woman in a meeting or a department, it often falls on her to order coffees or tidy up after a meeting.

Ready to Serve

Digital print, oil, gesso and printed canvas

41 x 41cm

2017

Leonie Scott

New South Wales, Australia

While researching abstract expressionist, it occurred to me they may have been seeking kinetic, mood-shifting enjoyment while engaged in the painting action. Buzz came about when I approached this particular session to deliberately paint in a similar style to Jackson Pollock. After several sketches, I quickly moved on and began my own exploration and self-expression. Buzz has a great deal of movement reflecting the energy and quickness of my painting.Buzz is so called because of the euphoria felt as I was fully engaged.

Buzz

Acrylic polymer on hammermuhle paper (300gsm)

59 x 84cm

2017

Regrowth (2017) is a result of a session to mimic the rhythmic brushwork of Bryan Wynter. I particularly admire the individuality of his work mainly his works of the 1950s. The session encouraged me to create a pattern using large and small brushes, and be more deliberate with how and where the brush strokes were placed.

Regrowth is a response to a drive through the East Gippsland of Victoria. The resilience of Australian bushland after fire ceases to amaze me. The new saplings with red and orange leaves at their tips contrasted with the blackened trunks of the old growth.

Regrowth

Acrylic polymer on cartridge paper (140gsm)

59 x 84cm

2017

Lilli Waters

Victoria, Australia

Plastic Fish (2017) is an invitation into a vibrant world abundant with iridescent objects, where fish dwell amongst opulent florals, an illusion of beauty & life. Depth and space evoke a sense of the mysterious and time appears to slow down. Beneath the surface, beauty reveals a darker truth, fragility, futility and the acute vulnerability of nature at the hands of humans, as we overwhelm all living things with our own disposable culture.

In Dreams (Plastic Fish Series)

Archival pigment print

60 x 73.3cm

2017

Our Love is Plastic (Plastic Fish Series)

Archival pigment print

155.15 x 111.21cm

2017

Logan Moody

Victoria, Australia

A constant within my work is to always try and capture beauty in the daily tasks of city life. With Barbershop (2016) I've caught a moment in time that takes the viewer into the scene and asks them to create their own ideas about who these people are and the conversations being had.

Barbershop

Hand cut stencils, aerosol on wood

60 x 84cm

2016

A constant within my work is to always try and capture beauty in the daily tasks of city life. With Specials (2017) I wanted to take people inside the daily life of the people who are often overlooked. I've tried to capture a moment where staff are engaging with each other, where the outside world is looking in on the people whose daily life is service and creating an enjoyable moment for others.

Specials

Hand cut stencils, aerosol on wood

60 x 84cm

2017

Mark Bagally

Victoria, Australia

My art practice predominately depicts seascapes and landscapes. There is no shortage of reference material being on the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The colours in the sky and water are quite surreal at times and provide constant inspiration.

Day Break Torquay

Oil on board

120 x 60cm

2017

Sunrise at Point Danger

Oil on board

120 x 60cm

2017

Prada Marfa

Achrival print

84 x 63cm (8cm border)

2017

Matthew Portch

Victoria, Australia

From the Lost America series; examining a quiet stillness in a forgotten landscape that is, in a sense, ‘on-pause’. A detailed, melancholic and alluringly unremarkable outlook.

Situated quite literally in the middle of nowhere, Prada Marfa is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset. The store contained actual Prada wares, shoes and handbags, picked out and provided by Miuccia Prada herself. This work of art was intended never to be repaired, so it might slowly degrade back into the natural landscape. Just six days after its completion, the building was broken into, its contents were stolen, and the word "Dumb" as well as the phrase "Dum Dum" were spray painted on the sides of the structure. The vandalism demonstrates the strong reaction to this the site-specific sculpture. It was quickly repaired, repainted, and restocked. The new Prada purses do not have bottoms and instead hide parts of a security system that alerts authorities if the bags are moved. While now protected by security cameras, its destination would make it difficult to defend, and its awnings are riddled with bullet holes. The Texas Department of Transportation is currently discussing the fate of the installation.

Soul Star Brooch

Sterling silver, fine silver, garnet, pliqur-a-jour enamel, stainless steel pins

4.6 x 4.6cm

2017

Mehrnoosh Ganji

Victoria, Australia

The Sole Star brooch (2017) is inspired by the tessellated and elaborately detailed ceilings and multi-coloured windows of Persian architecture. It contains four layers of geometric motives, some decorated with green and blue Plique-à-jour enamel and a red garnet is sitting in the heart of the piece. Also, the Sole Star is one of the energy pathways of the human body and relates to infinite compassion and divine love that will radiate from the wearer's heart.

Michael Burgess

New South Wales, Australia

As a gemstone carver, I like working a gem that reveals pattern and colour as I carve. The malachite flows with the lines of my little fish design, the mother of pearl shell make the eye pop and the purple fluorite ads colour and contrast, it all comes together to create a beautiful, eye-catching carving.

Malaki Wrasse

Malachite, shell, fluorite

5.5 x 4.5cm

2017

Michael Dyson

South Australia, Australia

An attempt at depicting a restless suburban evening by juxtaposing bright and imaginative imagery with 1950's fibro housing.

Suburban Evening

Acrylic on wooden panel

50 x 60cm

2017

Miho Watanabe

New South Wales, Australia

Creating artworks is always ‘awareness of between-ness’ for me, which is reciprocal energy I believe flows in between the subject and myself. An ongoing project, Street Tree has gradually developed to see the street trees like bonsai. The background and atmosphere started to fade in my brain, and the street trees became centre stage in its world similar to bonsai’s small world, which leads to explore the aesthetic and relationship in between bonsai and street trees. And it will tap into awareness of nature in a city.

Awareness of Between-ness: Street Tree like Bonsai 1

Photo transfer on silk, LED, perspex (with frame)

76 x 96cm

2017