Moreton Bay Region Art Awards - 2016 winners

Overall winners

Hunter/hunted (great white shark, Queensland Museum)

Emma Lindsay
Artist statement: In the museum we see how the hunter becomes the hunted in this time of the Anthropocene. We fear the great white shark in our oceans, but the most fearsome planetary predator is the human species itself. Will there come a day when the museum is the only place to encounter the wonder of Earth's biodiversity?
Judges comment: An immediate and confronting sight that on reflection has a sobering and thought provoking message. The painting questions our relationship with the natural world, paradoxically in this case with the Great White Shark – terrifying in our minds but in need of our support as it is endangered itself. Very relevant and topical for the region of Moreton Bay!

She Who Dies With the Most Fabric Wins

Elizabeth Bach
Artist statement: Is the collecting and hoarding fabrics a demonstration of over-enthusiasm for the beauty and seduction of beautiful materials and their power to evoke memory, or another example of over consumption? She who dies with the most fabric wins explores hoarding and collecting and was inspired by fabric designs from William Morris to Marimekko.
Judges comment: A work that explores and celebrates the complex diversity of our society. It also importantly contains such elements as design references that through history have helped shape who we are today as a community.

Local Artist Award

Suburban Backyard

Julie Purcell
Artist statement: Gardens reflect their human creators. Conceptually this work draws upon the symbolism of garden murals found in the ruins of Pompeii. This image was painted en plein air in my backyard in Kippa-Ring, Queensland. Like the sparkling pool I depict I allow the painting support to shimmer beneath glassy layers of colour.
Judges comment: A beautiful use of paint, the scene reminiscent indeed of Pompeii and our typical backyard, lovely underlying sense of humour to a very appealing artwork.

People's Choice Award

Acknowledgement of Country

De Gillett
Artist statement: A South-east Queensland landscape filled with raark and dot painting, this work acknowledges that Australia is, was and always will be an Aboriginal country. An Indigenous elder inhabits the embankment, presiding over the repeated motif of a landscape seen from opposing points of view.

Commended

View of Customs House, Brisbane

Martin Edge
Artist statement: Martin visited Customs House on one of his walks around Brisbane, and loved the old look of the building.
Judges comment: A playful and immediate work that captures the beauty and light of the region and this important building in Queensland’s history.

Postcards from Katsuko

Nika Nakamura-Mather
Artist statement: Postcards sent from my present day self to remind my future self of things I may forget. In this case the memory of a dear and much loved friend. The very fact I am creating a postcard means that I already know that I am losing touch with that memory.
Judges comment: Small series of wooden postcards to self that are poetic and whimsical series on memories that shape each of us.

Riot Gear (series of two sculptures entitled Riot Dazzle and Traditional Tribal Shield)

Chantal Fraser
Artist statement: These works use two common adornments which internationally signify protection. They have been constructed in a way that questions and challenges the notion of protection and trust. Through ornamentation, their signification and barrier is skewed through ambiguous symbology and embellishment
Judges comment: An Indigenous and feminine statement which dazzles the viewer with its underlying strength.