New Dream
Ilija Melentijevic spoke at the launch of Jovana Terzic’s recent exhibition, New Dream, at the Orchard Gallery in Waterloo. He said, “Jovana’s work is a reminder that we are not separate from nature, but of nature. We are its spoiled child that keeps taking but can never have enough, that denies its heritage and betrays its kin. These canvases are an invitation to [see] these noble creatures marrying best parts of man, bird and beast, with nothing to hide and everything to give. It is an echo of nature itself speaking to us, stepping closer so we can see it for what it is, and also see ourselves.” See http://animalbro.net.
Yunala
“Untitled” by Yukultji Napangati was awarded the Wynne Prize in 2018 (section depicted). Yukultji says this painting is associated with Yunala, a rock hole and soakage water site among sandhills west of Kiwirrkura in Western Australia. During ancestral times a group of women camped at this site and dug for the edible roots of the bush banana or silky pear vine (Marsdenia australis), also known as yunala. The lines in the work represent both the sandhills surrounding the site as well as the yunala tubers underground. The women later continued their travels east. Yukultji Napangati is one of Papunya Tula Artists’ leading painters.
Giant Rock
Surry Hills resident Tina Havelock Stevens won the 65th Blake Prize with Giant Rock, 2017, Video. Stevens’ work is a performance video piece in which the artist explores how certain life beliefs for some are the antithesis for others, with the use of a rock and roll drum kit. Filmed in situ at Giant Rock in the Mojave Desert, a once spiritual place that now attracts dirt bikes and graffiti, Stevens inhabits the location visually and sonically, tuning into the frequencies of the site and history of the place. The Blake Prize engages contemporary artists with ideas of religion and spirituality.
‘This is life’
This photo’s chilling caption reads: “A counsellor in a Perth detention centre would tell detainees to blow up a balloon and when it burst he would say to them, ‘This is life.’” Sinead Kennedy is a visual artist whose practice is guided by an interest in photography and social issues. Sinead was awarded the 2017 Pool Grant for her series To Set Fire to the Sea, which explores mandatory immigration detention in Australia, and the politics of migration and asylum in an Australian context. It was exhibited as part of Head ON at Special Group Gallery in Surry Hills in May.
Winter colour
South Sydney based amateur photographer Jingshu Zhu won the Abstract award in the recent 2018 Sony Alpha Awards. She says, “The photo was taken in August 2017 during a New Zealand South Island trip. On the way back to Christchurch from the Golden Bay area I noticed the attractive pattern in the forest so I stopped driving to take the picture. I changed the white balance in the image to present the feeling and the colour of the winter. I was so excited and proud to win the award and it has motivated me to continue my efforts and interests in landscape photography.”
