Tweed Regional Gallery’s biennial Border Art Prize opening was celebrated by a large crowd at M│Arts Precinct in Murwillumbah on Saturday night.
Winner Trinity Leonard from Lismore was in attendance to receive the $3,000 first prize funded by Tweed Shire Council. Her entry, an oil painting titled Hannah, immediately caught both judges’ eye and they returned to it after viewing all the entries. They described the work as, ‘arresting and filled with emotion that you could feel’.
The Friends of the Gallery funded the second prize of $1,500, which was awarded to another painting in oil, titled The Mother, by Byron artist Sabrina Simoni. The judges were affected by this gentle and ethereal small work which they said, ‘conveys motherhood in such a simple way’.
Third prize of $500, also funded by the Friends of the Gallery, was awarded to Jane Buchanan of the Byron Shire for Flooded Memories a, ‘beautifully conceived and crafted’ dress made from floodwater- stained hand made paper, and presented as a framed artefact.
The 2018 judges, gallerist Lorraine Pilgrim and artist, Abbey McCulloch, announced the three prize winners.
Artist Shirley Kennedy presented her two $500 Shirley Kennedy Awards to Enchantment, a contemporary mixed media work by Marita Kohl and The long way home, an oil on wood, described by Shirley Kennedy as ‘beautifully balanced in form and colour’ by Caitlin Reilly.
For her two $250 awards, Ms Kennedy selected Frank, a bold black and white photograph by Rudiger Wasser, and Into darkness, a delicate drypoint by Neil Matterson. All recipients of the Shirley Kennedy Awards are residents of the Byron Shire.
The prize judges also award highly commended awards to Grant Vaughan (wood) Zimmi Forest (plant fibre), Frances Petrou (ceramic), Patrick McMahon (painting) and Jenny Lui Leung (watercolour).
All winners can be viewed on the web at http://artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au/PrizesAndAwards/BorderArtPrize
The Border Art Prize is on show over two venues – Tweed Regional Gallery, 2 Mistral Road, Murwillumbah South and at M│Arts Precinct, 1 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah – until Sunday 15 July.
Tweed Regional Gallery Hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm. M│Arts Precinct hours are Wed – Fri, 10am-5pm and Sat & Sun, 10am-3pm.
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