2024 Award Winners and Finalists

Petrina Hicks
WINNER - $30,000 ACQUISITIVE PRIZE
Mnemosyne IV
Archival pigment print, 120 x 90cm
Permeated with a sense of magical realism, animals and females often appear together to represent aspects of psyche and identity, alluding to the complexity of female identity and the sentience of animals.
The porous boundaries between human and animal states and the affinity of females and animals are central to my work.
Mnemosyne IV delves into psyche and memory inspired by DNA and fossil discoveries suggesting all land animals including humans originally developed from our sea animal ancestors.
Judges' Video Commentary
Eamonn Jackson
HIGHLY COMMENDED - $1,000 NON-ACQUISITIVE
Aftermath
Graphite on Arches 300gsm, 51 x 120cm
I approach landscapes like this one as a complex puzzle, in which great enjoyment comes from slowing attempting to tame the infinite complexities and chaos within a natural scene. The pace and realisation that the end of this work wasn't going to be until long into the future seemed daunting at first, but great pleasure was had from seeing the graphite slowly come to life.
The black summer bushfires amplified the fragility of our natural landscape, and the inherent need to manage in order to protect and prolong what we have left. This work (or obsession, taking almost 1500 hours) is a homage to the landscape, especially the spotted gums and burrowangs in which I had the good fortune of growing up amongst, here on the far south coast of NSW.
Judges' Video Commentary
Anne Leisner
HIGHLY COMMENDED - $1,000 NON-ACQUISITIVE
View to the Bay
Oil on Canvas, 81 x 81cm
Judges' Video Commentary
Coco Elder
COMMENDED
Relics of Gondwana
Watercolour and Gouache Carving on Paper, 98 x 126cm
My greatest motivation for my work is aiming to capture the essence of place in the Australian landscape. The Never Never River is a place I frequently visit for inspiration. The ancient towering watergums flank the water’s edge and dance in fractured reflections. Branches and roots meander and connect land to water and sky. The spirit of this place is enchanting.The process is one of building up blocks of colour in watercolor that tethers between geometrical forms and patterns in nature, to observations truer to the eye. Various engraving tools are used to carve into the surface with spontaneous action, creating movement and gestural marks. In doing so, I’m drawing into the paint, creating another layer – one that is more textured and dynamic. The carving process pulls the paint away and reveals light from the white of the paper.
Keith Fyfe
COMMENDED
Gazing Out/Looking In
Watercolour/Acrylic, 49 x 86cm
I imagine I've seen these things.
Dennis McCart
COMMENDED
This Must Be the Place
Ink, Enamel and Oil on Canvas, 61 x 61cm
As an artist based in Brisbane, erasure of historical buildings is a recurrent event, being an artist I am attuned to this destructive pattern. Construction sites, emblematic of temporality and transitions, captivate me with their abstract shapes and nuanced tones.The construction site is a symbol for temporality and transitions, the construction site is also a fascinating with its abstract pattern of shapes and subtle variations in tones and shapes. The painting presents demolish imagery as an archetypal image that is a prevailing symbol in contemporary culture. The artwork draws attention to the materiality of places and questions the environmental impact of rapid urban development. As an artist I question what histories are embedded in the fabric of place and what are the environmental costs of modernization and gentrification.