Many talented artists today manage the marketing of their own art, but they face a constant challenge in getting it seen by audiences beyond their own social media followers. See the highly commended submissions from this year’s prize.
Rachael Wellisch
Highly Commended
Concerned with the environmental impacts of the textile industry, Rachael Wellisch uses household textile waste and indigo dye to create handmade paper sculptures. Old clothes and bedsheets are dyed in seven shades of natural indigo before being slowly pulped and transformed into the paper. She then meticulously stacks into tall arch-framed forms. “The four hand-woven tomes,” says judge Jerico Tracy, “are as poetic as they are beautiful. Reminiscent of the ebb and flow of the ocean these works created from salvaged textile waste offer an important comment on the relationship between textile consumption and waste.” While we may gaze into these ocean-like vistas and be reminded of the summer sun sparkling on the water’s surface, there is a more ominous and sobering subtext behind their conception.
The work: Rachael Wellisch, Tomes #13, #14, #15 & #16, 2020. Hand-made paper, from indigo-dyed salvaged textiles, 37 x 112cm each. Courtesy: the artist.
Nicci Bedson
Highly Commended
Inspired by a house in Jervis Bay where she grew up, artist Nicci Bedson’s work Retro Sands recalls a typical Australian summer. “This house is so stereotypical of its era and locality,” says Nicci. “Old houses are a favourite subject of mine to paint. Weatherboard shacks and fibro cottages litter the south coast, but are fast disappearing.” Nicci’s work is lighthearted in concept yet beautifully conjures a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. “In a year where the prospect of experiencing far-flung lands has been out of bounds,” says judge Luke Potkin, “this to me feels like a true celebration of the staycation. The work oozes nostalgia, reminding us of the joy of simplicity.”
