WINNER

Artist Name: MARISA VEERMAN

Artwork Title: WAY OF BEING, TRIPTYCH

Medium: Embroidered Photography on canvas

Size: 80 x 330cm

Judge’s Comment:

Marissa Veerman's triptych is the most abstract work in the competition, and also the most diverse in terms of media. She uses photography and textile, fine embroidery and beading. What I admire most about this work is that it is open ended and rife with possibilities. Here, I find myself considering a variety of ideas for how to describe: old photographs that are just out of focus, ghostly apparitions who are somehow familiar yet strange, an ephemeral and liminal space that is otherworldly. There is an assured dynamism through the lovely fresh floral pastel palette, at the same time we squint and wonder again and again, who is here with us? How long will they stay? A haunting is not always about doom and gloom - the cheerful pastel palette ensures this - and memories of other lives need not always be heavy and laden with regret. For me, this triptych allows the viewer to go on a journey of their own. Rather than being locked into a preconceived meaning, we experience a kind of flight of thought and ideas. This is original, thoughtful, playful art making. You can go back again and again for a fresh experience. For all these reasons and more, I have chosen Marissa Veerman as the winner of the Clayton-Utz art prize in 2024.. - Dr Andrea Bubenik,

PEOPLE CHOICE

Artist Name: MICHAELAH ARIEL BABURIN

Artwork Title: A PLASH OF COCKATOOS

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 84 x 200cm

Price: $30000

About the Artist:

From my studio on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, I work in a variety of media.
With a foundation in classical drawing and painting, my aesthetic is underpinned by a love for larger-than-life portraits of Australia’s native flora and fauna; especially its birdlife. By magnifying their unique beauty, I hope to provide them space to tell their story.

Artist Statement:

A modest earthy basin endures a pool of reflection, refreshing and gathering. Where realism and impressionism merge to capture a delightful movement and playfulness of discovery and revelation: a plash of Red-tailed black-cockatoos.
Photo Credit: Laurie Ross

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: PAT HALL

Artwork Title: BUSH DANCE

Medium: Watercolour

Size: 137 x 91cm

Price: $8500

About the Artist:

Pat Hall’s large scale watercolours are inspired by the natural beauty that surrounds us every day. Her stretched paper canvases are sealed, front and back, with a UV stabilised and waterproof coating. She floods her paintings with colour, breathing new life into the medium.

Artist Statement:

BUSH DANCE


Eucalyptus leaves, dancing in the breeze. Absorbing and reflecting our pervasive Queensland sunlight, they perfectly illustrate our country’s unique and varied landscape.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: SAMANTHA GROENESTYN

Artwork Title: DIVIDED

Medium: Oil on linen

Size: 105 x 35cm

Price: $1900

About the Artist:

Raised in far north Queensland, Groenestyn trained as a philosopher and painter in Brisbane and Vienna. She is a finalist in the 2024 Archibald Salon des Refuses and won second prize in the 2022 Queensland Figurative. Her work is observational but tightly constructed, anchored in vital, rhythmic drawing.

Artist Statement:

I split myself down the middle, with a graceful but vacant dummy-half spliced and suspended opposite in a strange tension. I stand with brazen confidence, if precariously. Inhabiting your body in a particular way invites your mind to follow.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: SCOTT BRETON

Artwork Title: DRIFTING SANDS SUNSET

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 80 x 160cm

Price: $12500

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: CHANELLE ROSE

Artwork Title: HERE

Medium: French Ink on Paper

Size: 120 x 90cm

Price: $9500

About the Artist:

Chanelle Rose is an Australian contemporary fine artist, known for her striking characters and highly detailed large-scale artworks using ink, and more recently oil paint.
Wth a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Contemporary Art, Chanelle’s work is inspired by human behaviour during life events, where people are challenged to override the impacts of difficult situations (or people). The art Illustrates these situations from the perspective of inner perceptions; what is going on quietly within, that which is not expressed externally.

‘I create strong characters that reflect our inner perceptions, our summoned courageous self, who we need to help us, or who we have to become to get through life’s challenges... each character has their own story, a strong message, and my artwork is the messenger’.

Chanelle creates each piece with the purpose of resonating with the viewer in such a way that it empowers the viewer to have faith in who they are, to have the strength to fight injustice, and the strength to represent justice.

Coming from a contemporary art context, her subjects defy traditional social definitions of strong symbols (skulls, spikes, masks etc.) and instead uses them to embody elegant and sophisticated characters who reflect how we view our world from within; our responses to diverse, personal and social issues.

‘The work is strong because it carries a strong message.’

From a contemporary art perspective, each piece has a story written to inspire and prompt reflection, of a time well known to the viewer.

Much of Chanelle’s work sits within the collections of people where the art represents either themselves, or has become a part of an important message for their own viewers. For those who have had to draw heavily on strength and resilience to get to where they are now, the artwork and its message hangs proudly within their beautiful homes; as a reminder of who they are, who they have had to be, and how they got there.

“At times we forget the details... what we needed for strength, to strategise, be courageous, to pause, to bathe and energise in the morning light... the artwork reminds us”.

Artist Statement:

“Historically, a bust sculpture captures a specific moment in time. This artwork considers the present moment, and rather than depicting or immortalising a particular individual, the piece has been created as a skull ‘bust’ - representing what it means to be simply human. The skull transcends race, culture, and gender, embodying a unified sense of oneness - as we all have one. ‘Here’ reflects what it means to be human in a time such as now, where information and connection is readily accessible, as we work together to actively create our history - the ‘new’ history.

The number IX (9), the highest single-digit number, symbolises completion and the cyclical nature of life. It represents the end of one cycle and the preparation for the next, embodying the ebb and flow of existence, as everything in the natural world, from time to space is divisible by 9. It emphasises the idea that true humanity, in its purest form, is about returning to our essential unity and interconnectedness.” - Chanelle Rose

‘HERE’
Historically, long-lasting dehumanising conditioned beliefs were set in play, however, the digital world has since plugged us in… we have acquired more depth to our narrative and are instead moving towards peace and unity at a much faster pace than traditional conditioning can contain. But we are not there yet, we still have work to do.

As the brave reveal the injustices still present from past prejudices, more of our own beliefs and reality are confronted. For many, their hearts and souls move beyond traditional barriers, leaving those remaining to catch up and realise… humanity is stronger than conditioning. 

Being HERE, being present, has never been more prevalent.