WINNER

Artist Name: JANNE KEARNEY

Artwork Title: TIME'S UP!

Medium: oil canvas

Size: 61 x 61cm

Artist Statement:

‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’. Boxed into a world of subjection, girls we were taught to respect their elders, be seen and not heard, not to question adults. The Leggo boxing girl figurine symbolises inner strength and power. Women must speak up and say, ‘Time’s up!

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: EVA RICHARDS

Artwork Title: FAMILY GATHERING

Medium: Ink stipple on clayboard

Size: 45 x 61cm

Artist Statement:

My stipple pieces are intricate collections of ink dots created with a 0.1mm pen. The dots represent, to me, the continual coalescence of atoms as life forms, decays and disperses. In this piece I want to depict the sociability and vulnerability of the often misunderstood flying foxes

Artist Statement:

My stipple pieces are intricate collections of ink dots created with a 0.1mm pen. The dots represent, to me, the continual coalescence of atoms as life forms, decays and disperses. In this piece I want to depict the sociability and vulnerability of the often misunderstood flying foxes

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: BRONWYN HILL

Artwork Title: IN GOOD COMPANY

Medium: Oil on board

Size: 60 x 60cm

Artist Statement:

'In good company' is a self portrait that portrays a particular feeling of disconnect that I've often experienced while living and working alone, a feeling that has been amplified with social restrictions. The stick insect on the sheets is clearly lost and out of place with the figure distant in thought, the two are in good company.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: NAOMI WHITE

Artwork Title: DUSTING OF LIGHT

Medium: Gouache

Size: 16 x 16cm

Artist Statement:

Here is a small study done of Cataract Gorge, Tasmania, during my residency there. The days were chilly and each morning frost covered the ground making it look magical. Here a shaft of winter light peaks over the top of the gorge to the floor below, just highlighting the trees amongst the rocks.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: JOEL REA

Artwork Title: OBSESSION

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 60 x 46cm

Artist Statement:

This painting was made during mandatory isolation amidst the Covid-19 global pandemic. The world event was another reminder of the instability and lack of control we have drifting through history, riding out turmoil and unpredictable circumstance in a directionless boat of our own emotional perceptions. My tendency is to obsessively re-play the array of personal melodrama in my mind, exploring infinities of outcomes and possibilities, balancing ever so delicately in the middle of self destruction and self fulfilment.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: BRONWYN SEARLE

Artwork Title: TOO GOOD TO EAT

Medium: oil on Canvas

Size: 45 x 53cm

Artist Statement:

To eat or admire?
The colours and detailed vein patterns of this variety of kale speak for themselves.
Viewed from above, and enhanced by the light, I was keen to interpret what I saw with the luscious vibrancy of oil paint on canvas.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: LARS VESTER

Artwork Title: TRANSIENT TIDE 2

Medium: Oil on linen

Size: 60 x 60cm

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: JANE GREALY

Artwork Title: DOG PARK 2020 IN THE TIME OF COVID

Medium: oil on linen

Size: 40 x 60cm

Artist Statement:

I love Dog Park. At about 6.15am people trickle in with their dogs and the day begins. This year it is different. We have to stand 1.5m apart. The dogs continue to play - no social distancing for them. Within a few weeks, people are banned from gathering in the park.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: MICHELLE CAITENS

Artwork Title: 'THERE'S A HERO IN ALL OF US. WE JUST NEED THE COURAGE TO PUT ON THE CAPE...'

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 60 x 60cm

Artist Statement:

This superhero-in-a-lensball image highlights the concept that we can all play the part of a hero in our own community, truer than ever in the context of the turbulence and unpredictability of 2020.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: ERI YAMAGUCHI

Artwork Title: WHALE GUARDIANS OF OCEAN

Medium: Drawing

Size: 60 x 60cm

Artist Statement:

The circle of life created by a pod whales symbolising guardians of the ocean. Thanks to whale guardians, which contribute to the growth of seagrasses and marine algae, which eventually provide habitats for many marine creatures including small fish and sea turtles.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: LACHIN GHAVAM

Artwork Title: MAGNOLIA

Medium: Oil

Size: 40 x 30cm

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: ANTHONY QUIDONG

Artwork Title: HANG ON

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 61 x 46cm

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: GABI MIKA-MCNAUGHTON

Artwork Title: VIEW FROM BULWER

Medium: Acrylic on cotton

Size: 61 x 50cm

Artist Statement:

It is summer and a storm is gathering on the horizon. It is steamy and humid. The light from the sky reflects on the water casting a turquoise hue. I am going to jump in!

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: LORI PENSINI

Artwork Title: STILL

Medium: oil on linen

Size: 59 x 55cm

Artist Statement:

I come to this place often, this wide eyed jewel that is my imagination. She knows me well, flitting on wing and scattered. She croons gently at first, sweetening and ascending, a steady breath melodically rising and rising until fervently cresting with my inhalation. Until I am stilled.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: CATHY GRAY

Artwork Title: KARRIKINS

Medium: ink

Size: 59 x 59cm

Artist Statement:

Karrikins describes a substance in plants that stimulates seed germination and seedling growth after bushfires.
This piece reflects Australia's rich biodiversity and it natural ability to rejuvenate after fires.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: KELLIE NORTH

Artwork Title: PHOENIX

Medium: Digital Photography

Size: 29 x 39cm

Artist Statement:

This piece 'Phoenix' is a reminder of the strength and courage which lies within us all.
At times when we feel we are lost or defeated, to remember the legend of the Phoenix. The Phoenix is a long-lived mythological bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again obtaining new life by rising from the ashes.

I photographed and built this piece based around thoughts and feelings I had when Australia was being devastated by bushfires. In this piece I wanted to reference the earth and was drawn to this striking rock as a backdrop to a figure standing, in what looks like flames. In one way I wanted the figure to look like she was being engulfed by the flames, but at the same time I also wanted her look like she was rising from them; a metaphor for the legend of the Phoenix.

We will always face adversity in this life and we may fall, but with strength and courage we will rise again.

Kellie North

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: MATT JAMES

Artwork Title: BOUYS

Medium: Oil on board

Size: 30 x 50cm

Artist Statement:

This painting is based off plein air oil sketches done at Enoggera Reservoir. The southern – and quiet – end of the reservoir has a fantastic wilderness feel about it. The bouys really caught my eye as they hint it human activity and stand out against wall of green.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: ELIZABETH AUSTIN

Artwork Title: EMILY (SEATED, NUDE)

Medium: Oil

Size: 39 x 30cm

Artist Statement:

An alla prima painting of the nude model from life. My painting was completed in one day and I was preoccupied with the glowing skin and the satin pink gown draped over the chair. I have tried to capture the beauty of the female form and the serenity of the sitter.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Artist Name: MAKI HORANAI

Artwork Title: SLEEPING MOUNTAIN

Medium: acrylic on canvas

Size: 50 x 50cm

Artist Statement:

Please find your own meaning. One idea in my mind was "connection".