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The coveted Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award showcases outstanding art created with, on, or about paper. The biennial art award received a record breaking 850+ entries this iteration. According to the selection panel the submissions were of an incredibly high standard, in a diverse range of media – including drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, printmaking and video – which made the selection process an enjoyable yet difficult task.
On Friday 20 May, at the official opening of the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award 2017 Exhibition at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Art Centre, Sydney, the $15,000 prize was presented to Cairns-based contemporary artist Brian Robinson for his work entitled Land Sea Sky – Charting our place in the universe (2016).
Brian Robinson, Land Sea Sky – Charting our place in the universe, 2016, linocut printed on paper in black ink from one block
Judge for the 2017 Art on Paper Award, Denise Mimmocchi, Senior Curator of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales chose this work from 76 finalists; “Technically this work is incredibly sophisticated, it has a wonderful sense of the movements of the universe where land, sea and stars meet and gods mingle with figures of popular culture”.
“The Islanders of the Torres Strait reside in a narrow waterway between the land masses of Zai Dagam Daudai (Australia) in the south and Naigai Dagam Daudai (Papua New Guinea) in the north where the Coral and Arafura Seas meet in one of the most fragile and intricate waterways in the world, a seafaring race of indigenous people, proud and dignified, whose spirituality is derived from ancestral ties to the land, the sea and the sky. Torres Strait Islander culture is closely linked to the stars. They inform Islander laws, customs and practices that are recorded and handed down in the form of story, song, dance, ceremony and artefacts. Islander astronomy also contains practical information about the natural world, which is essential for survival and cultural continuity. Islander culture is linked to Tagai – the creation deity that is represented by a constellation of stars that spans across the southern sky.” – Brian Robinson.
The $5,000 Young & Early Career Artist’s Award was awarded to Harriet Body for Wet Season, Dry Season (2017) and the $5,000 Friends of Hazelhurst Local Artist Prize was awarded to Michelle Cawthorn for Daughter (2017).
This year’s selection panel consisted of Carrie Kibbler, Hazelhurst’s Curator, Grahame Kime, Hazelhurst’s Art Centre Manager, Louisa Chircop, winner of the 2015 Art on Paper Local Artist Award, and Rochelle Haley, artist and lecturer at UNSW Art & Design.
The installation crew also chose their favourite work which this year has been awarded to Andy Quilty for Self Portrait Studies #10. Quilty will receive a 4-week residency at Hazelhurst. The $1,000 People’s Choice Award will be announced on Monday 3 July.
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre
Until 16 July, 2017
Sydney
