Goya Dmytryshchak
Northern Territory-based artist Lee Harrop has won the $10,000 Footscray Art Prize for her sculptural work that “interrogates the mining industry” using a hand-engraved core sample.
The winning work, And this, too, shall pass, was selected by the judging panel, comprising National Gallery of Victoria’s Myles Russell-Cook, Victorian College Of The Arts’ Vikki McInnes, and freelance curator Kirsty Grant.
“I created And this, too, shall pass during the pandemic as both a response to it and my interest regarding the mining industry’s social, economic and environmental impacts,” Harrop said.
“Engraving the words, ‘And this, too, shall pass’, into a geological core sample is intended to both warn and console.”
Thirty nine works were shortlisted from more than 830 entries.
The judges said the work was “modest in scale and quiet in its presentation, but in this apparent simplicity, it has great power”.
“Utilising text and quoting a familiar adage that reflects on the temporary nature of human existence, it resonates widely, reminding us of our connections to the past and responsibilities to the future.”
The $10,000 Local Artist Acquisition Prize was awarded to Sunshine-based artist Simon Clark for his work, Gaskin Gardens.
Clark’s collage reflected on the “confinement that many commission housing residents experienced during lockdown”.
The artwork will be acquired into Maribyrnong council’s art collection.
Footscray Community Arts Centre will soon receive a new mural addition thanks to the $5000 Street Art Prize, awarded to Macedon resident Emma Coulter.
Her mural, to be installed in the next few weeks, will attempt to create a ‘window’ between the community and the centre.
Artists Ahmad Sabra and Scotty So received a residency with the centre as part of the new Emerging Artist category.
Local artists Rosie Kalina and Dawn Tan were selected winners of the Young Artists Prize categories from more than 160 artworks, which are displayed at Victoria University’s MetroWest venue.
Artworks may be viewed in free exhibitions at Footscray Community Arts Centre and VU at MetroWest until Saturday, June 5.
Details: www.footscrayartprize.com/exhibitions
