CONGRATULATIONS to the Following
2024 NATIONAL FINALISTS
ALYSSA ALEKSANIAN
Leonora Carrington (1917- 2011)
Oil on acm panel 42 x 31cm $1300
I met Leonora Carrington when investigating female surrealist painters of the 40s.
Carrington, along with Leonor Fini and Remedios Varo make up the triumfeminatus of female surrealists working during those years.
When Carrington’s lover, painter Max Ernst, was arrested (by the French, then the Nazis) in France in the early 1940s, she moved to Mexico.
Here, she became part of a riotously productive surrealist movement during the 1940s & 50s.
Lenora was fascinated by the esoteric. Recently, tarot cards she created for her own personal use were uncovered.
Carrington was also a writer, jeweler sculptor, a creator of tapestries, playwright, costume and stage-set designer.
Leonora mixed in circles with notable artists of the day - Frida Kahlo a close friend.
Leonora, along with other surrealist painter-heroines of the era, were sensitive women who channelled this quality through their work. They built themselves a world of independence, lore, beauty and enchantment.
ANN ARORA
Paris Street
Oil on canvas 50 x 100cm $1600
This painting is about the experience of walking in cities as both participant and observer. The double square format was inspired by seeing the excellent show 'Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise' at the Musee D'orsay earlier this year, which displayed many of Van Gogh's final works in the format.
JOSEPH AUSTIN
Local Magpies
9 Mounted etchings 70 x 60cm $900
Magpies are a great subject in my backyard.
Always up to something amongst iconic Australian props such as the hills hoist and the garden hose.
MIN-WOO BANG
Shadow of the Sun
Oil on linen 102 x 152cm $15,000
MICHAEL BELL
The Lucky Rooster and Soi Dog, Hua Hin, Thailand 2024
Oil and acrylic on canvas 80 x 112cm $6000
My painting, The Lucky Rooster and Soi Dog (or street Dog) is based on two animals who live on Hua Hin Beach, Thailand.
I was there in July 2024 as part of The International Residency program, and made drawings of the rooster and dog almost every day. They are well-known local identities.
I have arranged them on the littered Hua Hin Beach in positions that reflect how animals are sometimes used in a Coat of Arms.
JANET CHEETHAM
The Monarch Butterfly
Acrylic on canvas 92 x 92cm $1750
‘The Monarch Butterfly’ is named after the billions of migrating monarch butterflies that migrate every November from Canada and the US to Mexico. The butterfly is a symbol for the immortal soul and ancestors who communicate through the butterflies to the living.
The scene captures the festival celebrating the Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
WEI BIN (JEFFREY) CHEN
Iris
Oil on canvas 46 x 36cm NFS
Iris, a student of mine who sat for this portrait.
DAVID COLLINS
River and Magpie
Oil on canvas 124 x 114cm $6800
River and Magpie
A Hawkesbury escarpment in silhouette
The glare of a Winter's sky
Everyday a magpie enters my studio
Picking up crumbs from the floor
Fattening up for the Spring
Its bold black and white markings
Echo the painting
Like to like it walks across the surface
Leaving just a trace
MICHAEL CORRIDORE
Looking Towards Namhansanseong
Photogravure, ink on watercolour paper
34 x 42cm $1900
Landscapes, including urban and city are the sites I choose to photograph and record. Areas which show evidence of our human footprint and reflect our relationship with the land.
DAGMAR CYRULLA
The Bather II
Oil on linen 100 x 100cm $11,000
The Bather is part of a series of paintings that focuses on interior bathroom scenes. A subject I have touched on in the past. I was looking at Rembrandt's 'Woman Bathing' in particular. In general, Mary Cassatt, Bonnard, Degas, Titian......to name a few, all of whom have explored this subject. Elizabeth Metcalfe, in her article describes the act of bathing as one which is, “meditative, contemplative, cosseting, almost transformative”. The significance for me of having a bath is the restorative qualities. Perhaps it is womb like, as I am enveloped by the warm water. Every fibre of me is warmed up. It is like a huge hug. When I finally get out of the bath, I feel renewed and cleansed physically and emotionally.
SINEAD DAVIES
Impromptu
Oil on canvas 30 x 30cm $5000
The Title: 'Impromptu', aptly describes the work.
My subject who I have known for many years agreed to sit for me on a whim. It is a small work and I was delighted to have someone sit for me, as usually my subjects are well known and time poor, due to their professions. I am interested in the male as subject, again I rarely have this opportunity and enjoyed the challenge.
SALLY DAVIS
NOLA Ladies
Oil on linen 42 x 66cm $4225
'NOLA Ladies' captures a moment in time in the French Quarter of women's friendship and enjoyment.
ROSALIE DULIGAL
Girl in Red Fez
22CT gold and oil paint 72 x 36cm $1000
As an expat artist I have witnessed the power of multiculturalism it’s potential to bring people together in and atmosphere of peace, curiosity and understanding.
Sydney is as good an example of a melting-pot as anywhere.
In my work a beautiful lady citizen of the world sits, holding the umbrella is both seen and hidden, which like difference and diversity can be subtle or outstanding -the choice become whether one is curious enough to wish to find out more.
I have used 22 CT gold – a precious metal that has been used for thousands of years, particularly in the Japanese art of Kintsugi- the repair of damaged ceramic with pure gold signifying healing and learning.
I have used common French oil paint- precious to me, but perhaps not as precious as gold to signify class harmony, leading to sharing and unification.
COCO ELDER
Relics of Gondwana
Watercolour and gouache carving on paper
98 x 126cm $7500
My greatest motivation for my work is aiming to capture the essence of place in the Australian landscape. The Never Never River is a place I frequently visit for inspiration. The ancient towering watergums flank the water’s edge and dance in fractured reflections. Branches and roots meander and connect land to water and sky. The spirit of this place is enchanting.
The process is one of building up blocks of colour in watercolor that tethers between geometrical forms and patterns in nature, to observations truer to the eye. Various engraving tools are used to carve into the surface with spontaneous action, creating movement and gestural marks. In doing so, I’m drawing into the paint, creating another layer – one that is more textured and dynamic. The carving process pulls the paint away and reveals light from the white of the paper.
DONGWANG FAN
Wahroonga Train Station
Acrylic on canvas 60 x 90cm $5000
This painting depicts an Australian train station in Wahroonga NSW. The majestic building with soaring roof in a sublime atmosphere attracts me. The painting combines techniques of western Pop art and eastern lacquer low relief carvings of landscape. One point perspective combined with my Sculptural Painting style has created a strong sense of three dimensions on a two dimensions surface.
MANDY FRANCIS
Moment on the Mountain
Oil on canvas 152 x 141cm $9150
Seeing a Lyrebird in the wild is so so special. I’ve managed to find a regular hang out for them. Secret location over looking Dyarubbin (the Hawkesbury) I’ve sat waiting patiently, I’ve sketched, started paintings. Lyrebirds blend into the environment so well, their plumage isn’t as colourful as some other birds, but they have these big eyes, elegant stripy tails (the male does).
KEITH FYFE
Gazing Out/Looking In
Watercolour/acrylic 49 x 86cm $1400
I imagine I've seen these things.
SAMANTHA GROENESTYN
Continental Breakfast
Oil on linen 107 x 37cm $1800
A meditation on my place between two continents: what I’ve inherited from my Dutch ancestors, what I bring into the country of my birth.
Art history leans on symbolism, and I play on its addictive transcendent pull, making your eyes continually ascend and descend the seductive sinuous lines. But the real interest takes place in the wide, horizontal plane of immanence: the broad unfolding spread of sensation. Waxy living plants wind their way through the sumptuous textures of studio treasures, growing unpredictably even as I paint. I respond and discover, I gently rein my subjects in.
Raised in far north Queensland, Groenestyn trained as a philosopher and painter in Brisbane and Vienna. She is a 2024 finalist in the Archibald Salon des Refuses, the Percival Portrait Painting Award and the Clayton Utz Award, among others. Her work is observational but tightly constructed, anchored in vital, rhythmic drawing.
LIZZIE HALL
Charon Crossing the Acheron (5)
Oil, oxide, conte on linen 107 x 82cm $2700
The story goes that Charon, the boatman, ferries dead souls across the Acheron (the river of woe) to the Underworld. He requires an obol, which has been placed in the mouth of the dead, to pay their fare.
CRAIG HANDLEY
A Painting Called 'Lucky'
Oil on linen 68 x 92cm $6850
I like paintings that refuse to make a point. Instead they deliver a mystery, something to be unravelled with input from the viewer. They leave room for your own history to become a player, to ignite a thread that will take its own turns and outcomes and ultimately deliver an emotion and feeling that finds its own conclusion.
GEOFF HARVEY
Waratah Roadhouse
Acrylic on board 121 x 92cm $6600
On a road trip around Tasmania we stopped into this roadhouse gas station with this amazing Tassie Tiger Inflation on its roof. Because of its surreal overtone and the fact that I also make dog sculptures I was compelled to do this painting of it.
PETRINA HICKS
Mnemosyne IV
Archival pigment print 120 x 90cm NFS
Permeated with a sense of magical realism, animals and females often appear together to represent aspects of psyche and identity, alluding to the complexity of female identity and the sentience of animals.
The porous boundaries between human and animal states and the affinity of females and animals are central to my work.
Mnemosyne IV delves into psyche and memory inspired by DNA and fossil discoveries suggesting all land animals including humans originally developed from our sea animal ancestors.
MIRIAM INNES
Let There Be Snow!
Charcoal on synthetic paper 20 x 40cm $2100
In the height of a steamy Queensland summer and despite my loathing of cold weather, I find myself calling out loudly for snow!
Acknowledging the many blessings and beauty which surrounds me each day, I take a slow breath and allow time to reflect on Irish childhood memories, not often revisited.
Glassy icicles on black, damp branches, soft crunching snow underfoot, tree shadows tickling a gentle white ground and a deep peaceful silence.
Overcome with the stark beauty of the black and white reimagined image, insight emerges of the roots of my art practice and the journey taken to arrive at this memory.
This drawing became a turning point, a representation, respecting and understanding that this is a crucial process to moving forward, requiring self-reflection and remembering time past.
EAMONN JACKSON
Aftermath
Graphite on Arches 300GSM 51 x 120cm NFS
I approach landscapes like this one as a complex puzzle, in which great enjoyment comes from slowing attempting to tame the infinite complexities and chaos within a natural scene. The pace and realisation that the end of this work wasn't going to be until long into the future seemed daunting at first, but great pleasure was had from seeing the graphite slowly come to life.
The black summer bushfires amplified the fragility of our natural landscape, and the inherent need to manage in order to protect and prolong what we have left. This work (or obsession, taking almost 1500 hours) is a homage to the landscape, especially the spotted gums and burrowangs in which I had the good fortune of growing up amongst, here on the far south coast of NSW.
TIM JOHNSON & PAUL RHODES
(in collaboration)
Creation
Acrylic on canvas 121 x 152cm $10,000
This is a painting about Creation. In a way it is about a 'western' myth that is actually Middle Eastern in origin. The painting is a collaboration with Paul Rhodes.
YOONJUNG KIM
Edgar's Night
Watercolour on paper 35 x 47cm $900
The artist feels a strong and intimate attachment to the object "Ribbon"; used when exchanging gifts with friends or to decorate hair during childhood. For the artist ribbons are not a one-time ornament used for gift wrapping, rather it serves as an emotional medium reminiscent of warm hearts exchanged with people in childhood and as a psychotherapy to heal dark and negative emotions. Through the process of reproducing the flexible, soft form and bright, lively colours of the ribbon in paintings, the artist experiments with the ribbon as a fundamental object in a new visual language that stimulates emotions and imagination and gives the audience a fresh visual experience.
LOUISE KNOWLES
The Kimberley
Oil on canvas 102 x 102cm $4400
To express feelings and communicate through a medium of colour and texture has been an important tool for me. Putting paint on surfaces gives me the time to think and deconstruct my reactions to certain events. Colour has always been a part of my process. Creating textures and depth through the layering of colour, allows the observer to witness the stages.
Light, colour and shadow are present in my work as metaphors for life, love and loss.
WARATAH LAHY
Autumn Shroud
Watercolour 46 x 37cm $1080
My practice focuses on transformative moments, details from my everyday surroundings that speak to a bigger story. Conversely, I recreate these big moments into small or miniature watercolours, a sometimes contradictory medium equally capable of portraying strength, delicacy, vibrancy and subtlety. The scenes I paint are gleaned from the familiar and the everyday and speak of both isolation and points of connection. I observe patterns of growth and change while recording moments accidental beauty and quiet significance.
Autumn Shroud depicts an autumnal twilight garden, swathed in grey netting. Golden yellow leaves fall in the foreground and elliptical pink clouds hover above. It’s a dreamy scene: signs and symbols of what has passed and what is still to come. This painting talks about what is hidden and what can be revealed in time, or to those who pay attention.
JOLON LARTER
Bubblegun MK2
Wood and bubblegum with metal plate backing
15 x 53cm $400
The Bubblegun MK2 is modeled on a combination of the shapes of a few different examples of the weapon type commonly
known as assault rifles, which are the unfortunate weapon of choice used in most mass shooting incidents.
They are a grotesque killing machine and this replica made of recycled timber and bubblegum is a similarly grotesque
visual representation of these instruments of death.
Pink and fleshy looking, sticky to touch, it's repulsive appearance is contrasted by the slightly overpowering
sweet scent of strawberry bubblegum.
NERISSA LEA
It Was Supposed To Be A Holiday
Oil on board 28 x 35cm $3500
ROSEMARY LEE
24-1
Wax and oil based pigment on paper
145 x 101cm $15,000
HYUN HEE LEE
Last Letter
Pencil, Korean ink, cotton thread, Korean Hanji paper
85 x 62cm NFS
This work 'Last Letter' pays homage to my maternal grandfather Yun Bong-gil (윤봉길 의사) who was an independence activist during the Japanese occupation of South Korea. In the letter he wrote to his family before his capture and execution in 1932 he expressed solemn feelings concerning his possible death and regret over the separation from his children. My work reflects the thoughts and sentiments of a man much loved and remembered by his family and country.
ANNE LEISNER
View to the Bay
Oil on canvas 81 x 81cm $2200
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