melissadrummond

The 2015 City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize opened at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall on Friday the 4th of September. This year, the number of entries topped the 200 mark, and prizes were awarded in six different categories, as well as ten highly commended works, with the winners sharing over $40,000 prize money. Tracey Luke, Dr. Janice Lally, and Dr. Ric Spencer were the judges, and the exhibition was curated by Melissa McGraw.

I’m really happy to have picked up the Award for Excellence in Photography for my photo ‘Rainbows and Unicorns (Part III)‘ (pictured below).

What the judges said:
“Captured the light and vibrancy of the landscape. The scene was both grand in landscape but had an element of magical surrealism to it, and a touch of humour in capturing an alpaca in the Goldfields. Technically it is a great photo and she has found beauty in objects that may be considered unattractive every day.”

My other entry is titled ‘Intertidal‘ (pictured below).

Artist Statement:
From the series ‘Littoral’ (2015 – ).

With a background in earth science, my photography often focuses on a curiosity for the natural world, combined with an honest and raw portrayal of daily life.
Littoral is both an exploration of boundaries and zones of change, from an oceanographic or geological perspective, and a reflection on how that might relate to life itself. These are areas of great variation where survival depends on the ability to adapt to exposure and submersion.

The Best Overall Award was taken out by Coral Carter’s photo ‘The Poppy Seller‘.

The other major prize winners were:
Award for Excellence in 2D – ‘Polarities, Darkness & Light‘ by Ginette Hillman
Award for Excellence in 3D – ‘Seed Spirit II‘ by Neil Turner
Goldfields Theme Award – ‘Around Red Hill‘ by John Scott
Best Goldfields Artist Award – ‘The Light of Night‘ by Daniel Roisetter
First Nations Award – ‘Bluff Knoll‘ by Caroline Narkle
Youth Award – ‘Obnoxious / X Marks the Spot‘ by Nadine Marais

The exhibition is open until September 27th, each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and weekends, 10am to 3pm.