Meroogal Women's Art prize 2011 gallery
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The Meroogal Women’s Arts Prize (MWAP) is a regional non-acquisitive competition and exhibition across the fields of visual arts, crafts and design. It is open to a work using any medium made by a woman 18 years or over whose principal residence is in one of the nine local government areas of Shoalhaven, Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Eurobodalla, Bega Valley, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly or Goulburn Mulwaree.
Open to all women living on the South Coast and Southern Highlands, the prize accepts entries in any medium and encourages artists to explore traditional crafting practices. The MWAP celebrates the traditional female skills cherished and valued by the women of Meroogal live on in a contemporary context. The result is a diverse annual show of everything from mixed media installations, embroidery and collage to more traditional 'art' paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture.
Each year a different theme is chosen for artists to respond to. The theme for 2011 was 'Made by hand'.
1st Prize Winner
Tania Maria Mastroianni
Wollongong
Ode to Gradisca
Visiting Meroogal House reminded me of how I learnt to crochet as a child, sitting beside my aunt’s bed in Rome. She was a matriarch. She commanded her universe by telephone and adored watching a dubbed version of ‘Bold &the Beautiful’. Gradisca had very, very crooked hands, but the things she made were exquisite.
My works are ex-voto. Puerile, handmade memory snippets. They are Romanesque, quasi pearlescent pinned gold leafed talismen, fetish even. Visual idioms and realia longing for a Renaissance when decorative is in again (but not like contending with Baroque in Bi-Lo).
2nd Prize Winner
Arja Välimäki
Flinders
'Hand made, man made'
At Meroogal House, one detail stood out to me the most: the crocheted ends of the rope that were attached to the roller shutter upstairs. I decided to use that detail as a starting point for one of my works and that is from where ‘Hand made, man made’ got its inspiration.
The work was executed using man made recycled materials and hand woven without using any form of support or device, hence the title, ‘Hand made, man made’.
3rd Prize Winner
Tracey Mitchell
Mittagong
Konteyner
Living in a multicultural society, integration is an important issue, channeling me to contemplative ways to find narrative in my work.
Drawn to the rhythm of pattern, I have become completely enamored with Islamic art, leading to travel through Turkey, which has left an underlying influence on my work and an insatiable interest in other cultures.
Ceramics, either vessel-related or architectural, live with us in our homes and have the power to influence us in the subtlest ways. In this body of work I am exploring the idea of layers of history and their relationship with the vessel.
Bundanon Trust Regional Artist in Residence Scholarship Winner
Juilee Pryor
Austinmer
Yvonne
This softly-radiant impression of the concealed/revealed body refers to the hidden nature of sensuality and desire that is obscured by the carefully constructed personas we present to the world. What we wear hidden under our clothes is perhaps the closest to the truth about what is contained within and is the only barrier between our carefully engineered outer appearance and the naked truth.
This cyanotype print is handmade and completely unique, using the early photographic process of photo-sensitizing watercolour paper and then letting it dry before exposing it to UV light which creates a beautiful dark blue negative image.
Highly Commended
Elizabeth Hobbs
Avoca
Petticoat
My coloration with acrylics and mixed media produce compositions highly influenced by involvement in textile embroidery, ceramics and mosaics thus ‘Petticoat’ is a quirky and sentimental piece - handmade with simplicity using scraps of fabric and paper from the past.
Highly Commended
Kylie Douglass
Cudmirrah
Spiritual procession
Clothes in mortal life are often discarded when that life ceases to exist yet they are tangible evidence of the character of a passed soul. Dressmaking was a beloved craft of this era and I have endeavoured to capture the spirituality of a Meroogal soul through the embodiment and movement of clothing.
Each dress or piece of clothing is transformed and entwined to become part of another, symbolising the close connection between the many women of Meroogal and the presence of men. Covering paper with willow and rubbing away the image was integral to the process of this artwork.
Highly Commended
Kaye Johnston
Wattamolla
Pioneering Women
My entry, ‘Pioneering women’ is a photograph of dolls using hand tools. They are in the Australian Bush and they are sitting in front of an image of Meroogal House.
The concept is that women have to be able to use tools and refers to the theme for this year’s Meroogal Women’s Art Prize, Made By Hand.
The dolls have no clothes on, but have been sprayed with fluoro paint which increases their pinkness. They also can’t stand up because they are so poorly designed. They are still able to be active despite their limitations.
Packers Prize Winner
Brodie McAulay
Wollongong
Stitching
‘Stitching’ is the result of personal reflection on the relationship between mothers and daughters. During much of my childhood my mother taught me how to sew. Of importance were not the technical skills passed on, but rather the environment in which I could observe my mother’s embodiment of womanhood. The found crochet pieces represent the lessons I have learnt from my mother and others on my journey into womanhood. The pieces I have created represent my embodiment of these as I create my own femininity. By using skills and objects associated with craft, my work evokes a historical narrative which is simultaneously personal and global.
People's Choice Winner
Margot Curtis
Woollamia
Handmaiden
Inspired by an antique tea cup and the garden at Meroogal, ‘The handmaiden’ evolved.
Taking a quiet moment, having a cup of tea poured by unseen hands over the generations. Hands that embroider, sew, toil in the garden and reap the bounty of fruits and flowers.
In my work I’ve used antique china, vintage tiles and petrified wood, as well as making my own tiles. I used geranium, agapanthus and port wine magnolia leaves as stencils and imprinted jacaranda leaves.
The female form is integral to Meroogal and I have tried to capture something of all the generations that lived there.
