Above: Digital image
It is so wonderful to be selected once again for the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art.
For every artwork that I create I can always see the final installation in my mind. It is usually a large and convoluted 3D expression of my concept and not something that I can afford to produce unless I know it has been selected for a prize or exhibition like this. Having people that understand what I am trying to achieve and who always say ‘Yes’ (no matter how crazy it sounds) is worth everything. I can’t stress enough how important the relationship between artist, printer and framer is. Without them I can only get so far. I am incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people working with me: printers Matt and Ria from Matte Imaging and framers Luke and the team from Arten .
Image: The Wandering Womb
Series: All Roads Lead to Salvation
About the prize:
NPCA (Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art) is an Australia wide biennial prize for artists working in any medium. The Open and Local Prizes are acquisitive and will become part of the Nillumbik Shire Council art collection. The Finalist exhibition will be presented at Montsalvat across three Gallery spaces from Friday 4 April – Sunday 25 May 2025.
Open Prize: $20,000
Local Prize: $10,000
Mayor’s Award: $500
People’s Choice Award: $500
Finalists:
Selected from 468 entries, the 34 finalists are artists Georgia Banks, Pia Coetsee, Emma Coulter, Lana de Jager, Lada Dedić, Chelle Destefano, Makeda Duong, Megan Evans, Mark Forbes, Phillip George, Tim Gregory, Petrina Hicks, Nicholas Hubicki, Virginia Keft, Janetta Kerr-Grant, Jenna Lee, Warren Lee, Arrayah Loynd, Donna Marcus, Kori Miles, Ezz Monem, Marisa Mu, Jamie Mumford, Serena Pinday, Kenny Pittock, Susan Reddrop, Britt Salt, Amy Schleif, Jacqui Shelton, Sia Smyth, Katie Stackhouse, Meagan Streader, Isabel Trufas, Jen Valender.
About the work:
This work is semi sculptural with varying depths across the whole piece and cutouts to reveal images below. All set within a custom painted blood red timber frame and enveloped by a large raised perspex box – as seen 1st image top right. Working out the logistics of the individual layers has been a mathematical nightmare for me but I think it is now good to go. I will share more images of the work once framed and also in situ at Montsalvat Gallery in early April.
Dimensions: all framed as one single piece 115cm x 75cm
Artist Statement:
This image is part of a personal story; a visual telling of the mental and physical impacts of living with chronic pelvic pain whilst dealing with medical misogyny, misinformation, and incompetence.
In a medical system where women’s pain is either dismissed or not taken seriously, I have had to learn how to advocate for myself and my needs. It is a constant battle and one that is proving very difficult to win. Sixteen years in limbo, a life stuck in a holding pattern of pain and loss with no end in sight.
There is only a thin membrane between what the world sees and the lived reality of my life. I may seem fine as I mask the pain, but if you excavate, even just a little, you will find it is all completely raw. I am lost in the ebb and flow of pain, of heartbreak and despair.
I am angry. I am difficult. I am defeated.
See more from this series here
Above: test prints
Above: final prints (still in protective wrapping) ready for framing