Remagine Art Prize 2024

Walking the Gadyan track around Sydney's Berry Island my eye was taken through the native scrub and over to a large oil tanker. Its hull was faded black and rusty red in hue. SERENE SEA. The irony hit me immediately. An oil tanker, serenity? A Serene Sea? My eyes rolled deeply. As I walked on I couldn't help but muse that this might be a plea from the workers of the ship; a serene sea, a safe passage home. Yet as thoughts about excessive consumption, endless industries devouring fossil fuels, rising temperatures and sea levels swam around my head, I realised, this isn't just their plea, It's ours too. If we aren’t careful, if we do not keep our seas serene, in a relatively short space of time, no one will be able to walk this track.

The Sixth Extinction: A Short-List encapsulates a fraction of the Holocene Period's fauna extinctions (11,700yrs ago to present - a time when human occupation is the dominant feature of the Earth’s biota). Drawn from the easily accessible online source Wikipedia, this short-list represents an ongoing existential crisis: an estimated 1 million species of flora and fauna are threatened with extinction in the upcoming decades.

The primary human causal factors in descending order are habitat destruction, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and now climate change. Humans and our domesticated animals currently make up 96% of the earth’s mammal biomass, while conservative estimates of wild animal extinctions are over 100 times the prehuman rate.

As humans continue to consume the natural world at unsustainable rates, the looming question arises: when will humanity join the list of extinctions? Will AI survive to document our demise?

Statement edited with AI

The Muse explores and reveres the aging female body as both a vessel and a landscape. 'In mythology, the Muses were nine goddesses who symbolised the arts and sciences. Today a muse is a person who serves as an artist's inspiration.' Self portraiture and 'artist as muse' is common amongst artists for practical and conceptual reasons. The self is on hand and available and it provides the artist with an intimate understanding of the subject. Feminist ideas around the 'Male Gaze' have been inverted where here the artist celebrates a semi abstract female form that is based upon her own body as the artist's muse.

This work is made using a coiling basketmaking technique with a blanket/buttonhole stitch. It is made from recycled clothing strips wound around recycled cardboard and is a memory basket with personal clothing items and items from family members.

Picking up rubbish from the crossroad to make art to help change perceptions of what is rubbish.

In today’s world, plastic saturates every aspect of our lives. Our rampant production and consumption of plastic goods, coupled with inadequate waste management, have led to the pervasion of microplastics in our environment. The contamination of water sources with these tiny plastic particles poses a growing threat, with potential repercussions for both human and ecological health.

However, amidst this challenge, certain bacteria and fungi have demonstrated their ability to break down plastics, presenting a promising solution to reducing microplastic contamination. Inspired by micrographs of these plastic-degrading microbes, this vibrant and whimsical artwork celebrates nature’s resilience and ingenuity. Best appreciated atop a plinth, it invites viewers to peer down as if through a microscope, offering a fresh and hopeful perspective of our relationship with plastic consumption and the natural world.

Flora and fauna are an integral part of our planet’s survival. In this work I have used paper, mixed media, hand painted, dyed silk, cotton and synthetic fabrics all of which are recycled.

A Country Garden shows that starting with small garden improvements, we can correct the environmental damage created by activities that destroy natural habitats.

Biodiversity is so important.