Image above: Sarah Tomasetti From Balpatta X 2024 145 x 150 cm pigment oil and marble dust on fresco
Congratulations to Holly Grace and Sarah Tomasetti who have been selected as finalists for the 2024 Fleurieu Biennale Art Prize
The exhibition of finalists’ works will be on view from 8 June – 14 July at the Fleurieu Arthouse in the beautiful McLaren Vale, South Australia. The gallery is open daily 11am to 4pm.
The Fleurieu Biennale Art Prize for landscape was established by David Dridan, Greg Trott and Tony Parkinson in 1998. This year, the exhibition features works exploring the theme A Sense of Place. There are three prizes: The Fleurieu Art Prize $20,000, Emerging Artists Prize $5,000, and a People’s Choice award of $2,500. The judges are Lisa Slade, Assistant Director, Artistic Programs at Art Gallery of South Australia, Brian Parkes, CEO at Jam Factory and Nicholas Folland, Head of Contemporary Studies and Sculpture at Adelaide Central School of Art.
Image above: Holly Grace Resonant Landscapes 2024 overall dimensions 35 x 90 x 35 cm
Regarding the above work, artist Holly Grace shares this statement:
“The artwork Resonant Landscapes is a new body of work, based on concepts of portraiture and portraits of a place, themes initially developed during a recent artists residency at the National Portrait Gallery and at Gudgenby Cottage in the Namadgi National Park. As part of the residency experience I created a collection of blown glass sound receptors based on the inner ear structures of birds and humans. These glass receptors became my acoustic horns, resonant structures to receive and record natures soundscape built from the songs of birds, crickets, frogs, to the gentle rush of water, the rustle of wind through eucalyptus leaves and snow grass.
Within this artwork I explore the many chameleon qualities of glass. It is an instrument for sound and a canvas for light, creating both a personal memoir and a sense of a place. Using both the camera and glass as my tools, I explore the Namadgi wilderness hoping to discover where I belong in this ancient landscape and how walk light in this increasingly fragile environment.”