The winners of the 61st Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, an annual art award and exhibition inviting artists to submit works in a variety of artistic categories and mediums, were recently announced with Angela Tiatia receiving the $50,000 acquisitive Open Award for her video work The Dark Current, 2023.
Angela Tiatia, The Dark Current (photographic still), 2023. Courtesy the artist, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Campbelltown Arts Centre
Through this work, Tiatia explores contemporary culture, drawing attention to its relationship to representation, gender, neo-colonialism and the commodification of the body and place, often through the lenses of history and popular culture. “This is a visual poem about loss, love and hope,” states Tiatia. “I lost my mother this year. This work begins as homage to her, young and hopeful. Then into the present, confronted by fragments of our lost path, we face our biggest challenge, climate change. The future is untameable and untimed.”
This year’s judging panel comprised artist Savanhdary Vongpoothorn, artist Telly Tuita, and CEO of Museums and Galleries of NSW, Brett Adlington, who described The Dark Current as “all at once sensuous and mesmerising, personal and political and above all, Tiatia’s land and sea gave an eerie sense of flying over a place occupied by beings who designed spaces purposely for gatherings. Given our varying backgrounds and approaches to art, the draw of video artworks felt surprising and unexpected amongst our judging process. Tiatia’s work resonates on a deep emotional level and is a remarkable addition to the Campbelltown City Council Art Collection.”
Over the years, past winners of the Open Award include Elisabeth Cummings, Khaled Sabsabi, Justene Williams, David Bromley, Marion Borgelt, Raquel Ormella, Tina Havelock Stevens, Kuba Dorabialski, Robert Fielding, and Michael Cook.
An exhibition of 2023 finalists’ works will be held at Campbelltown Arts Centre in Western Sydney until 8 December. For additional information on the 61st Fisher’s Ghost Art Award categories, awards, and their winners, visit the website.
