Perpetual and Sculpture by the Sea have announced that the following three Australian sculptors have been awarded the prestigious $30,000 Helen Lempriere Scholarships:
Senior Artist – Greg Johns (SA)
Mid-Career Artist – Lucy Barker (NSW)
Emerging Artist – Siahne Rogers (WA)
The Helen Lempriere Scholarships are designed to enable artists to further their artistic development through travel, study and the purchase of important new equipment while supporting their inclusion in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, which is on view across the two-kilometre Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk every year.
Greg Johns, Horizon Figure. Sculpture by the Sea Bondi, 2022. Photograph: Charlotte Curd
Johns, a full-time sculptor for nearly fifty years, will exhibit a corten steel work titled Sit Down Fella (Contemplative), influenced by a rock formation on the Palmer landscape. The Scholarship will fund new machinery and materials for Johns’ studio and travel to Sydney and Melbourne to research sacred and contemporary sculpture.
“I have worked 47 years full-time as a sculptor in Australia. The journey has been both a ‘hard fought’ and heartfelt one,” says Johns. “I am genuinely grateful to receive the senior Helen Lempriere Scholarship, acknowledging my contribution to a sculptural sensibility, which reflects both the uniqueness of Australia and universal forces.”
Lucy Barker, Sea Through. Sculpture by the Sea Bondi, 2017. Photograph: G Carr
Barker’s sculptural practice reflects her interest in art as an agent of cultural change. She will exhibit an interactive artwork as part of Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2023, a Hills Hoist clothesline where visitors will be invited to share resources by hanging or removing pre-loved clothes on the line, representing a common desire to find new sustainable ways to live. The Scholarship will support Barker’s art practice both practically and intellectually by improving her studio, taking casting and bronzing courses, and expanding her cultural and artistic knowledge through travel focused on where sculpture and spirituality meet, with a particular interest in traditional Japanese culture.
Barker says, “It is a huge honour to be receiving the Helen Lempriere Scholarship for a mid-career artist this year. Sculpture by the Sea has been pivotal to my career and to receive this level of recognition and support is invaluable. Thank you to all involved! The scholarship will enable critical improvements to my studio and allow me to pursue interests in a way that I previously only ever dreamt about.”
Siahne Rogers, Artist Impression of ‘EVERYTHING MUST GO!’ for Sculpture by the Sea Bondi, 2023
Rogers is a young practising artist from Western Australia with a background in sculpture, installation and performance. Rogers’ work, titled EVERYTHING MUST GO!, a shimmering embellished billboard with the title’s text in bright-red acrylic, invites us to contemplate the processes of loss, grief and acceptance in a playful way, while acknowledging the duality this holds for feelings on impermanence and celebration of living. The Scholarship will fund an artist residency overseas and eventually post-graduate education, as well as a new studio space and equipment.
Rogers says, “As an emerging artist I am deeply grateful to be awarded the privilege of my practice being supported by the Helen Lempriere Scholarship. This is an invaluable opportunity to develop a career as an artist, and I aim to use it to create meaningful and impactful work and hope for connections with the greater arts community.”
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2023 will run from 20 October to 6 November 2023.
