Congratulations Nadine Schmoll, Melissa Harvey and Chrystal Rimmer; major prize winners in this year’s Remagine Art Prize with a special Youth Award (16-18 years) going to talented North Wahroonga local Kiara Underwood.
Hosted by Hornsby Shire Council in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society, the annual Remagine Art Prize focuses on sustainability and the environment by challenging artists to create works in response to the crisis we are all facing waste and over-consumption. Submissions responding to this year’s theme, ‘Fast fashion, fast food, fast running out of natural resources’, were reviewed by judges Laura Jones, Zora Regulic and Tony McDonald.
Nadine Schmoll, Interconnected (Self Portrait as Coral). Winner, Digital Art – Stills, Remagine Art Prize 2021
Queensland-based artist Nadine Schmoll won the ‘Digital Art – Stills’ category and $3,000 in prize money for her work titled Interconnected (Self Portrait as Coral). Schmoll describes the work as ‘a photographic self-portrait that sheds light on the interrelationships between the natural marine environment and humans, in the context of the global impacts of climate change and plastic pollution.’
Sydney-based artist Melissa Harvey won the Painting, Drawing and Printmaking category and $3,000 for her work titled Unravelled/Untold, made from recycled cotton pulp, sourced from discarded clothing and donated domestic cloth sourced from the artist’s local community. ‘Reusing and repurposing cloth started early for me on a large remote dairy farm on the Far North Coast, NSW,’ says Harvey. ‘Through isolation came resourcefulness.’
Sydney-based artist Chrystal Rimmer took out the Mixed Media 3D and Mixed Media 2D category and $3,000, with her work titled Infinity, Infinity, Infinity, made from 1,023 plastic bags. The work ‘came together during the height of the pandemic and in the aftermath of the devastating 2019-2020 bushfires,’ said Rimmer. ‘I find peace knowing my existence is but a fleeting moment on an infinite timeline. This sentiment is embodied by fungi, generating new life from decay.’
Chrystal Rimmer, Infinity, Infinity, Infinity. Winner, Mixed Media 3D and Mixed Media 2D, Remagine Art Prize 2021
Local North Wahroonga resident Kiara Underwood won the Youth Award (16-18 years) and $600 in prize money for her painting Draining our Earth.
‘2,700 litres of water are used to make just one cotton t-shirt, enough for a person to drink for two-and-a-half years. One load of washing uses 150 litres of water,’ Kiara protests. ‘My artwork depicts a bone-dry landscape with the last remaining water in a small dam. The water is being pumped from the dam to the foreground, where a subject drowns in the rapidly rising water. This shows the immense volume of water taken away from the environment and used by the fashion industry. The three subjects in my painting, all wearing cotton t-shirts, portray the struggle that this water use brings to the farmers, animals and environment and show the consequences we will all feel if we continue to carelessly use water as if it’s an infinite, inexhaustible resource.’
The Remagine Art Prize 2021 finalist exhibition was held at Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre in Hornsby, Sydney. This exhibition has ended; view the following website for a full list of finalists and winners, including runners-up.
