A STRIKING “found steel” sculpture resembling river reeds has won the inaugural Clearwater Sculpture Prize of $3000, announced by Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall during the opening of the Queanbeyan River Festival.
“Reeds Specimen (in memory of Frank Schmidt)” by Christopher Harman was considered by the judging panel, which included sculptor Philip Spelman, sponsor SEROC rep Geoff Prior and Queanbeyan City Councillor Judith Burfoot, to be a well resolved work that sat perfectly in the riverside location.
25 artists entered works created in response to the river and surrounds.
These included unusual sculptures made of recycled materials, from which the judges chose Barak Zelig’s work “Flow,” made of recycled tyres, plastic and steel, as winner of the $1000 “Re-Use” Award sponsored by South East Regional Organisation of Councils.
Another prominent work made from “found” objects was “Bulbous Metaliferous” by Corri Hakaraia and Nigel Dobson, made of light fittings and star pickets.
Among the more mischievous entries were wine flagons recycled into ducks by glass artists Mel George, Annette Blair and Kirstie Rea and a rusted barbed wire canoe by artist Clare Martin, who told “CityNews” that one passer-by had asked her if it would float.
Visible from a distance were sculptures of a moth, a cockatoo, a platypus and a fish by Neil Dickinson, whose laser-cut art works can be seen all around Queanbeyan’s CBD.
Bill Fleming’s’ mysterious sculpture of a blue whale resting in a Buddhist lotus was accompanied by a narrative aimed at young people and other works, notably Sonja Kalenjuk’s “RE: Coffee Table,” seemed well-targeted toward smaller sculpture-lovers.
The 25 entries in the 2014 Clearwater Sculpture Prize can be seen on the riverbank near the Queanbeyan Bridge until Sunday. Works maybe purchase by inquiring at the marquee under the bridge.
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