Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance celebrated the opening of Saltwater Freshwater Arts 2023 at Boomalli Aboriginal Art Gallery with the announcement of this year’s art award winner –
Alison Williams for her work Sticks ‘n’ Stones
Plus two highly commended works – Our Elders by Rachel Cross and We walked to the other side of the world by Zoe Golding.
Our Elders by Rachel Cross We walked to the other side of the world by Zoe Golding
Congratulations to the Art Award winner, the highly commended artists and to all the artists who entered works this year. The exhibition is open at Boomalli until Saturday 7th October when it makes it way north to Wadjar Regional Indigenous Gallery for the next part of the tour.
If you live in Sydney or happen to be visiting, drop in to Boomalli in Leichardt and check out this beautiful and diverse exhibition.
From Catherine Croll, 2023 Saltwater Freshwater Arts curator and Art Award judge
‘Congratulations to all the artists who entered the prize this year. The strength and diversity of your work made our job of judging very difficult. In selecting the first prize, Kyra (Kum-Sing) and I sought out the work which had a unique combination of artistic style and technical ability coupled with a powerful story. The work which had a real physical presence in the gallery space was Alison Williams’ mixed media Sticks ‘n’ Stones which provided a visual representation of Black deaths in custody and the criminal justice system.
We used similar criteria when awarding a Highly Commended to Rachel Cross for her painting, Our Elders, which explored the interrelationships between elders, teachers, knowledge and memories and, Zoe Golding for her drawing, We walked to the other side of the world, which examined the sense of not belonging and drifting in the space between two worlds.’
Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance is proud to support this biannual art award open to Aboriginal artists living within the Saltwater Freshwater footprint on the Mid North Coast of NSW. As this year’s Art Award winner, Alison Williams said in her acceptance speech (listen below) “… it is important for all of us artists to be acknowledged …’ As an Aboriginal owned and run business we are passionate supporting the growth and development of our artists, cultural practitioners, and our community.
To view all the artworks submitted in this years Art Award view our detailed exhibition catalogue here:
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