THE WINNERS

EXAMINER STORY: By MARY MACHEN  April 13, 2013          CLICK HERE TO GO TO SOURCE

                       

A SCULPTURE by North-West artist Cheryl Sims last night won the $6000 acquisitive Tasmanian Art Award.

Sims's small-scale work had such a big impact on judges that it was the "unanimous standout winner," said William Mora, of William Mora Galleries in Melbourne.

"We felt it was original and had a refined simplicity that evoked a humour within a serious sense of mystery."

Sims, who could not be at Eskleigh last night to accept the award, confided she wept at news of the win.

"It's the first time I have entered this award, it's unbelievable, just fantastic," said Sims, who first tried her hand at sculpture about five years ago.

Called Emerge From the Garden Series, Sims's work is about the regeneration of plants and is created out of an old paling fence, blue metal and hebel.

"I have a two-acre garden and I see birth, life and death every day. This work is a metaphor of what happens in my garden," Sims said.

"Everyone will see different things and have their own interpretations - it's a sneaky little piece."

Her evaluation matched that of the three judges, who agreed that Emerge "would repay repeated viewings".

"The piece is so strong in conceptual interest that it doesn't reveal itself all at once," agreed fellow judges Greg Leong, a practising artist and recently appointed general manager of Theatre North in Launceston, and Vivienne Hale, a former curator of the Devonport Regional Gallery.

Also receiving awards from Tasmanian Governor Peter Underwood last night were:

•  Cheyne Purdue for her work, Visual Reflection on Schubert's `Trout', which won the $1500 excellence in watercolour; 
• Andrew Klapche, whose Boom Crash in metal won the $1500 sculpture prize; 
• Elizabeth Haygarth, who won a $1500 commendation prize for her pastel From the Verandah at Dusk; and 
• Ryllton Viney, who also received a $1500 commendation prize for his oil, acrylic and charcoal on canvas, Central Highlands Plateau (Evening Light).

The acquisitive Tasmanian Art Award is a major fund-raising event organised by Eskleigh Foundation.

Click here to visit the past winners online gallery

Well Graeme Whittle was the last winner but his painting will not be the last artwork ever to win the Tasmanian Art Award @ Eskleigh ... near Perth in Northern Tasmania.

This year, 2013, there'll be another winner and at Eskleigh we'll be celebrating the 20th time the award has been made at the upcoming Tasmanian Art Award Exhibition in APRIL.