Melanie (Mel) Sinclair’s winning entry in the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery exhibition, with an inspired $16,000 in prize money, was the “result of an unfortunate accident”.
“I was heading out to Rosewood to meet a friend for breakfast,” the Ipswich resident told The Town & Country Journal after the September 6 announcement she’d taken top-billing.
“As I passed behind the Amberley RAAF base, I hit a kangaroo. There was nowhere safe to stop for a few kilometres.”
That unfortunate collision meant Mel’s undriveable car led her to the intersection of the winning entry, a bus stop, telling us she “sat down in annoyance, and then noticed the patterns on the road”.
“I had my camera in my bag, so I snapped a few shots,” Mel continued, further sharing she’d entered because “the gamble” of entering is a sign of “hoping for the best” and “just being included in exhibitions is great for future opportunities”.
Her work, titled “Bogan’s Ballet” had judge, Jessica Bridgfoot describing the imagery as “an incongruous marriage of natural beauty and ‘hooliganism’”.
Another judge, Michael Brennan, Director of Noosa Regional Gallery said they “kept coming back” to this “complex and simple” entry among a “strong field”.
“It also talks about the identities of others, yet somehow it achieves this in their absence, which adds a weightiness to the work,” Mr Brennan said. “It’s an image that is beautiful to look at even if its subject rallies against this … (and) it’s a work that provides a wealth of formal and conceptual substance which keeps you looking.”
Mel’s photographic expression began in 2009 “because it was cleaner than painting and drawing”, in which she also dabbled. Landscapes have her interest, and she’s part of various art groups.
Visits to Stanthorpe have coloured her past, she has enjoyed staying in Eukey with friends, telling us she “loves the area, the granite outcrops, and the intense and beautiful wattle”.
Mel’s even “hunted for snow” as the cooler climate is her “thing," among others.
“My mum and I have a little ritual that every time we come (to Stanthorpe), we get some pastries from Zest (Pastries) and sit by Quart Pot Creek and watch the birds,” Mel said.
In the announcement of the prize Mel felt “honoured and thankful”.
She also praised the other entries, telling us, “The whole show is something you have to see for yourself. Every artist has made something so interesting, inciteful and sometimes just pure talent. The amount of younger artists represented is simply wonderful and it is exciting to see what the younger generations are producing, and that get selected for these exhibitions.”
Mel said she particularly enjoyed seeing the work of:
Jayda Bruce who has “the most incredible work with cut paper, you have to look at it from all sides, realizing that each section is hand cut with precision”.
Hamish Wilson who has “the most subtle, almost sensuous oil painting, each daub of oil is almost sculptural and I envy painters that have this rough, chunky controlled hand”
Lorraine Dean's “incredible porcelain sculptures are so wonderful, the idea that it can be so wafer thin and light is strange and wonderful to my mind … you have to appreciate the deft handling and control over such a delicate medium”.
Another special guest of the September 6 Opening Night was Philip Bacon AO, a leading art dealer and philanthropist. Natasha Kloppers resumed her place at the grand piano as well, for the first time since the gallery's reopening.
Other artistic disciplines were awarded thousands of dollars in prize money.
The Stanthorpe Art Prize exhibition is open to the public now, and until November 10. The hours to enjoy the works are weekends from 10am to 1pm and Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.
SRAG Director Mary Findlay encouraged locals and visitors to appreciate the works an enter the Public Choice Award. She also acknowledged the assistance of Southern Downs Regional Council, Honeysuckle Cottages, C Consulting Engineers, Borderline Regional Arts Association, Amcal Pharmacy Stanthorpe, gallery patron Teena Wilcock OAM and Mike Roselt for sponsoring the Local Artist Award, the Reeves family for their support of the Ted and Daph Reeves Memorial Prize for Young Artists, and IAS for sponsoring The IAS Fine Art Logistics Changeover Team Award.
