www.cliftons.com

Brisbane | Sydney | Canberra | Melbourne | Adelaide | Perth Auckland | Wellington | Singapore | Hong Kong | Global Affiliates

Cliftons Art Prize 2011Canberra Entries

Artist: Angela Parragi Title: Self Portrait in Studio, in pyjamas, with my shadow Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 107cm x 82cm

Art description My work is about honesty and making passing moments permanent by capturing them in paint. This is very much a self portrait- this is what I do (painting) and where (at home) and in my pyjamas as I usually am. My dog is also a very important aspect of my life, and also he does literally sit with me as I paint.

Artist bio Currently living in Canberra. Completed Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons.) 2010

Artist: Angela Parragi Title: Laine in Blue Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 90cm x 70cm

Art description This was done when I began a series of portraits during my honours project, and was lacking models- this is a girl in my class, which was very nice to do of a fellow art student.

Artist bio Currently living in Canberra. Completed Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons.) 2010

Artist: Penelope BoydTitle: Waves 1 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 30" x 40“

Art description This painting stems from a series of work related to the physical as well as the vast spectrum of emotional responses we have to water. Addressing water as more of a force, rather than a substance, the central focus of this piece is the quiet story we create of our experience with water, one of elation and often fear. A subtle water surface is engulfed by its own colour and vibrancy, as if drowning in its own beauty.

Artist bio I have spent the last decade experimenting with different mediums and styles of painting, but the only consistent thread is the urge to paint water. I am self taught, and through time and experimentation I have developed my style. I was born in Canberra in 1982, where I still live today. Although I discovered a love of art at an early age, my interest in people and society led me to a degree in Psychology at the Australian National University, followed by a Graduate diploma in Education from the University of Canberra. After the birth of my first child in 2007, and years in the public service, I decided it was time to pursue what until then had been a regular hobby. Since that time I have developed a strong and disciplined artistic practice.

Artist:Lisa Wang (Dodson) Title: Sunset Serenade Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 415 x 615 mm

Art description Sunset at Barwon Heads, Victoria. The painting captures the warmth of light as it fades into the night behind a lone rowboat moored on the beach. The artist has used coarse brush strokes and a textured canvas to complement the stark contrast between light and darkness.

Artist bio Born and raised in China. Lisa's passion and aptitude for art was evident at an early age. Her formal art training commenced at secondary school and continued through university. In 2000 Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Shanghai. In 2002, Lisa left China went to New Zealand to open a new chapter in her life. During her time there, she developed further as an artist and became a respected art teacher. In early 2007, Lisa moved to Australia . She is now a full-time artist and frames her own work- believing that the frame is an integral part of the work that should support and enhance the work's central theme.

Artist:Lisa Wang (Dodson) Title: Follow the Leader Medium: Oil on linen Size: 600 x 1500 mm

Art description Sheepdog Trials, Mansfield, Victoria.

Artist bio Born and raised in China. Lisa's passion and aptitude for art was evident at an early age. Her formal art training commenced at secondary school and continued through university. In 2000 Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Shanghai. In 2002, Lisa left China went to New Zealand to open a new chapter in her life. During her time there, she developed further as an artist and became a respected art teacher. In early 2007, Lisa moved to Australia . She is now a full-time artist and frames her own work- believing that the frame is an integral part of the work that should support and enhance the work's central theme.

Artist:Lisa Wang (Dodson) Title: Pigeons on Elizabeth Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 760 x 760 mm

Art description A perspective of the city rarely seen. The painting focuses on the birds that make the city their home and shows a unique intersection of nature and technology.

Artist bio Born and raised in China. Lisa's passion and aptitude for art was evident at an early age. Her formal art training commenced at secondary school and continued through university. In 2000 Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Shanghai. In 2002, Lisa left China went to New Zealand to open a new chapter in her life. During her time there, she developed further as an artist and became a respected art teacher. In early 2007, Lisa moved to Australia . She is now a full-time artist and frames her own work- believing that the frame is an integral part of the work that should support and enhance the work's central theme.

Artist: Melinda Willis Title: Liminal Space 1, 2010 Medium: Screen Printed, Fused and Cold-worked Glass; UV Cured Inkjet Print on Glass; Cold-worked Mirror and Float Glass Installed Size: H. 84cm, W. 220cm, D. 25cm

Art description My work explores the phenomena of glass and its reflective qualities relative to the contemporary urban experience. Sheet glass is a predominant material in the urban environment and has varying effects on the way we experience the space around us. My recent practice has involved observing, recording and exploring space through the reflections from sheet glass held in buildings in public city areas. I have investigated these spaces through photography, capturing moments of time and translated them into layered structures of sheet glass, fused glass and mixed media, which reference a series of entries and exits in and across time and space. Glass in architecture is very present in our modern-day lives, but rarely thought about or explored as a vehicle for transience or impermanence of time and space. The ghostly interplay of these structures echoes the transitory nature of life and relationships and the ephemera of the everyday.

Artist bio I graduated from South Australian School of Art, the University of South Australia in 2008. During this time I developed an interest in investigating the effect of reflection in glass in the urban landscape. My work was selected for inclusion as a finalist for the international Bullseye E-Merge competition in 2008 and in 2009; my work entitled Within/Without was selected for the international peer reviewed journal, New Glass Review. After graduating from the South Australian School of Art I relocated to Canberra to undertake Honours at the Australian National University. I graduated with First Class Honours and was awarded the 2010 Canberra Glassworks Residency Award, which I will undertake in the latter part of this year. Currently, I am developing my emerging art practice as a studio hirer in the Canberra Glassworks.    

Artist: Melinda Willis Title: Liminal Space 2, 2010 Medium: Screen Printed, Fused and Cold-worked Glass; UV Cured Inkjet Print on Glass; Cold-worked Mirror and Float Glass Installed Size: H. 87cm, W. 220cm, D. 25cm

Art description Liminal Space 2 explores my ongoing interest in the phenomena of glass in the urban environment and its reflective qualities as a perceptual experience. In contemporary architecture, sheet glass has become a predominant material used in the construction of the urban environment and has varying effects on the way that we experience the space around us. The reflectivity of the material lends itself to a constant and poetic dialogue with its surroundings. The complex relationships, of layered images on reflective surfaces, have compelled me to seek a more detailed account of this phenomenon. Making known the relationships between the static, moving, compressed, obliquely angled, abstract, and sequential is my aim.

Artist bio I graduated from South Australian School of Art, the University of South Australia in 2008. During this time I developed an interest in investigating the effect of reflection in glass in the urban landscape. My work was selected for inclusion as a finalist for the international Bullseye E-Merge competition in 2008 and in 2009; my work entitled Within/Without was selected for the international peer reviewed journal, New Glass Review. After graduating from the South Australian School of Art I relocated to Canberra to undertake Honours at the Australian National University. I graduated with First Class Honours and was awarded the 2010 Canberra Glassworks Residency Award, which I will undertake in the latter part of this year. Currently, I am developing my emerging art practice as a studio hirer in the Canberra Glassworks.    

Artist: Ishak Masukor Title: Vector #3 Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 120cm x 150cm

Art description Vector #3 engages with the dichotomy of human experience; order/chaos, creation/destruction. Through the action of painting and the indexical mark, Vector #3 explores these mediated spaces where the viewer experiences the tension between such binaries. Vector #3 plays with this dichotomy metaphorically through the material process of painting.

Artist bio Ishak Masukor is an emerging artist based in the ACT. Masukor completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Painting at the Australian National University in 2010, coming in the top 5% of his course. Masukor received a solo show at Canberra Contemporary Artspace, which will open in May 2011, where he will exhibit his painting series, Half Space. Masukor's prolific practice is inspired by such artists as David Schnell Julie Maretu and Cy Twomly. Masukor's engagement with contemporary culture is translated through is unique exploration of abstract painting.

Artist: Ishak Masukor Title: Untitled Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 120cm x 150cm

Art description "Untitled" engages with the dichotomy of human experience; order/chaos, creation/destruction. Through the action of painting and the indexical mark, "Untitled" explores these mediated spaces where the viewer experiences the tension between such binaries. "Untitled" plays with this dichotomy metaphorically through the material process of painting.

Artist bio Ishak Masukor is an emerging artist based in the ACT. Masukor completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Painting at the Australian National University in 2010, coming in the top 5% of his course. Masukor received a solo show at Canberra Contemporary Artspace, which will open in May 2011, where he will exhibit his painting series, Half Space. Masukor's prolific practice is inspired by such artists as David Schnell Julie Maretu and Cy Twomly. Masukor's engagement with contemporary culture is translated through is unique exploration of abstract painting.

Artist: Kate Vassallo Title: One hour in a gallery Medium: Inkjet Print on poster paper Size: 169cm x 135 cm

Art description This image is documentation from a series of performances entitled 'One-Hour Studio'. In these performances we see the body of the artist occupying different spaces as artist studios. In this work the artist inhabits an empty 'white-cube' gallery. The body is dormant in the vast space, alluding to the mind activating while the space is still. This is a large, unframed, photographic print ideally hung with archival tabs and pinned to the wall.

Artist bio Kate Vassallo graduated from the Australian National University School of Art in 2010, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), First Class with University Medal. She has had her first solo exhibition in Canberra and exhibited in numerous group shows, most recently HATCHED 2011: National Graduate Exhibition, held annually at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Vassallo's work attempts to find ways of preserving the tangible experience of making. She undertakes a deconstruction of Performance Documentation, attempting to find a medium with which ephemeral moments can be adequately represented once they have passed. Her work is playful while she questions the conventions surrounding what makes an object art and the person that makes it an artist.    

Artist: Kate Vassallo Title: Buren #1 Medium: Inkjet print on bond paper Size: 42cm x 60 cm

Art description This work plays with the idea of creating the iconic image of an artist creating their work. The act of making is not presented in a magical or mythical way, but rather a methodical and straightforward action. This is an unframed photographic work that can be pinned directly to the wall.

Artist bio Kate Vassallo graduated from the Australian National University School of Art in 2010, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), First Class with University Medal. She has had her first solo exhibition in Canberra and exhibited in numerous group shows, most recently HATCHED 2011: National Graduate Exhibition, held annually at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Vassallo's work attempts to find ways of preserving the tangible experience of making. She undertakes a deconstruction of Performance Documentation, attempting to find a medium with which ephemeral moments can be adequately represented once they have passed. Her work is playful while she questions the conventions surrounding what makes an object art and the person that makes it an artist.    

Artist: Kate Vassallo Title: Buren #4 Medium: Inkjet print on bond paper Size: 42cm x 60 cm

Art description This work plays with the idea of creating the iconic image of an artist creating their work. The act of making is not presented in a magical or mythical way, but rather a methodical and straightforward action. This is an unframed photographic work that can be pinned directly to the wall.

Artist bio Kate Vassallo graduated from the Australian National University School of Art in 2010, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), First Class with University Medal. She has had her first solo exhibition in Canberra and exhibited in numerous group shows, most recently HATCHED 2011: National Graduate Exhibition, held annually at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Vassallo's work attempts to find ways of preserving the tangible experience of making. She undertakes a deconstruction of Performance Documentation, attempting to find a medium with which ephemeral moments can be adequately represented once they have passed. Her work is playful while she questions the conventions surrounding what makes an object art and the person that makes it an artist.    

Artist: Dan Vukovljak Title: CBRU-01 Medium: comic book pages Size: 82 x 12 x 60 cm

Art description I aim to offer viewers alternative image and narrative constructions based on the comic book. In this work, rolled comic book pages are used as the physical matter of the work, and mimic structural aspects of comic book panels.

Artist bio 11 October 1969, Canberra, Australia 2011 Solo Show: Something or Nothing - art and gadgets, CCAS Manuka Group Show: Blaze 5, CCAS Gorman House, Canberra 2010 Group Show: HP-9, ANU School of Art 2009 Bachelor of Arts (Visual) Honours First Class, Australian National University (ANU) School of Art, Canberra ANU School of Art - Emerging Artists Support Scheme (EASS) Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Canberra Award Canberra Contemporary Art Space Residency and Exhibition Award Canberra Grammar School Exhibition Award KPMG Acquisition Award Megalo Print Studio Residency Award Equal 1st, Jan Brown Drawing Prize, Foyer Gallery, ANU School of Art 1991 Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Psychology), ANU, Canberra

Artist: Dan Vukovljak Title: Page 43 Medium: Acrylic, oil, ink on canvas Size: 122cm x 92 cm

Art description I aim to offer viewers alternative image and narrative constructions based on the comic book.

Artist bio 11 October 1969, Canberra, Australia 2011 Solo Show: Something or Nothing - art and gadgets, CCAS Manuka Group Show: Blaze 5, CCAS Gorman House, Canberra 2010 Group Show: HP-9, ANU School of Art 2009 Bachelor of Arts (Visual) Honours First Class, Australian National University (ANU) School of Art, Canberra ANU School of Art - Emerging Artists Support Scheme (EASS) Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Canberra Award Canberra Contemporary Art Space Residency and Exhibition Award Canberra Grammar School Exhibition Award KPMG Acquisition Award Megalo Print Studio Residency Award Equal 1st, Jan Brown Drawing Prize, Foyer Gallery, ANU School of Art 1991 Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Psychology), ANU, Canberra

Artist: James Lieutenant Title: Target Man Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size 85cm x 144cm

Art description This work is a screen-print of an image taken from mass media. It's purpose or meaning is to act as a emblematic device.

Artist bio James Lieutenant was born in 1986 in Canberra, Australia. In 2010 he graduated from the ANU School of Art. He has had solo shows at Canberra Contemporary Art Space and has been written about in Art Monthly Australia.