Exhibition of Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award
The Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award is exhibiting at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery until 12 November in 782 Kingsway, Gymea NSW Australia. If you live within the area perhaps you could take a little time to check out the submissions and report back to us.
Kevin McKay has said that this award always includes innovative ways of interpreting the Art on Paper brief. The winning work, Eternal Return, by David Lawrey and Jaki Middleton looks like two large cardboard boxes until one peers into a slot and sees a diorama of boxes circulating on conveyor belts that one might see dispatching Amazon orders.
There is a digital catalogue on the site where you can review all the submissions. Please follow the Bookmark link below to see the works on paper.
Kevin McKay's submission is titled Pavilion, 2023 and has been created using oil paints on handmade paper, 87 x 118 cm.
Artist statement by Kevin McKay:
Cronulla's Oak Park Pavilion houses a public toilet and serves as an entry point to the beach. It is also a place of transition and presents like a classical temple in its engagement with light and space. This work is painted on a heavy sheet of handmade paper that I inherited from my studio partner Troy. I like to think the friction between materials and image correlates with the need to find beauty in the midst of the difficult and ordinary.
Kevin goes on to say that:
"I first visited Oak Park when an older friend called me on a cold evening circa 2006 to ask for assistance in salvaging his sailboat. A storm had ripped it from its mooring in Bundeena and carried it across Port Hacking, where it was being hammered by the sea on the rocks at Oak Park.
A perilous night was spent trying to save the boat, that ultimately failed. When the sun rose all that was left were little pieces of orange fibreglass strewn along the shore. I have returned many times since and this place has always been a scene of tranquillity, a family-friendly place to swim. The classic form of the pavilion with its central chamber framing a view of the junction between sea and sky has been a subject I have painted repeatedly. In this case I included a grey sky with patches of blue that might indicate a clearing sky or conversely a storm brewing. My old friend died in 2018 one year after Troy, curiously, on the very same day.” (Note: same day of the week and week, not numerical day.)
The Studio Partner referred to by Kevin above was Troy Quinliven who died in 2017. With Kevin's assistance we have been able to write three posts on this remarkable young artist who died tragically far too young.
Please take a few minutes to read about Troy and to see his remarkable art works.
Anne Newman
Anne Newman
Anne Newman
Troy's parents have established the Troy Quinliven Exhibition Award in his memory and we were able to showcase the works of Alice Xu who was the 2021 winner.
Anne Newman
© Thank you to Kevin McKay who kindly gave permission for the images of his work to be shared on AnArt4Life.