Moreton Bay Art Prize - 2024 winners

Aboriginal Fish Trap, Sandstone Point

Aaron Butt

Artist statement: Aaron Butt is an artist based in Ningi, exploring light and form in his local landscape. Aaron creates paintings in both oil and acrylic on canvas and found materials that capture momentary light conditions, predominantly around Sandstone Point but also in locations where he has travelled.

Artwork statement: While walking along the Sandstone Point foreshore, a young person passed me with fishing gear and walked along the wall of the fish trap to its point. I recoiled before realising that regardless of time period or culture the fish trap continues to be used for what it was designed for.

Judge's note: Aaron’s subtle and meditative depiction of a local Gubbi Gubbi aquacultural site requires a patient viewer. A mottled, silhouetted figure stands quietly at the centre of Sandstone Point, dwarfed by the enormity of the landscape around them. Reading Aaron’s text, we learn that the figure depicted is a young person fishing. In Aaron’s own words, the subject of his painting is his observation that “the fish trap continues to be used for what it was designed for”. In the observant humility of his work, it is clear that Aaron has a sincere engagement with and respect for the Moreton Bay landscape and its history. Aaron’s work reminds us that we need only to look closely at the country around us to understand that this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Image credit: Aaron Butt, Aboriginal Fish Trap, Sandstone Point, 2024. Image courtesy of Louis Lim.

Sunsets

Lauren Rogers

Artist statement: Lauren Rogers is a contemporary Indigenous artist, a descendant of Ngarabal, and has bloodlines to the Torres Strait Islands. Lauren shares her art to celebrate and honour her Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. Born and raised in Australia, Lauren draws inspiration from the rich cultural traditions of her people, infusing her work with vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and organic line work.

Artwork statement: Through vibrant colours, intricate brushwork, and meticulous detail, I aim to capture the ethereal beauty of the sun's rays cascading across the land, mountains, and sea. This artwork is a celebration of my Ngarabal and Torres Strait Islander traditions, weaving together the rich tapestry of my diverse cultural heritage. It holds deep significance in my culture, symbolizing the profound spiritual connection between the land and my ancestors. As the sun sets, it marks the transition from one day to another, reminding us of the eternal cycle of life. Through this piece, I extend an invitation to viewers to immerse themselves in the splendour of nature, to appreciate the invaluable cultural heritage of Australia, and to honour the timeless stories and indomitable spirit of Indigenous identity that have been passed down through countless generations.

Judge’s Notes: Dramatic in scale and vibrancy, Lauren’s work commands attention from afar. However, it is the intricate level of detail in her patterns and repeated motifs that set this work apart. As an expression of connection to Country, Lauren’s work boils over with pride, joy and celebration. 

Image credit: Lauren Rogers, Sunsets (2024). Image courtesy of Louis Lim.

Grevillea and Melaleuca in Glass

Lisa Christensen

Artist statement: Reinterpreting the tradition of still life painting through contemporary photorealism, my practice is born out of an ongoing fascination with the natural world as it impacts me in my local area. Having grown up on the Fraser Coast and moving to the Moreton Bay region after completing a BA in Fine Art (Honours) at Queensland College of Art, my detailed paintings explore ideas of the uncanny in relation to Australian native plants and the blurred lines that exist between nature and culture.

Artwork Statement: This depiction of a common Grevillea, seen in gardens and on roadsides in the Redcliffe area, is paired with a twig of Melaleuca and arranged to reveal a quiet tension between the forms and the man-made vessel that houses them. The work offers a tone of reverence, its careful rendering providing a point of connection to the idiosyncratic beauty and fragility of nature in our current climate of uncertainty. 

Judge’s Notes: Lisa’s photorealistic painting Grevillea and Melaleuca in Glass pulls the viewer in close to admire its breathtaking detail and precision. Once up close, it is the delicate softness of light in Lisa’s work that sustains our attention. Perfectly rounded stigma furls, wispy diffused shadows and gently shimmering glass are contrasted with the stark linear forms of the Grevillea leaves. Lisa’s work displays an absolute mastery of her craft. 

Image credit: Lisa Christensen, Grevillea and Melaleuca in Glass, 2024. Image courtesy of Louis Lim.

Today is going to be perfect

Emily McGuire

Artist Statement: Emily is an award-winning Maltese-Australian artist. Since 2018, she has exhibited nationally at institutions such as The Museum of Brisbane (QLD), Artisan (QLD), Deakin University Art Gallery (VIC) and Wangaratta Regional Gallery (VIC). In 2023, she won the Textile Art Award at the Queensland Regional Art Awards.

Artwork Statement: Bursting from the binds of twisted hessian rope is a discarded womenswear T-shirt that reads "Today is going to be perfect”. Wrestling this affirmation into an illegible form captures a tension I find myself navigating; a desire to fulfil certain expectations only so that I might be free of them.

Image credit: Emily McGuire, Today is going to be perfect, 2024. Image courtesy of Louis Lim.

From The Language of Posing Project

Amanda Ivy Gardner

Artist Statement: Amanda is a visual artist focused on how design communicates complex ideas and compelling imagery. Her recent work utilises photography and photomontage to represent her personal and political experiences of the world. She is dedicated to exploring techniques and materials that align with her commitment to an environmentally sustainable practice.

Artwork Statement: The Language of Posing reflects upon the pressure women face to conform to societal beauty standards. This collage is the first in a series in which I remake my image as I prefer. My rounded contours and aged skin both reveal and conceal in an abstraction of voluptuous forms and textures.

Image credit: Amanda Ivy Gardner, From The Language of Posing Project, 2024. Image courtesy of Louis Lim.

Crooked Teeth

Shannon O'Hara

Artist Statement: Concerned with textiles and abstraction, Shannon O’Hara is a painter who investigates contemporary art’s material potential for bodily engagement. Producing large-scale hard-edge abstract paintings that use satin rather than canvas, O’Hara considers how an emphasis on the sensuous textile and tactile material surface can facilitate an embodied visual experience.

Artwork Statement: ‘Crooked Teeth’ is a large-scale hard-edge abstract painting on a satin support. Here on the fabric surface, an embrace of haptic textures such as wrinkles or creases, prompts a sensuous experience evoking touch and the body. O’Hara’s work resonates with the viewer by deploying bodily association through surface and anthropomorphic forms. 

Image credit: Shannon O’Hara, Crooked Teeth, 2024. Image courtesy of Louis Lim.