Events

I am very pleased to be a finalist in the 66th Blake Prize with my artwork – Trashed

Since 1951, The Blake Prize has engaged artists, nationally and internationally, with ideas of spirituality and religion. The prize takes its name from William Blake, the world-famous 18th Century artist, and poet who threaded the religious and artistic throughout his practice. Building on this history, The 66th Blake Prize continues to encourage contemporary artists of varied styles and religious and spiritual allegiances to create significant works of art, which engage in conversations and negotiations concerning spirituality, religion and/or belief.

Exhibition at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre – 13 February – 11th April 2021.

For more information click here.

I very pleased to announce I have been awarded a four-week residency at The Old School Mt Wilson to develop my WILDfire project.

During my residency I will be connecting with people from Mt Wilson, Mt Irvine, Mt Tomah, Bilpin, Berambing, Kurrajong Heights, Blackheath, Mt Victoria, Bell and surrounding communities to help me create a faithful collection of artworks which speak of the multi layers of how wildfire touches individuals, the community and the environment.

My purpose is to conserve valuable stories and contribute creatively to the Australian bushfire history.

For more information please contact me via the contacts page on this website or click here to visit Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine website

Selected images connected to WILDfire theme.

Somewhere to Land – Artwork drawn with burnt wood from Australian bushfires in December 2019 and January 2020.
Charcoal on paper
Artwork size – 27 x 35cm
July 2020

Trashed (detail) is created from cans, plastic and glass bottles thrown out on the side of The Bells Line of Road in a 30-kilometer distance from Mt Tomah a to Browns Swamp at Lithgow. NSW
Trashed – approximately 1000 objects with dimensions.

Battered – ink, charcoal, tree sap, twine on paper. 
21 x 32cm
Artwork made to reflect damage caused from Climate Change and a desire to restore and rescue the burnt environment.

Wrens of Browns Swamp – Acrylic, ink, charcoal, twine, tree sap on paper.
Four weeks after the December 2019 fires went through the Blue Mountains NSW Australia, I visited Browns Swamp, located outside of Lithgow. The swamp was encased by severely burnt landscape with tiny glimmers of bird life.

Two works finalists in the 11th Greenway Art Prize 2020

I spend a lot of time walking and looking at birds along the Greenway corridor in the Inner West, Sydney.

Sometimes, I am fortunate enough to see an Australian Golden Whistler or Superb Fairy Wrens.

These two works are a response to urbanisation removing a lot of natural habitat for native plants and animals. Small birds like the Australain Golden Whistler and Superb Fairy Wren, are dependent on ground and shrub cover to provide shelter, food and a breeding ground. The Greenway is an important ecological corridor which helps protect the local population of birdlife. Without these green spaces, looking at images of birdlife might be all we have left.

11th Greenway Art Prize 2020 – exhibition dates 6 – 15th November 2020 at Art Est Art School and Gallery.

For more information about Greenway Art Prize click here

Finalist in 2020 Gosford Art Prize with Endured.

Exhibition dates – 26 September to 29 November 2020 at Gosford Regional Art Gallery.

Detail – Endured, acrylic, ink, hand stitching on handmade paper, 100 x 120cm

For more information about gallery click here.

Four residencies for October 2020 to June 2021 have been awarded for The Old School Mt Wilson.

I am very pleased to announce I have been awarded a four week residency to develop my Wildfire project.

On Saturday 26^th of October 2019, a hot, windy, stormy day brewed in the Blue Mountains. A bolt of lightning made ground at Gosper Mountain setting the Wollemi National Park on fire. The epicentre of a mega blaze that swept through the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Hunter Valley, Cudgegong, and Central Coast local government areas.

My aim while artist in residence is to connect with people from Mt Wilson, Mt Irvine, Bell, Mt Tomah, Bilpin and surrounding communities to hear about their experience dealing with the mega blaze. My purpose is to conserve valuable stories and contribute creatively to the Australian bushfire history.

For more information

Zoomed – selected as a finalist in 2020 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award.

150cm x 150cm  March to July 2020  ink, acrylic, oil stick, pastel and hand stitching with string on paper

JADA is Grafton Regional Gallery’s flagship art prize, celebrating drawing in all its splendour from hyper-realism that is beyond belief to the expressive and abstract, evoking the poetic and emotional response to the human condition and our environment. Many of the works question and challenge the notion of the traditional drawing; while others provide a contemporary perspective and reinvigorate those traditions.

The Gallery will launch the exhibition on Friday 2 October where Judge, Peter McKay will announce the winner of the $35,000 prize with the works remaining on view until  22 November 2020. Peter is Curatorial Manager of Australian Art at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.

For more information click here

Enamoured selected for the 2020 Swan Hill Print and Drawing Award.

Celebrating printmaking and drawing, this long running prize will see some of the finest contemporary works entered from across Australia.

The mission of the Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards is to promote excellence in Australian prints and drawings, present an exhibition of contemporary works and continue to build a high-quality collection for Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

4th September 2020 date of exhibition launch – Swan Hill Regional Gallery.

Enamoured – detail

Charcoal, sap, ink on papper 150cm x 100cm

Lonely on a trip away from loved ones, I appreciated and became captivated with a wild magpie that came to visit me. Enamoured is drawn with burnt branched and sap, collected after the 2020 bushfires in Australia, which destroyed a vast amount of our wildlife’s habitat.

Jody Graham 19/6/20