The 2013 Kate Derum and Irene Davies Award showcased the work of 42 finalists from 14 countries.
Australian Anton Veenstra received the 2013 Kate Derum Award for Everyman clown, while the work of UK weaver Jilly Edwards was highly commended. The Irene Davies Award for emerging artists, supported by Alan and Alayne Davies, went to With love… by Monika Beniulyte from Lithuania. The judges also highly commended Ema Shin, a Japan-born Australia-based artist who was a 2012 ATW Artist in Residence.
Kate Derum Award Finalists
Patricia Armour, Mog Bremner, Dorothy Clews, Chris Cochius, David Cochrane, Rosemary Crosthwaite, Ilona Demecs, Jilly Edwards, Suzanne Fitzgerald, Alex Friedman, Pauline Gibson, Tim Gresham, Birgitta Hallberg, Preethi Hapuwatte, Dorthe Herup, Rachel Hine, Anne Jackson, Soon Yul Kang, Dimity Kidston, Valerie Kirk, Jeanne Llewellyn, Ruth Manning, Lindsey Marshall, Jo McDonald, Ann Naudstal, Mardi Nowak, Judit Pázmány, Shubankar Ray, Baiba Ritere, Michael Rohde, Christine Sawyer, Joy Smith, Verona Szabo, Jaroslova Tesinka, Cheryl Thornton, Anton Veenstra
Irene Davies Award Finalists
Monika Beniulyte, John Brooks, Margaret Jones, Joan Korn, Mala Sen, Ema Shin.
Judges
Professor Kay Lawrence AM, Former Head School, School of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia, member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Tapestry Workshop and tapestry weaver
Jason Smith, Director of the Heide Museum of Art
Antonia Syme, Director of ATW
Roger Leong, Curator, Fashion and Textiles, National Gallery of Victoria
2013 Kate Derum Award Winner
Anton Veenstra (Australia), Everyman clown , 2013, tapestry, 25 x 17.5 cm
My point of inspiration was an old English carnival photo, which challenged me to create the dignified portrait of a person in bizarre circumstances without unusualness detracting from demeanor. My current style is the self imposed discipline of the hounds tooth joining adjacent areas: this technique detail has expanded from background to ubiquitous motif. My intention was to evoke a quietly Shakespearean everyman.
2013 Irene Davies Award Winner
Monika Beniulyte (Lithuania), With love..., 2013, tapestry, 14 x 20 cm
My work is about relations, about individuality, difference between gender, about man and woman. I weave tapestries like postcards, sending to each other. I am showing two individuals, in two pieces. It is a confession of love.
2013 Kate Derum Award – Highly Commended
Jilly Edwards (UK), Oilseed rape, series 6, 2013, tapestry, 12 x 9 cm
As I took a train journey through the UK in May the bright yellow waving oilseed rape fields captivated me; the darkness of the soil was exaggerated by the acid yellow colour and the field divisions of hedges still showing their boney structure. This piece with its twelve divisions is part of a series of work cataloguing travel through the same landscape at different times of the year.
2013 Irene Davies Award Highly Commended
Ema Shin (Australia/Japan), Alchemy (face) 2013, tapestry, 31.5 x 21.5 cm
Alchemy is the result of my interest in the similarities found in the shapes and sensory functions of living organisms and humans. Feminine aspects of my artworks are evident in the vibrant colours and the soft voluptuous shapes of flowers, plants, butterflies and human anatomical forms. These formations suggest female sensual shapes and emotions that are a strong and all encompassing life force.