Local winner in the mix for Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship

05 Aug 11

Noosa Regional Gallery played host last night to the gala opening and announcement of winners for the national contemporary 3D award, The Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship. Victorian artist, Ange Leech was named the overall winner and local artist Shannon Garson was awarded the Highly Commended.

Ange was thrilled with the win and said that her winning work, Booth 1. ‘Not without my Carby’is an interactive sculpture merging both museum display cabinet and isolation booth into one.

 “The cabinet contains a common tool. This tool has been fragmented into bone like pieces and the viewer is invited to place their hands in the gloves and assemble and reassemble the work,’ Ange said.

The prize will enable Ange to attend a puppet-making course in Prague which includes guidance in traditional wood working techniques including carving and designing as well as attending lectures and performances.

“For the past year I have been developing a Marionette making program in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. With this project in mind the course in Prague would be of great benefit. It would also greatly inform and excel my sculptural practice,” Ange said.

Maleny based artist Shannon Garson is well known for her delicate porcelain vessels decorated with lively drawings. Her winning pieced entitled Wallum Mapping – Diurnal Variation is from a body of mixed media work started last year inspired by the Wallum Swamp eco-system. “The intersection between drawing, scientific research and collection methods is an area of continued enquiry for me. ‘There is so much to be learnt through simply observing the world, being aware of the physical things that surround us,’ Shannon said.

 SunshineCoastCouncil, Cultural Heritage and Collections Manager, John Waldron said that the calibre of work entered in this year’s scholarship has definitely set a high standard.“We are pleased to have eleven of the forty finalists as locals and for them to share the space with some of Australia’s most outstanding three-dimensional artists,” John said.

The Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship for 2011 is currently being exhibited at the Noosa Regional Gallery until the 11 September, open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am until 4pm.