UniSQ announces winners of its inaugural $40,000 biennial art awards

The University of Southern Queensland has chosen the winners of its inaugural $40,000 biennial art award, intended to celebrate contemporary art.

University of Southern Queensland vice-chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie (left) and overall award winner Gabrielle Jones in front of her work Disordered Dream.

The University of Southern Queensland has chosen the winners of its inaugural $40,000 biennial art award, giving the $30,000 top prize to Sunshine Coast artist Gabrielle Jones for her work titled Disordered Dream.

Ms Jones said she was totally shocked to win the major $30,000 prize. “Walking up to receive the Award, it hit me, and I was suddenly overwhelmed and incredibly relieved. I felt justified in pursuing this difficult career,” Ms Jones said.

She describes her work as using patterns and forms which are iconic to the Baroque period and that it speaks to “the call and answer between then and now, and the emotion and struggle of the painting process”.

Her painting will become part of the UniSQ art collection.

The university’s inaugural biennial art award attracted 645 entries from over 300 artists around Australia and 36 finalists are on display in the B Block Art Gallery at UniSQ’s Toowomba campus until May 17.

UniSQ vice-chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie, who was a member of the judging panel, said that the range of talent attracted by the awards was extraordinary.

“We had entries from established artists with decades of experience, many at a national and international level, right through to our very own University of Southern Queensland visual arts students who brought a strong conceptual underpinning to their work,” she said.

Professor Mackenzie said the awards were a celebration of contemporary art from all over Australia.

Runner-up award winner Donna Marcus

Other members of the judging panel included the dean of UniSQ’s School of Creative Arts Kyle Jenkins, UniSQ’s curator (arts and exhibitions) Brodie Taylor, and the regional co-ordinator (art galleries and cultural services) at Toowomba Regional Council Sue Lostroh.

The judges said that Ms Jones’ winning entry, Disordered Dream, “captivated them from their first step into the gallery, with her bold brush strokes, mark making and compositional prowess”.

The runner-up award went to Donna Marcus for her work Coolangatta and Tweed Heads.