As her profile continues to build as a leading figure in Victoria\u2019s Indigenous arts field, Bellbrae artist Jenny Crompton\u2019s Lorne Sculpture Biennale installation has earned her another set of coveted awards.
\nJenny\u2019s piece, Sea, Country, Spirits, has captured both judges and viewers imaginations at this year\u2019s biennale, winning the major Sculpture Trail Award, and the People\u2019s Choice Award.
\nThe installation was constructed using a range of materials including recycled copper wire, shells, kangaroo bones, paint, and feathers to represent a dance of spirit shapes.
\nThe 32 individual pieces are gathered around three totems symbolising sky, land and sea and narrate life cycles of the country and the continuous rhythms of the land.
\nBrought together under a sprawling tree near the ocean, Jenny said Sea, Country, Spirits has enlivened the area exactly as she imagined.
\n\u201cI went to the space, and it\u2019s quite a dark space, and I knew I wanted it to be spirit work and light and bright and airy using the method of sewing decoration onto copper wire.
\n\u201cWhen the light hits it at the right points it looks see-through, almost like it\u2019s just an imprint.
\n\u201cThis area receives very strong winds and the pieces are meant to dance so it was quite perfect.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve made it so the air can rush straight through, seeing them swinging and dancing together has been the most beautiful experience.\u201d
\nThe Sculpture Trail Award was announced at opening of the biennale and includes a $25,000 prize, judged by Koorie Heritage Trust chief executive officer Tom Mosby, artist Jill Orr and design architect John Wardle. The People\u2019s Choice Award was announced at the closing event in Lorne at the weekend, and makes Jenny the first artist to win both prizes in the same biennale.
\nThe prizes follow her 2014 Deadly Art Award at the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards, for which she was also selected as a finalist in 2015.
\nShe said being awarded the prizes was a celebration of the laborious works she is innately drawn to creating.
\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t have asked for the piece to have turned out better and the response has been overwhelming.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy, wonderful ride, it took eight months to complete and it was a very long and arduous process.\u201d
\nJenny\u2019s process involves what she describes as \u201cwalk and gathering\u201d, in which she explores the land of her ancestors, the Wadawurrung, collecting a range of bones, feathers, grasses and plant matter.
\nThe natural matter used in Sea, Country, Spirits was gathered over a period of five years.
\n\u201cAs I gather it\u2019s as if I am listening, because this piece was designed to be site specific I went to the space in Lorne in June and just felt it,\u201d Jenny said.
\n\u201cIt just comes, I just listen to the land and that\u2019s why this piece became what it did, because of what I felt there and while I was gathering.
\n\u201cIt was a flow of sculptural work, one shape appeared, then another, then another.\u201d
\nWith the Lorne Sculpture Biennale now wrapped up, Jenny is looking to her next exhibition, opening on May 20 at Craft Victoria in Melbourne.
\nThe exhibition, titled Hero Worship, will centre on personal and historical roots with contemporary artists exploring the stories of unsung, yet influential heroes.
\nThe Hero Worship launch is on Saturday May 21 at Craft Victoria, to join, RSVP to rsvp@craft.org.au.
\nFor more information about the exhibtion, head to craft.org.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As her profile continues to build as a leading figure in Victoria\u2019s Indigenous arts field, Bellbrae artist Jenny Crompton\u2019s Lorne Sculpture Biennale installation has earned her another set of coveted awards. Jenny\u2019s piece, Sea, Country, Spirits, has captured both judges and viewers imaginations at this year\u2019s biennale, winning the major Sculpture Trail Award, and the […]<\/p>\n