Country Arts SA recognises that we are living and creating on First Nations Lands and we are committed to working together to honour their living cultures.
Sending the right message
Country Arts SA appoints five artists to create original works to be sent nationwide.
Five artists, including a mother-daughter duo, will have their artwork sent across Australia as part of a Country Arts SA initiative to give emerging/early-career artists from regional South Australia a bigger audience.
Catherine Warnest (Willalooka, Limestone Coast), Kelly Taylor and T’Keyah Ware (Ceduna, West Coast), Monika Morgenstern (Strathalbyn, Alexandrina Council), Ashleigh Darrie (Hindmarsh Valley, Fleurieu Peninsula) and Ria Byass (Kangaroo Island) will create an artwork that will be used on greeting cards to be sent across the nation. The cards will be used to send notes of congratulations, thank you, season greetings and more to Country Arts SA friends, patrons, partners and collaborators across Australia.
Lauren Mustillo, Visual Arts Manager says “Our five finalists reflect the depth and breadth of practice across our state. It was important for us to honour a range of styles and mediums which is reflected in our artist selection, whose work spans a spectrum from completely abstract to very detailed and representational.
We were thrilled to see several exceptional applications from emerging artists and young people. Having the opportunity to bring both emerging and established artists into the final five was a unique and exciting opportunity.
Whilst this is only a very small snapshot, I think the diversity speaks to the wealth of talent we have in regional SA. We’re looking forward to sharing the outcomes with our audiences.”
The five artists, all women, will create their work in response to any, or all, of the themes of: Celebration, Connection, Place.
The artists all have varied backgrounds from sheep shearer, tavern owner, art teacher, to art student and custodians to First Nations stories.
The greeting cards will be printed on recycled card and the back of each card will have a brief artwork statement, a photo and short biography of the artist.
Keep an eye out as we present the finalised designs in the next couple of months.
Image: Postcard commission. Artworks by Marli Macumba, ‘Drawing on the sand’, 2020, acrylic on canvas and Elize Wuttke, ‘Moments like these’, 2020, digital illustration.