My five-panel concertina book ‘Thicket’ has been selected as a finalist for the Waverley Art Prize 2023 and will be on show from July 1 at the Bondi Pavilion Gallery! It is one of 38 works selected from a field of 729 by judges Katrina Cashman (Curator and Gallery Manager, National Art School) and Peter Sharp (artist, Head of Drawing UNSW ADA).

Illustrated books are found across a range of spiritual and artistic traditions. ‘Thicket’ employs simple materials – Chinese ink on watercolour paper – to express my reverence for a tangle of trees close to my home on Worimi land near Bulahdelah. It is a meditation on the patterns made by sunlight on trunk, branch and leaf.

On Friday 30 June 2023 prizes will be announced by the Mayor of Waverley, Councillor Paula Masselos. Awards include an Open Prize, a Mayor’s Prize, a Local Prize and a People’s Choice prize. The Bondi Pavilion Gallery is open every day and the exhibition runs for six weeks so I hope you get a chance to see it. It’s a great location too – one can combine seeing the exhibition and checking out new gallery space with an invigorating beach walk.

P.S. Carol was delighted that ‘Thicket’ was ‘highly commended’ in the Mayor’s Prize category. Full results are available here.

Voting is now open for the People’s Choice Prize which will be announced after the exhibition closes. To vote, visit wwas.org.au/waverley-art-prize-2023/

Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Ground Floor, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach. 1 July – 13 August 2023, 10am – 5pm daily.