A prayer, a bowerbird and seagrass, benthos and plankton
The 2018 Biology as Art Exhibition and Awards was held between the 13 and 17 November at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia and culminated in an environmental discussion panel and performance event Plastic, Plastic Everywhere and awards presentation at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery organized by the Development and Alumni Relations Team.
This year marked the fifth anniversary of the competition and aimed to bring together a diverse audience from the UWA community to contribute to this event. Artists (both professional and non-professional) were invited to enter, with art works inspired by this year’s theme “Our Living Planet”. 45 artworks by 31 artists were entered into the competition and 17 finalists were selected for the exhibition.
The winners of the three Biology As Art Awards were:
VICE CHANCELLOR'S PRIZE
Winner – Matat Lipsky, “Prayer”
Special Commendation - Jodie Quinn, ‘Woylie Joey”
Special Commendation –Janet Rofe, “Kings Park”
WAYNE DAVIES PRIZE
Winner - Angela Rossen, “Seagrass, Benthos and Plankton”
Special Commendation- Jodie Quinn,“Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo Joey”
HEAD OF SCHOOL AND PEOPLE'S CHOICE PRIZE
Winner - Christopher Spiker, “Regents Bowerbird on a branch by a track”
Special commendation –Rhonda Breen,“Whale Ghost”
The exhibition and awards event was a huge success. Gallery staff reported a steady stream of visitors to the exhibition all week and more than 500 votes were cast in the Head of School and People’s Choice Award. The exhibition space and the artworks were both beautiful and powerful. Professor Sarah Dunlop (Head: School of Biological Sciences) described the exhibition as “breathtaking” to the Vice Chancellor and Faculty of Science Executive, as indeed it was.
An additional 300 people attended the Plastic, Plastic Everywhere event and awards presentation on Saturday 21 November 2018. Judging by the feedback on the day and thereafter, all the participants enjoyed themselves. Feedback about the event has been overwhelmingly positive.
Many thanks to all those who participated in this exciting event!