Country : Australia
Materials : Smalti, stone, vitreous glass, handmade glazed porcelain, unglazed porcelain, cardboard
Dimensions : 230 x 230 x 5 cms
Synergy is a collaborative wall installation of 450 discrete cells, made during the extended Victorian Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. It expresses the joy and humour from the experience of being alone, together. Synergy also celebrates resilience and the place of humankind within a greater, more powerful mother nature.
Pandemic life has many unpredictable twists and turns. It’s hard to imagine, but sometimes being forced to be separated makes people even more determined to do things together. And so it is the uniqueness of individual, yet shared experiences that Synergy seeks to convey.
Juror’s Comments
“At a time when most of us were isolated and unable to connect with others normally, some of us unable to create at all, a community project that could be handled in small, individual pieces to then create a whole, seems attainable and spirit sustaining. One that is arranged around a strong, energetic composition, speaking to building community and allowing different skill levels to both shine and blend together like a well-balanced chorus is admirable. But Synergy is, aside from all those things, a shining example of well thought-out design; a well-crafted mosaic – a mosaic of mosaics – that does not betray the challenges that were surely faced by the makers in creating a cohesive work of beauty while working remotely. It is a joy to see, and a thrill for me to give my Juror’s Choice Award to this work which exuberantly celebrates both community and the power of art to bring people together.”
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- Synergy GroupUnswept Floor
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- Synergy GroupUnswept Floor
Country : Australia
Materials : Smalti, marble, handmade glazed porcelain
Dimensions : Various
The Unswept Floor is a multi-panel collaborative floor installation depicting foods and objects associated with eating. Inspired by the Greco-Roman genre of Asaraton (meaning ‘the unswept floor’), it depicts items associated with dining as though they have been randomly strewn from a dining table. Each artist chose their own subject; from a mouse nibbling cheese, to sections of nuts, fruit and fish…even a discarded face mask lending a 2020 twist on this mosaic tradition attributed to the 2nd century Greek mosaicist Sosos. Each item was made in the artists’ own studios, in consultation with one another. The final installation convincingly presented them as recently unearthed sections of the same ancient floor.
Synergy Group:
Helen Bodycomb,
Chris Baines
Rhonda McGuiness
Ruth Maclaren
Christine Nixon
Amanda Tattam
Judith Watson