Garments the Heroes
Saturday night’s Wearable Arts-Mandurah Showcase at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (MPAC) added more weight to Mandurah’s growing reputation as a vibrant regional centre for the arts.
A full house was treated to a spectacular visual arts display – with work from local and international artists.
Showcase Artistic Director Bernie Bernard said the night had been built around the heroes of the night – the garments.
The night featured singing, dancing, acting and a cinematic audio visual backdrop that worked to enhance those heroes.
“This was the first time I have worked in this space and MPAC is fantastic, as are the local technical crew,” Ms Bernard said.
“More importantly the vast majority of the cast for this performance – the singers, the dancers, the actors, were local Mandurah talent,” she said.
City of Mandurah Mayor, Rhys Williams, who presented the night’s big award – the Wearable Art Mandurah Artist of the Year said the event was more than a competition, it was also about building community capacity through workshops, events, and school arts projects.
“This is a great example of how we are now working at the City of Mandurah,” he said.
“Everything we do is about community pride, belief and our story – and being a cultural leader is an important element of Mandurah’s new story. This was a showcase of what we can do and it was made more special by the local talent’s contribution.
“Thanks must go to the major sponsors - Healthway promoting the Act- Belong -Commit message, and the Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries.
“There was also support from a number of local sponsors – and we thank them for their commitment to the event and the City of Mandurah, “the Mayor said.
The winner of the major award for the night – Wearable Art Mandurah Artist of the Year was Jacq Chorlton. Her garment – Sky and Water III featured black corflute birds, inner tube feathers and handmade embossed aluminium fish.
“Jacq’s work was a wonderful take on Escher’s illustrations – and innovative a creative use of recyclable materials,” said one of the judges, Paul O’Connor.
The 2018 Wearable Art Mandurah winners are:
- Wearable Art Mandurah Artist of the Year – Jacq Chorlton (Sky and Water III)
- International Artist of the Year – Antoaneta Tica from Romania (Are You Thirsty?)
- Creative Reuse Award – Suzette Darcey (LacusCurtivs)
- TAFTA Inc Award – Marie Gallin and Jude Tupman (Patches Off)
- Gillian Kaye Peebles Youth Award – Kiana Murphy (Life is a Jigsaw)
- First Time Entrant Award – Alina Stanila (Time Travel)
- Tertiary Highly Commended Award, presented by WA Fibre and Textile Association – Kirsten Springvloed (Star Power)
- Tertiary Student Category presented by WA Fibre and Textile Association – Rochelle Pieres (Wild Swans)
- Avant Garde Category presented by Onyx Hair and Beauty Crew – Larissa Murdock (Gaiascope)
- Transformation Category – Elizabeth Morley (Takes Grit)
- Metallic Category – Deb Hiller (Metal Maiden)
- Youth Award presented by Reading Cinemas – Oceana Piccone (Morphett’e)
- Powertex Award - Lynn Kennedy ( Iron Land)