Middleton resident Jess Knight was in for a big surprise when she discovered her botanical installation titled Deep Textural had won the Sculpture Prize.
“I’m quite new to it,” Jess said of her sculpture-making.
“I have a background in nursery work, farm work and market gardening, so I’m more of a gardener than an artist, but there’s a bit of an overlap.
“Gardening can be pretty creative.”
Jess has spent quite a few years working in a flower farm in Woodbridge.
“I’m not a florist myself but over the years I have worked with florists and was inspired by some of their beautiful, cool installations,” Jess said.
Over a number of months Jess foraged and collected along the coastline and from her own garden in Middleton to create what she described as a ‘nest-like tunnel’ of an installation with Poa grass, twisted willow, native cherries and weevil cocoon fossils.
“I wanted to make something interactive and tactile, so if people wanted to they can touch and interact with,” Jess said.
“They can pass under it.
“I was really thinking it would be something fun for children where they can run through and touch it.
“It’s meant to be something quite temporary, ephemeral.”
Jess’ winning piece will be installed at Art Farm Birchs Bay for a few months.
The judges said they were drawn to the natural beauty of Jess’ work and it is now one of the first artworks you encounter on the trail.
There was also a prize for small sculptures.
This year’s winner of the small sculpture category is Ulrike Hora for her sculpture titled Eruptus.
The judges found Hora’s work, “materially intriguing”, and possessing an interesting blend of fragility and robustness.
The 2024 judging panel included Tasmanian artists Caitlin Fargher, Caroline McGregor and Claire Pendrigh.
