Woolahra Small Sculpture Prize Exhibition - Redleaf

The prize has been going for over two decades, which in itself is impressive, but the works on display are really nice. The works are personal in scope, which is intersting. They are also all quite different in style.

The prize went to Auckland-based artist Virginia Leonard for Glad that you are not here all the time — an urn for unwanted limbs and other things, made from clay, pure gold and resin (see below).

The work is interesting it sort of exudes a sense of fatigue, which aligns with the title. You want people to be around but not all the time, in fact the exhausting work of the artist mandates a lot of free time. In my world I call it grey flabby time, the spare hours surrounding creative moments, or rather creative periods. I'm not comparing my world with Leonard's by any means but I was struck by the sense of familiarity I had when viewing her sculpture.

Another winner was for the Mayor's Choice Award, going to Alicia Cox for Rack (see below). The gallery says this "explores the intersections of domesticity, gender and the body as a vessel" but I sort of prefer to see it as another type of exhaustion, where bodies are fragmented and exploited for attention in the vast world of online entertainment. 

This work is a bit problematic in a way that Leonard's work is not. What I mean by this is certainly not to cast aspertions on Cox's invention, which is really interesting. I just mean that when it comes to owning and keeping this work because it comprises several separate elements it is more problematic. My comment is purely aimed at the practicalities of owning this work compared to Leonard's.