Sustainable Living Week - 2023 Upcycle Art Competition Winners
First Prize
Walk A Mile In My Shoes, Joy Barrett
“Walk a mile in my shoes,” documents roadside litter Joy Barrett found while walking 1.6 km in their neighbourhood. Every year 2,000 to 3000 tons of debris is washed into Melbourne‘s waterways through stormwater drains. Baretts plea is that we recycle as much as possible and always dispose of rubbish mindfully. If everyone works together, we can protect our beautiful waterways and ecosystems for future generations.
The Recycled Art Prize
Purple Fraggles, Margaret Mueller
Plastic-covered folders and clipboards are often discarded when components no longer function. Margaret Mueller reused the plastic coverings to create a statement piece of jewellery.
The Sustainability Art Prize
Gums & Gum Devastation, Lucia Agati
As climate change produces hot and dry conditions with bouts of severe drought, heat & low humidity, “fire weather” is becoming more common and severe as vegetation dries out and landscapes become more flammable, pushing up the odds of dangerous wildfires.
These works depict the devastation caused by the 2020 Victorian bushfires.
Best 2D Prize
Bowerbird Chamber, Carly Leech
The Satin Bowerbird is an Australian bird that collects and recycles bright objects to decorate its chamber. This reusing of plastics, twigs and grasses attracts a female mate and helps to clean up the planet.
Best 3D Prize
Apex Arachnid, Michael Clark
Michael Clark has captured the beauty and brutality of nature using the difficult medium of steel. This sculpture is made using worn-out kitchen cutlery, utensils, a rack from a discarded oven and used scourer pads. Clark proves that even kitchen cutlery can have a purpose after its usefulness in the home has finished.
The People’s Choice Award
Shadow Of Invention, Carlyn Van Der Made
Carlyn Van Der Made’s artwork employs us to reduce, reuse, and recycle since it depicts the potential state of our beaches if we keep discarding things that may be recycled.
