The Alice Prize

I am delighted to share that I am a Finalist in the 2022 Alice Prize at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs. The Alice Prize is an acquisitive national contemporary art prize, welcoming entries from around Australia, in any medium or theme.

Significant among regional art prizes, The Alice Prize contributes to one of the largest regional collections of Australian art, with works by leading artists from across its near 50 year history.

Coordinated by the Alice Springs Art Foundation, The Alice Prize is judged by an expert selection panel and judge of national standing, with national exposure for exhibiting artists and the opportunity to show in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, the cultural heart of Australia.

“Charbagh” is a work on board that contrasts gesture, intuitive process and labour intensive lyrical geometry. My practice focuses on deconstructing geometric stereotypes and exploring spatial relationships within the confines of the picture plane. Pattern and matrices are superimposed and embedded so that no one element dominates - a prime formal strategy underpinned by research undertaken in India, Iran and Southern Spain. 

Sarah Mufford February 2022

Finalist in 2022 Libris Awards The Australian Artist's Book Prize at Artspace Mackay

Sarah is thrilled to be a finalist in the 2022 Libris Awards at Artspace Mackay, Queensland with “Days of White Bluff:Codex”. Produced as part of The White Bluff Project the work will be featured in the awards exhibition from April 9 to June 19 2022, further information can be found here.

Installation image from The White Bluff Project exhibition at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery Jan 2022, “Days of White Bluff:Codex”

Artist Statement: Days of White Bluff (Codex) was created as part of the White Bluff Project, a 3 year Art + Science collaboration. The work is an investigation of one micro aspect of the site, at the liminal edge where water and land meet. As quoted by Greg Elks, Plant Ecologist, it’s about exploring the “erosion and geology being exploited by nature “.  My practice focuses on natural and man-made pattern and here I found nestled in rock cleaves, tiny ovoid, white Nerite snail eggs all jostling for protective positions. The intention was to record and exhaust subject but adhere to disciplined daily habits that are about intuition and happenstance. From the outset, the intimacy of creating and presenting in book form was the driving force, removing the traditional barrier of framing works on paper. As an artwork it is meant to be held, explored and contemplated. 

Finalist in Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award 2021

So delighted to have been selected as a finalist for the third year running, of the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award. The 2021 prize exhibition was delayed to open in January 2022 due to Covid restrictions. The exhibition is open until 27 March and you can see more here.

Catalogue: https://issuu.com/hazelhurstregionalgallery/docs/hazelhurst_art_on_paper_award_2021_digital_catalog

Installation view of 2021 Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award. Work selected: Nasir ol Molk 148 x 163cm India ink, pigmented ink, watercolour, graphite and polymer gesso on Saunders cotton rag Image by Silversalt Photography

My art practice focuses on dissolving geometry by incorporating labour intensive repetition with chance-based processes using the grid and semi-circle as an organizing principle. Nasir ol Molk belongs to a series of 4 large scale works referencing the unique kaleidoscopic light effects reflected onto the tiled interior of the Qajar Pink Mosque in Shiraz, Iran

 It continues my interest in representations of pattern, decoration and the illusory capabilities of the picture plane. Pattern and matrices are superimposed and embedded so that no one element dominates- a prime formal strategy of the Islamic Design tradition.

Co Founder and Participant Artist in The White Bluff Project Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery October 29 2021 - January 15 2022

Chris Armstrong, Tori Donnelly and Sarah Mufford “Manggaarla” 2021 - Image Fire and Fly Media

White Bluff is a rocky headland located north of the regional city of Coffs Harbour, on the North Coast of NSW. It is surrounded by development on its landward edge and yet protected by the Solitary Islands Marine Reserve on its littoral and off-shore waters. It sits on the border of local indigenous territories. It is Crown Land - largely unknown and typical of a string of isolated coastal ecosystems along Australia's increasingly inhabited eastern seaboard.

While White Bluff may have no recognised national significance, it is exactly this that makes it such a shared Australian experience. Co founder Sarah Mufford, along with artist Ray Rixon brought together a group of artists, scientists and Coffs Coast Community members to explore this shared experience of our coastal spaces — exposing concerns about the transformative effects of climate and urbanization while celebrating the beauty, fragility and unique discoveries to be found in our local landscapes.

In partnership with Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, the project aims to demonstrate the value of art/science/community collaboration in developing new art forms, and approaches to creative practice. The project is due to culminate in an exhibition at the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (CHRG) from 30th October 2021 through to 15 January 2022. The exhibition will close out the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s 20 year anniversary — a home-grown summer blockbuster exhibition that is an absolutely fitting close for the gallery’s anniversary year: showcasing a unique project, born in Coffs Harbour but that resonates far further afield.

Commission: Crown Sydney, Woodcut

New commission for Sunny and Ross Lusted ( ex Bridge Room) @Crown Sydney. Thrilled to be invited to respond to the brief of “Fire Steam Smoke and Ice” from dear long time supporters for their new exciting restaurant at Crown Sydney, Barangaroo.