THE 2024 QUEENSLAND REGIONAL ART AWARDS
The Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA) are Flying Arts Alliance’s signature annual art awards for established and emerging artists living in regional, rural and remote Queensland. With the prize pool of over $140,000, they are Australias’ largest art awards for regional artists.
The awards showcase new artworks, providing a platform for artists to receive both cash prizes and further professional development opportunities.
2025 TOURING DATES
Cairns Courthouse Gallery, Cairns – 7 MARCH – 27 APRIL 2025
Texas Regional Art Gallery, Texas – 10 MAY – 20 JUNE 2025
Roma on Bungil Gallery, Roma – 22 AUGUST – 10 OCTOBER 2025
Judith Wright Art Centre, Brisbane – 27 OCTOBER – 7 NOVEMBER 2025
THE MERVYN MORIARTY LANDSCAPE AWARD
The Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award is a category of the Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA) which honors Flying Art’s legendary founder, Mervyn Moriarty OAM. The 14 finalists works from the 2024 QRAA, selected by Simon Wright, will be touring across Queensland regional galleries throughout 2025.
2025 ‘MERV’ ARTISTS
CAMILLE MANLEY
Creek, 2024, Burleigh Waters, Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
Creek’ is a patchwork of a few vantage points of a favourite place, as though it is the view of each person there at the same time, layered together. In summer, the pandanus palms prevent people from burning to a crisp – a natural canopy of connection points – as their branches weave across each other, housing local birds and the odd towel. On learning that a number of these beautiful palms will be cut down to make way for a new walkway, I wonder how anyone will survive the 40+ degree days bouncing between hot pavement and blistering sand.
Initial rough marks and what began as underpainting for the trees, mixed with intentional layers of colour and shapes. As I progressed, I found I wanted the pandanus palms to remain a bright shadow, there, but not there, and I worked to find balance and harmony in the finished piece.
CATE DAY
Accommodation Creek, 2024, Maleny, Oil on canvas
Resolving the unique connection to landscape that can exist in families was the impetus for this painting. Accommodation Creek symbolises an intergenerational pull to the area. I’ve been visiting the Granite Belt since I was a child. Then it was on family pilgrimages to places of importance to my father, especially this one, near Ballandean and Lyra. As I grew into adulthood, I discovered that my connection to Accommodation Creek goes as far back as my great-great Grandfather “old Bob Henry” the local bullock team carrier who lived and worked in the area and died in Lyra in 1945, just downstream from this bend in the creek. When driving around the back roads of Ballandean and Lyra one late afternoon, gathering the material which resulted in this painting, I couldn’t help noticing the synchronicity of where I was, and wondering what would “Old Bob Henry” make of it?
CHARMAINE LYONS
walk this way, 2024, Chatsworth, Photograph on fine art paper
In photography, “RESOLUTION” is critical to the medium, providing a sharp, well-defined and delineated composition. A metaphor for how we as a species currently live and interrelate, in our actions toward one another and our more-than-human inhabitants of the lands – Sharp! Contrasting photographic processes, blur, blending and softness, reflect my considerations of how vital it is to adopt greater sensitivity and sustainable balances in inhabiting our place within the environment. Through this dissolution of boundaries, the composition presents a more feminine methodology in which we conduct life on the earth. At this resolution there is an understanding that we are one, both land and peoples, where lines/territory, blend and blur, soft and resolute concerning obligation for our future existence. These visceral self-portrait body-scapes mirror the inherent interconnectedness the human species has to its ecology, solidifying the knowledge that our species, embedded in the ecosystem, have an intrinsic obligation to protect It while travelling lightly.
CHRISTOPHER INWOOD
Up | Mesosphere | A tile from the firmament | Infinite | Ngorung | AN, 2024, East Ipswich, Acrylic on wood
AN | the Sumerian word that describes the divine personification of the sky, king of gods, form one of the earliest written languages.
UP | the direction to look for an individual to see it.
MESOSPHERE | the scientific name given to the third layer of atmosphere where the human eye perceives the shift to blue.
INFINITE | looking into the billions of light years of space between us and the ever expanding unknown.
NGORUNG | the First Nations people of Yugambeh word for sky.
A TILE FROM THE FIRMAMENT| a single piece of firmament fallen from the biblical dome system built by the heavens.
ANIMUS
CORALIE THOMPSON
Mission Days, 2024, Mornington Island, acrylic on canvas
“I painted the missionary days from my early childhood memory of Gununa. These houses were made of iron and had a flat roof and some some had native bark and wood and others from masonite. Sand and ant bed were used as flooring. Most houses had two windows with sticks to keep them opened. There was a well which was central and it supplied fresh water to the community. My Mum would carry two water buckets to and from the well to be used for bathing, washing and cleaning, my brothers would carry drums of water to water our flowers and mango tree. To the left the row of houses were the residences of the mainland people Gangalidda, Waanyi, Garawa. Mum and Dad were from Kurtijar and lived in the large house. My Dad worked on the cargo boat at the time.In the other large house lived Dick and Ida Brookdale. In the foreground to the right of the art work lived the Kaidilt people from Bentinck Island. The majority of them lived in dome shaped structures called humpy made from ti-tree bark and leaves, also some lived in semi circle leaf and grass shelters.
I paint the old days as a way of trying to resolve what happened to our people.”
DIANNE CARTER
The Road to the Lake, 2024, Forestdale, acrylic on canvas
Profoundly inspired by the intricate tapestry of our natural world, my work serves as a dialogue in the relationship humans share with the environment. Through art, I strive to capture the essence of landscapes, their beauty and the connection between humankind and nature. My work is a testament to the resilience of nature, reflecting my dedication to both artistic expression and environmental awareness. By merging diverse materials and techniques, I aim to persuade viewers to contemplate their own connection to the world around them and join me in resolution to each do what we can to protect our environment. My artistic process is an immersive journey, where the textures and hues of the earth inform my palette and composition, resulting in works that are visually captivating and thought-provoking.
DONNA GLASS
In Your Hands, 2024, Crownthorpe, Photograph
I am usually out in the night skies ✨️¸ looking out into the vastness of space I spend my time thinking about numbers and distance and I am constantly reminded how we are just a blip in time finding inspiration and inspire others taking images of this vast space.
But….life happens to us all at some point a surprise heart attack at a very young age and heart surgery out of the blue bought me flying down to the ground and certainly grounded me.
In this healing process both physically but mainly mentally I found myself in a place where I realised and made the resolution I would be happy just in the moment.
It wasn’t the huge large vastness of space that bought myself comfort but closer to home.
The small thongs on this earth 🌎
A sunset 🌇 birds chirping,
small plants and people are the most important things.
Certainly a hard way to realise this point but my body didn’t fail me but taught me how to be a better person.
This image is the epitomises this exact feeling.
LARISSA WARREN
Converge, 2024, Tamborine Mountain, Local clay, porcelain, ceramic stain, copper lustre
Converge; a collection of vessels that weave together time, personal history and place. Warren uncovers and collects layers of earth, embedding unique structures into her work using found clays and stained porcelain with nerikomi patterns. Refined experimentations result in resolution with the mineral rich volcanic clays of the Gold Coast hinterland. Inspired by the unique topography she looks to geological metamorphosis and local histories when developing her designs. Using natural clays found through field studies and community connections, Warren has also consultated with Yugambeh Traditional owners to ensure respect for country.
LINDY SALE
Birdsounds, 2024, Dulong, Oil on panel
I live near a regenerating forest that was logged for timber in earlier times. A path leads down through trees to the edge of a creek. Palms grow at the edge of the stream and beyond is a lush tangle of spiralling vines under tall trees. Uplifted by nature’s beauty, the hazy warmth, the sound of birds and the earthy smell, in such places we can seek restoration, an escape from the stresses of city life. Perhaps more important than ever to the human psyche is the value of immersion in natural surroundings The ongoing health of the planet is a concern but this is in contrast to the push and pull of competing land use interests and a perceived need for more space. Beyond human needs, for species endangered by loss of habitat, an unexploited forest is a sanctuary. This painting holds all these thoughts.
MARVENE ASH
Font/Remembering Limestone Valley, 2024, Maleny, Gouache on arches paper
Font/Remembering Limestone Valley
This painting links the fluted rocks of my late mother’s sheep-farming property near Inverell with the archaic marble fluting of Nike tying her sandal. These are ’embroidered’ together with old family linen and the leaves of the Coolibah tree from my Goondiwindi childhood.
I could not resist filling a small hollow in the limestone with water creating a natural font.
The painting carries themes of the personal nature of creative sources, art and distance and the feminine presence.
Font was painted for the joy of bridging impossibly different worlds – a resolution born of the imagination.
NULLABILL SPEEDY
Strong Country, 2024, Bollon, Acrylic on canvas panels
Resolution:
1. The quality of being determined and strong
2. The ability to show an image clearly and with detail
My dhandi (country) in south west Queensland has provided sustenance and shelter to our mob, Kooma/Guwamu peoples, for thousands of years. The plants, animals and birds of dhandi and bhandi (sky) are resolute, surviving droughts, fire and flood. My artwork shows dhandi after the ravages of burri (fire) – detailing the patterns of ash and embers on desert sand with the first small flashes of new growth showing through. Dhandi is strong and provides strength to all who remain connected to it.
PETALIA HUMPHREYS
EPLC C series, 2024, Peregian Beach, Low sheen acrylic (Colour Me Pink, Quarter Pearl Lusta and unnamed mistint) on plywood
“EPLC C series” belongs to a larger collection of works that present iterative sequenced patterns that wrap around hand crafted plywood cubes. The original composition was derived from an interior familiar to the artist, the architectural cues have been reduced to a playful exploration of candy-coloured forms. Once part of a series of five cubes, the remaining three sit in resolution, with the remaining two elements discarded. The luscious work dismantles high formalism with geometry that floats in an illusory dance of shifting dimensionality.
Celebrating the legacy of material Humphreys continues a genealogy of art making and woodworking – constructing site-responsive built forms that map domestic spaces. Employing reductive abstraction her playful architectonic installations respond to location, engaging the viewer to move around the work and the exhibition space it inhabits.
RACHEL NORTH
Moss emerges from the breaks; damp red earth beneath a crumbling grey, 2024, Redbank Plains, Reduction fired ceramic
Moss emerges from the breaks; damp red earth beneath a crumbling grey, a thread of what should be explores the connection between lived experiences of the landscape and the memories they hold. The vessel draws on layered glaze over encrusted forms to emphasise the allusion of memory development through repeated exposure to experiences within a landscape. Resolving emotional tension through form, texture and colour, the work creates a push and pull between the refined formality of the wheel thrown form and the organic glaze encrustations. A contrast between the urbanisation required for human habitation and the prominence of memories sought and embedded from in the uninhabited landscape, the formalist sits comfortably alongside the organic. A greater metaphor for human interactions with the landscape in an age of destruction.
SUSAN SCHMIDT
Resilience, 2024, Noosa Heads, Charcoal, Acrylic and oil on canvas
Resilience’ is an emotive response to the grief of losing my partner, and my search for resolution, and solace in nature.
A complex, multi-layered work rubbed back in destruction, evoking transience, loss and memory. Bordered and held to draw the eye in, inviting introspection. Stencilled, and masked with leaves, searching for connection in pattern, and finding trust.
The sombre palette and contrasting fluorescent glow echo the darkest moments, when a heart breaks open, and the light gets in.
The mangrove imbues endurance, weathering storms and constant change, living on the edge of land and sea.
‘Resilience’ “… a mother tree and holder of wisdom, in grace, over generations.