People's Choice Voting: Queensland Regional Art Awards 2020
17aug(aug 17)9:00 am14sep(sep 14)5:00 pm
Event Details
Place your vote to help your favourite Queensland Regional Art Awards 2020 entry win a People’s Choice Award. Selected artists will also be in the running to be included in the Decadence touring exhibition, touring across Queensland 2020 – 2022.
People’s Choice Award Prizes
Adults: $1,250 cash, non acquisitive, thanks to TAFE Queensland
Youth (aged 17 – 25 years): $750, cash, non acquisitive, thanks to TAFE Queensland
Voting Process
You may vote once for an Adult Category artwork, and once for a Youth Category artwork.
- Click on the individual images below to view an artwork, read the artist statement, and reveal their voting link.
- To vote you must fill out the form and provide your real name and email address for confirmation.
- A confirmation email will be sent to your nominated email address to confirm your vote. You will need to click ‘confirm vote’ to validate and confirm your submission. If you do not confirm your vote through this email your vote will not be valid.
In 2020 the Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA) celebrates 10 years, a decade of rewarding and celebrating Queensland regional arts and the wealth of creativity and imagination thriving in the regions.
The QRAA is an annual visual arts prize and exhibition for established and emerging artists living in regional and remote Queensland. The program aims to provide a platform for further professional development. The Queensland Regional Art Awards is open to all Queensland artists living outside of the Brisbane City Council area.
Theme: Decadence
Decadence may invite notions of luxury and self-indulgence. It may evoke ideas of wanton excess or wastefulness, perhaps with a casual or deliberate disregard of consequence. Dependent on circumstance, personal definitions of decadence can shift quite suddenly.
Artists are encouraged to explore the complex notion of decadence within their own communities and households across Queensland – both in times of shortage, and in times of plenty.
Adult Category – Click on individual images to view and vote
Lost at the Asylum (Vote for this Artwork)
Kate Douglas, 2020
Artist Location: Moores Pocket
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 61 x 51 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
This is the old Ipswich Hospital for the Insane. It stands abandoned and boarded up on the grounds of what is now the University of Southern Queensland campus.
I have always been interested and disturbed by this building, with its imposing architecture and ominous feel. Recently, watching the ABC news on Anzac Day this year, I learnt about a local veteran, Matt Rennie OAM, who was painstakingly researching and identifying 72 World War 1 soldiers buried in unmarked graves at the nearby Ipswich General Cemetery. They had all died in this asylum, committed for being “vagrant alcoholics, damaged by the horrors of war” or having “shell shock and battle fatigue.” He found some of them had held military medals for heroic actions.
The Oxford Dictionary defines decadence as “moral or cultural decline especially after a peak of culmination or achievement.” This was the historical fate of those suffering moral decay.
Photographer: Kate Douglas
Backyard King With Bling (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Rosemary Anderson, 2020
Artist Location: Tannum Sands
Medium: Found Metal, Op Shop Jewellery
Dimensions: 50 x 23 x 50 cm
Artist Statement:
The Brush Turkey who lives in our backyard builds a very impressive nest each year by scraping all our garden mulch. He is very attractive to the ladies but with added “bling” he becomes even more decadent.
Photographer: Rosemary Anderson
The Red Carpet (Vote for this Artwork)
Vivienne Bryant, 2020
Artist Location: Nambour
Medium: Acrylic
Dimensions: 30 x 90 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
2020 has been a year like no other. We have all had to isolate to prevent the spread of the virus. Our homes have become our world.
The Arts have gone into hibernation. I have spent most of my time in old paint splattered clothes, with a hair style that would look better on an Old English Sheepdog. Each night the TV shows endless re-runs of old programs. Dressing up and going out to socialize is no longer an option. The streets in our area are almost empty.
One day, when a vaccine is discovered, life will change. The Arts will start again. Exhibitions, Shows, Movies, and Festivals will begin. We will see the over the top excesses. All the Glitter, Glamour and Gathering of the Red Carpet events will return once more.
Photographer: Tony Bryant
Snappy Gums in the Pilbara (Vote for this Artwork)
Nonie Metzler, 2019
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: relief print
Dimensions: 22.5 x 30 x 0.1 cm
Artist Statement:
Definitions of ‘decadence’ include *’falling into decay’ or, almost diametrically opposed, ‘luxuriously self-indulgent’. When travelling through Karijini National Park in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia I was struck by the dramatic profusion of white gums against the red, stony landscape. On closer observation many limbs of the trees were starkly black – as they decayed and dropped off. Hence the name – ‘Snappy Gums’. The glowing white with a deep black was striking and reflected a ‘decadent’ contrast.
* Reference: Macquarie Concise Dictionary
Photographer: Nonie Metzler
Black Tree Caligraphy I
Rose Rigley, 2020
Artist Location: Whitfield
Medium: Mixed media (monoprint, ink, ink wash, hand stitching, machine stitching, glue) on board
Dimensions: 105 x 76 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
When considering the theme DECADENCE, I couldn’t navigate past the idea of self-indulgence and for me, (like many), that involves the luxury of time. Time allows an artwork to evolve, with no specific purpose other than the sheer joy of conceptualizing, discovering, and finally creating. Such a creation is enabled with methods that are often repetitive and occasionally tedious but permits the artist the luxury of pondering thoughts and long-drawn-out pauses.
In “Black Tree Calligraphy I”, the blackened husks of the tree bodies become memory’s text, creating their own language above the printed, drawn and stitched surrounds. By placing the tree ‘words’ over this landscape, I could consider the space in between. It is this place – where shadows form, where silent pauses rest and where memories linger – that I am seeking to understand.
In today’s busy-ness, what an extravagance to be able to do so!
Photographer: Michael Marzik
Double Sided Decadence (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Sarah Larsen, 2020
Artist Location: Thangool
Medium: Mixed media with gold leaf and silk and thread on water colour paper
Dimensions: 40 x 40 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
In this work, I have used the symbolism of a coat to speak about decadence. The outer garment representing the facade of the real person, It is portrayed as all golden and ornate set within the red and blue rivers of life however the edges are frayed and stressed. The work suspended in space reminding us of the fragility of life and to always look into the other side of the story.
Photographer: Sarah Larsen
Mooloolaba Icecream Decadence (Vote for this Artwork)
Sharon Hamill, 2020
Artist Location: Buderim
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 91.4 x 60.9 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
A mellow afternoon playing at a most perfect Mooloolaba beach, with a warm breeze blowing and eating a three serving ice cream cone. My aim with this painting was to evoke the feeling of simple indulgence and decadence that we have sometimes come to accept living on the Sunshine coast. The main focus is the semi abstract child with their dog in the foreground with a way too big ice cream that is starting to melt and is going, going to slip off. The media is acrylic with some areas smooth and other areas that I want to draw more attention worked to be thickly textured with obvious brush strokes. I try to make us remember good memories such as the simple fun and indulgence of the child dreamily licking that ice cream cone without a trouble in the world, until it falls off!
Photographer: Sharon Hamill
Rainbow (Vote for this Artwork)
Aaron Chapman, 2019
Artist Location: Southport
Medium: Giclee print
Dimensions: 44 x 112 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
In ‘Rainbow,’ the artist indulges his own memories of an Australian childhood, evoking the taste of ice-creams on summer holidays and the sound of lorikeets. Ultimately, the diptych mourns the colourful imagination of childhood innocence. ‘Rainbow’ is from Purple is Black Blooming, an ongoing series exploring themes of home, family, memory and grief primarily through the observation of suburban environments.
Photographer: Aaron Chapman
Nutjobs (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Karen Benjamin, 2020
Artist Location: Redland
Medium: Acrylic on gumnuts
Dimensions: 11 x 50 x 28 cm
Artist Statement:
The rate of suicide is higher in regional and remote areas of Queensland. The area that I live in (Metro South) has recorded 443 suicides or suspected suicides for the 2016-2018 period. Forty nine point two percent (49.2%) of these suicides have been people who showed no previous mental health issues (According to the Queensland 2019 Annual Suicide Report).
The gumnut gnomes I have used represent 74 lives lost in a 12 month period who showed no signs of previous mental health issues.
One of the dictionary descriptions describes decadence as a “state of low standards in society, social decay.” Perhaps a kinder society, one that doesn’t have to wear the stigma that is associated with mental illness and more support for regional areas could help save lives.
Photographer: Karen Benjamin
Sensuous Decadence (Vote for this Artwork)
Kuweni Dias Mendis, 2020
Artist Location: Beechmont
Medium: Pastel on Paper
Dimensions: 70 x 50 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
In Beechmont we do not have town water, we fill up our tanks with mostly rainwater. Baths and Showers are a luxury to have as the water we collect over the year we save for our more essential tasks such as drinking, cooking and washing, later the grey water is used on our food forests.
The water holes and waterfalls are a sensuous decadence. All year around we have access to an abundance of waterways that is flourishing, thriving and overflowing; it’s an indulgence on the hum of our mountain.
We are surrounded by the unassuming Back Creek Gorge, which has been slowly carved on to the mountain over many million years. This Creek later links to the Coomera River then en-routes to the Sea. Before it meets the sea it falls six times as Killarney Falls, Lips Falls, Twin Falls, Cavern Falls, Rainbow Falls and Denham Falls.
Photographer: Louis Lim
Gift (Vote for this Artwork)
Judy Hammond, 2020
Artist Location: Tewantin
Medium: Acrylic and varnish on Gift Bags
Dimensions: 55 x 55 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
Gift’ highlights the decadence of simply living on Earth, alongside Mundagudda’s (Rainbow Serpent). Her foundations are stepping stones for all living species and fauna to live in balance and harmony together.
This reminder is crucial now given the current world issues, with growing fears of uncertainty around COVID-19 and how this has escalated and shifted world power capabilities, tensions, divisions and alliances in ideologies. Here, risks of international conflict and military attacks are more vulnerable to become realities: South Sea Island disputes, Indian border conflicts and Australia’s increased diplomatic issues with China. Meanwhile, mining has increased substantially in Australia, since COVID-19 Pandemic, labelled by our government as a saviour for a declining economy, disregarding its environmental impact.
The dichotomy here is COVID-19 has also created opportunities for people to stand together about existing dominant ideologies of inequalities and injustices, exemplified by Black Live Matters (BLM).
Photographer: Judy Hammond
straightjacket snakeskin (Vote for this Artwork)
Danish Quapoor, 2020
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Acrylic and paint pen on primed, stretched paper
Dimensions: 40.5 x 50.5 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
straightjacket snakeskin’ references personal and observed experiences to explore the perception of non-heteronormativity as a self-indulgent choice. The subject sheds clothes and skin – his death a punishment for, and presentation of, perceived moral decadence. The inner skeleton sits erect inside of a naked man – a sexualised enactment of ‘coming out’ and shedding the mask of heterosexuality. The skeleton appears willing to kill the man to live deliciously – a parody of the view that queer people may as well be committing violent crimes.
The skeleton’s naked human jacket also references the potency and hypocrisy of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’ The class divides and perils of capitalism highlighted by COVID-19 parallel the fictional emperor buying luxurious clothes at the expense of his people. The work also suggests shedding the hypocrisy of seeing decadence in others’ behaviours and possessions, but not admitting or seeing our own luxuries.
Photographer: Danish Quapoor
Postcode (study three) (Vote for this Artwork)
Barbara Pierce, 2020
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Acrylic and collage on stitched canvas
Dimensions: 21 x 81 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Everything originates from – or is contained within – a landscape. Postcodes are used as a unique identifier of place within a given landscape. This doorstep sized work with landscape qualities has been created with colourful areas contained within ‘Postcode’ rectangles on a ‘coal black’ ground. The canvas has been cut and stitched – mended – before painting. Each rectangle contains pieces of photographs: imagery of the environment near where I live.
Building more fossil fuel infrastructure and indulging in the economic benefits whilst ignoring environmental concerns can be viewed as an act of decadence. Mining for coal provides an immediate solution for employment while at the same time poses a very real threat to the environment and global societies in the long term.
In the colourful tropical north we currently have Adani mining the natural habitat not far from our doorstep. It could be said that decadence has a postcode.
Photographer: Barbara Pierce
Natural Selection (Vote for this Artwork)
Elizabeth Graetz, 2020
Artist Location: Dalby
Medium: Fabric collage and thread painting
Dimensions: 51 x 61 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadently attired in his lustrous feathers, the male Satin Bower bird lavishly adorns his bower to attract his fastidious and notoriously exacting mate. His display, lovingly and painstakingly staged, is filled with more and more treasures not normally found in nature.
The decadence of exhibitionism, territorialism and pure ostentation found in nature is mirrored by the ever increasing and encroaching decadence and waste created by humans, often to the detriment of the creatures who share our planet.
Although the bottle-caps, plastic rings, straws, spoons and other thoughtlessly discarded items are treated as the Bower bird’s treasures, they will ultimately bring about his and the planet’s destruction. Natural selection? Or the repercussions of our human decadence?
Photographer: Elizabeth Graetz
Colourful Heaven (Vote for this Artwork)
Elise Higginson, 2020
Artist Location: Ayr
Medium: Acrylic, gesso, artist ink, canvas paper, metallic artist powder, black pen
Dimensions: 70 x 50 x 1.5 cm
Artist Statement:
To me, decadence means something luxurious; a dreamlike state of mind such as the experience of being in another galaxy.
Some people like to treat themselves with decadent foods, such as the indulgence of going into a candy store! To me, it’s all of the above.
I also believe that texture plays a big part in the idea of decadence. This is why, throughout my painting that I call “Colourful Heaven,” I have plenty of differently textured surfaces to give it a heavenly, dreamlike state. It’s like walking on sand into lapping waves. Or could it be the delightful hues of a decadently coloured butterfly emerging from its chrysalis? Or perhaps there is a mermaid in this picture?
It invites a world full of endless imagination…the only limit to my art work is in the viewers mind. I want my painting to take people on their own unique visual journey.
Photographer: Quinten Swaffield
Their Excellencies
Rachel South, 2020
Artist Location: Elimbah
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 101.5 x 101.5 x 35 cm
Artist Statement:
From an early age I had a paintbrush in hand. Ingrained is the urge to take an idea, an image, and make it creatively more, looking deeper to re-purpose beyond its original intentions.
“Their Excellencies” explores the theme of decadence in a way that takes the botanical world and embellishes it to a higher level of beauty and pleasure. A portal of exaggerated reality of nature. To have this composition as a reality itself would be a luxury. It was derived from a searching for wholeness, fullness and abundance. I am greatly influenced by my natural surroundings. The beauty within natural forms. The amazing structures, colours and textures that make up our country. We go about our daily routines, often blind, unless we take pause to notice. I hope this piece can be a historical reflection of the decadent nature we live with, and strive to retain for future generations.
Photographer: Rachel South
Branch Creek Chinchilla
Helen Dennis, 2020
Artist Location: Chinchilla
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 100 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Mother Nature’s self-indulgence and paradoxical frugality can be found throughout the Natural World that surrounds us. One season may be abundant, the next woefully lacking, subject to her whimsy.
When she chooses to be indulgent her decadence is shown in the abundant blooming of the land, the filling of the waterways and the returning of joy to all its inhabitant. When she chooses to be frugal, her decadence shows in a callous disregard for the land with cataclysmic consequences for all.
Subsequently, life for rural communities is one which swings between periods of plenty to one of austerity.
As an artist I am drawn to the decadence of Mother Nature… the patterning upon the land, within the trees and grasses, the reflections on water, the relationship between sky and ground, the negative spaces between natural objects and much more. ‘Branch Creek’ is one such place that intrigues me…
Photographer: Helen Dennis
Torn apart (Vote for this Artwork)
Tarja Ahokas, 2020
Artist Location: Ninderry
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 69 x 81.5 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
Our lives are torn.
We are torn apart.
The touch is gone. We can’t indulge in hugs and kisses.
Did we over indulge in them in the past?
Was that the decadence in our lives?
Love is still there in the eyes and the smile behind the mask.
Photographer: Tarja Ahokas
THE PHOTO SHOOT (Vote for this Artwork)
Janice Ford, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 51 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Australia has recently suffered from intense bush fires which resulted in many deaths and the devastation of the landscape. Smoke, ash and blackened trees were a common sight.
But some people in the fashion industry could see this as a wonderful backdrop for a fashion shoot.
So they fly in with their glamorous models, exotic animals and haute couture garments.
They stay just long enough to take amazing photos and then they fly out, totally oblivious to all the suffering associated with the fires.
The red dress represents the flames.
The exotic animal is in contrast to the native creatures that died in the fires.
The red and green feathers in the head dress represent the birds that were in the bush and the colour of the leaves before the fires.
Photographer: Simon Cox
ABUNDANCE
Second Image of Artwork
Christine Holden, 2020
Artist Location: Boyne Island
Medium: Marine Debris and plastics
Dimensions: 10 x 41 x 28 cm
Artist Statement:
I reside on the central east coast of Queensland where seafood is plentiful, but is still regarded as a very decadent food choice which is only available to some. Ordering a seafood platter with oysters, prawns, scallops and crab claws is available in local restaurants, but remains something that many locals only dream about or savour for those special occasions. It is regarded as a decadent choice so it was the first thing I thought of when considering this year’s theme and the region I live in. The use of marine debris such as plastics, netting and fishing line highlights something else that is also sadly in abundance. We are lucky to have fresh wild caught seafood on our doorstep, but how decadent of us to threaten this resource by continuing to produce single use plastics…food for thought.
Photographer: Christine Holden
A Plastic Sea (Vote for this Artwork)
Lyn Laver-Ahmat, 2020
Artist Location: Slade Point
Medium: Found plastic pieces sourced from the sea
Dimensions: 90 x 120 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
I created this wall art piece by collecting marine debris and plastics gathered from the Great Barrier Reef, close to where I live. I was amazed at the patina of these pieces of sea-worn coloured plastics and their unusual shapes and profiles.
I have always had a passion and concern for our beautiful environment. I used the theme of Decadence to bring light to the dangers of carelessly discarding these plastic products that find their way into our waterways and destroy our precious sea life. My piece will hopefully inspire the need for everyone to recycle.
Photographer: Lyn Laver-Ahmat
Group (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Barbara Pierce, 2019
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Mixed media
Dimensions: 29 x 38 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
During the period of the current pandemic we have had isolation imposed upon us. Combining isolation at home – physically separating or distancing from each other – with restrictions on our movements has provided more time for reflection on our surroundings and circumstances.
These individual small works brought together as a group have qualities in common: restraint, separateness, a connection to shelter and each other also the use of household materials and acrylic paint. The pieces tied with string have recorded respectively the measurements of: a table top, cupboard, and window perimeters.
A stitched folded and tied piece of tablecloth secures the tongue of a shoe in one piece while collage pieces are attached to the outside of another ‘shelter’ shape. It seems decadent that the pandemic has given the luxury of time in which to contemplate our household surroundings whilst the full blown horror of it all unfolds somewhere.
Photographer: Barbara Pierce
Mottlecah, Eucalyptus macrocarpa study
Jenny Gilbertson, 2020
Artist Location: Bundaberg
Medium: Pencil on paper
Dimensions: 19 x 93.5 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
In-your-face opulence; a visual stunner! That’s how I remember my first encounter with Eucalyptus macrocarpa, or Mottlecah. Innumerable encounters later this tough, ungainly beauty still stops me in my tracks. If I could grow it in my garden I would. Geometric spirals of tightly packed blue grey leaves spread in patches along dark spindly branches, winding towards the sky and trailing downwards. Soft white velvet fur on each new leaf contrasts with a smooth sharpness as they age. And the flowers; the shear size of them is astounding! They burst from their enormous gumnut cocoons as vibrant flashes of red, tipped with yellow pollen. Luscious. This indulgent display in a harsh, dry landscape seems to sing of absolute joy in being: a show of decadence even when things are tough.
Photographer: Jenny Gilbertson
Grey days are gold! (Vote for this Artwork)
Kerry Wilson, 2020
Artist Location: Yandina
Medium: Mixed media on paper
Dimensions: 57 x 0.2 x 38 cm
Artist Statement:
It was a rainy Saturday in lockdown. I spent the morning in bed reading art magazines, drinking tea and eating toast. “How decadent!” I thought. Later that day I did this drawing “Grey days are gold” about the importance of enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
I used an automatic technique to start the work with acrylic washes and a Chinese brush.
Then layered with gesso, colour pencil and oil pastels to bring together soft shades of grey clouds and the blue sky that I knew would be back soon. Gold symbolises the pleasure and decadence that can occur in everyday, ordinary events.
Photographer: Kerry Wilson
From the Glen (Vote for this Artwork)
Toni Rogers, 2020
Artist Location: Kuranda
Medium: Textile
Dimensions: 90 x 90 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
This decadent cloak has been made using Elliottdale carpet wool. Elliottdale sheep have been the mainstay of the carpet industry in Australia for many decades. Today with the collapse of carpet manufacturing, flock numbers have decreased considerably and only approximately 300 ewes were recently recorded throughout Australia. This raw fleece came from the property ‘Fairy Glen,’ Collinsvale, Tasmania.
The physical richness of the environment provides the raw materials and the inspiration for my artwork. I have developed a hybrid blend of the traditional and the contemporary to define my signature style. I am passionate about natural fibre and the hand woven.
I marry sustainability and design with a low key pallet and a light-hearted approach.
I love the playfulness of working with different materials and my blend of cultures has provided me with a large design vocabulary.
Photographer: Toni Rogers
Leaving Only Memories (Vote for this Artwork)
Tricia Reust, 2020
Artist Location: Clontarf
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas
Dimensions: 76.5 x 76.5 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Deteriorating farm structures I see when driving through inland areas are poignant reminders of dreams and hopes lived through and then abandoned. As more powerful elements finance extraction of minerals and water and ore from the Australian land, smaller farmers and producers are forced from this land.
The level of decadent wages and benefits enjoyed by those in power is in strong contrast to the level of earnings by those faced with bankruptcy and then ultimately the reality of losing their property.
‘Decadent’ can mean morally corrupt. It is a corrupt practice to benefit from business and banking measures that profit from misfortune.
This artwork has texture applied over acrylic on collage, with layers of charcoal.
Photographer: Mark Lutz
Headlands Country (Vote for this Artwork)
Chloe Wigg, 2019
Artist Location: Rochedale South
Medium: Acrylic on board
Dimensions: 40 x 90 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
What does decadence mean to me? Revelling in something pleasurable that cannot be the everyday. For me that’s technology free time with my family, soaking in the sun, toes deep in the sand. COVID-19 changed the innocence of this desire. The simple decadence of going to the beach became a rebellious act disregarding all consequence. The pleasurable indulgence of beach, sand and sun was suddenly denied to all but the careless. This denial increased 10-fold the decadence of the location when it could one again be indulged in safely.
This work was created with my fluid impressionism technique, using viscosity and gravity, rather than brushes to create representational landscapes.
Photographer: Chloe Wigg
Daydreaming of lotuses
Ming How Chan, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 70 x 95 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
Coming from an academic tradition of oil painting from life, my current practice focuses on moments of silence that people experience. The moment you begin to drift into a daydream and reality begins to dissolve.
These moments feel harder to come by in our day and age, and taking time for oneself to just sit and be, becomes something indulgent and decadent, almost selfish.
The idea to take a bath long enough to daydream is a luxury many take for granted and many hardly consider.
Photographer: Ming How Chan
The Cage
View Video Artwork
Niloufar Lovegrove, 2020
Artist Location: The Caves
Medium: Video
Dimensions: Variable cm
Artist Statement:
When a bird is in a cage, no matter how refreshing the surrounding is, it will loose its ability to fly. When a person is set in a limiting condition, planning a way out is the only way the only way not to decay. Feeling trapped whether in a geographic border or an emotional barrier can activate either acceptance – a gradual death- to survive; or a break out plan.
My video is depicting a girl dancing and celebrating life in her little cage. She may break down or break free.
Photographer: Niloufar Lovegrove
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things
Grant Quinn, 2020
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Digital photograph
Dimensions: 73 x 58 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
With a passion for collecting, my decadent obsession started many years ago after being gifted a Wedgwood Gravy Boat by my Grandmother. I still have that gravy boat, sitting front and centre in my dining room display cabinet, but little was I to know that this simple gravy boat would lead to a life time of becoming a ‘mad collector’, driving miles in the search for that next bargain. Before I knew it, I became one of the torch light brigade bargain hunters, scouring markets, fairs and garage sales well before the sun came up. Seeking out that elusive piece to add to my already overflowing abundant decadent obsession.
Photographer: Grant Quinn
A Morally Corrosive Substance (Vote for this Artwork)
Carson Smith, 2019
Artist Location: Highfields
Medium: Acrylic on stretched canvas over wood frame
Dimensions: 76.5 x 61 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence is typically associated with an over-indulgence or excessive use of something. It can also suggest falling standards, especially morals.
An addiction can be defined as the inability to stop consuming a substance, or conducting an activity, even though it is causing psychological and/or physical harm.
We are aware of the harmful effects of an addiction to drugs, but what about the harmful effects of an addiction to money?
For we have developed a venal culture in which the accumulation of excessive wealth is applauded, and conspicuous consumption is encouraged. A culture where civic ideals such as equality and justice are increasingly just hollow slogans. The failure to guard against our own avarice and to protect the common good however, is symptomatic of our moral decay.
Money, it seems the more you have, the more you want… and that is an addiction.
Money – the gateway drug to decadence.
Photographer: Kerwin Ross
Our Cup Runneth Over (Vote for this Artwork)
Paul de Zubicaray, 2020
Artist Location: Albany Creek
Medium: Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 30 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
To me, decadence stirs up thoughts of personal indulgence, luxury, abundance. It can also be defined as a moral or cultural decline.
When I considered this topic I immediately thought of the waste and thoughtlessness associated with decadence. What natural resources did we once take for granted? The choice was simple. Water. The image of a running tap to me represents extravagance that can no longer be afforded when 67% of remote and regional Queensland is drought affected. Total decadence and indulgence and deliberate disregard of consequences. My aim was to paint an image that would provoke thought and emotion in this regard, therefore the brass tap with a gold façade.
Photographer: Paul de Zubicaray
Decay (Vote for this Artwork)
Katherine Civil, 2020
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 45 x 60 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
This work uses influences of Pop Art and the drips of Helen Frankenthaler. The painting is of random melting gelati or broken hearts. The random nature of the repeated symbols is representative of chaos and fragmentation of these symbols. Using colours that clash and of similar chroma they juxtapose each other with a hint of white to soften. The decaying of morals in a painted format, that is decadence.
Photographer: Katherine Civil
Lavish Attachment (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Kate Roberts, 2020
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: Copper, silver and crystals
Dimensions: 5 x 15 x 13 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence can be 2-edged sword! We as the average person strive to have a little decadence in our lives, to savour and enjoy on special occasions. Yet if allowed to dwell in the in indulgent decadence as apart of our everyday lives, it brings our world and the wider society to questionable decisions that can bring about certain ruin. This dwelling in decadence has lead to recent turmoil in local leadership and the fallout continues to affect the average person who still just wants a small experience of a little decadence. This piece is designed for just that, within a humble earthy background of copper there sits a Lavish Attachment of a silver and sparkling stone brooch, which can be detached and worn.
Photographer: Kate Roberts
Gentleman’s Club on 8th Avenue (Vote for this Artwork)
Uli Liessmann, 2020
Artist Location: Home Hill
Medium: Oil on paper
Dimensions: 70 x 60 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
Dulcie dream had come true and now she was proud to be able to tread the cat walk in the luxurious Men’s Club on 8th Avenue. With an ever-self-indulging audience with scant concern to the pandemic and social distancing.
Photographer: Uli Liessmann
Privileged Irony (Vote for this Artwork)
John Ashall, 2020
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Oil on board
Dimensions: 60 x 75 x 0.4 cm
Artist Statement:
The Merriam – Webster dictionary defines decadence as “the process of becoming decadent” or “a period of decline.”
Consequently, the “process of becoming decadent” is marked by decay or decline within an increasingly decadent society.
I felt the standard definition of “moral or cultural decline as characterised by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury” to be somewhat pedestrian and dependent on one’s personal circumstances.
My work embraces the concept that the abundance we enjoy in our bountiful country can often desensitise us to desperate situations existing elsewhere.
I found inspiration in a quote from the novelist Thomas Pynchon whose works combine black humour and fantasy to depict human alienation in the chaos of modern society.
“To have humanism we must first be convinced of our humanity. As we move further into decadence this becomes more difficult.” Thomas Pynchon
Photographer: John Ashall
Gilded Age is Gone
Cathy Condon, 2020
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Oil and enamel on polyester
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
This painting references the Gilded Age, particularly that of America’s modern history, characterized by the central motif the Fleur de Lis. I lived in New York City for two years up until April this year when I returned to Australia due to COVID-19. This painting is a personal tribute to the period of change I have lived through in recent months. It references the dichotomy I experienced as an artist working in downtown Manhattan. The decadence, grandeur and excess of America and New York City and the underlying poverty and lack of health and social systems. The breaking down of old systems is occurring and the decadent gilded age is lost. This work reflects the current state of world events i.e. the global end of an era and the start of a new world order.
Photographer: Cathy Condon
Paradise Lost (Vote for this Artwork)
Amanda Dickson, 2020
Artist Location: Maroochy River
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 101 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
The word ‘decadence’ probably won’t be associated with 2020; however, having escaped illness, unemployment and homelessness, my family’s life could be considered decadent by those who have been touched by tragedy. The biggest loss we suffered was the cancellation of our annual family holiday camping on Masthead Island. Nothing devastating, but to us this holiday is everything – it binds our souls as a family. Two weeks of snorkelling, living on the beach, in touch with tide and moon cycles. No housework, homework, cars, internet; no care for the world… cancelled due to lockdown. We grieved and felt guilty for grieving as we watched the horror unfold overseas. We understood how lucky we were, which made our grief seem petty. It seemed decadent to mourn our island holiday, making it the perfect subject matter for my work.
Photographer: Amanda Dickson
A-tishoo Toilet Tissue Can You Spare A Square (Vote for this Artwork)
Joan Stratton, 2020
Artist Location: Weipa
Medium: Digital Illustration
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence; our over indulgence, our want for everything and anything – a social commentary artwork of a tattooed woman, her hair up in a bun, she is wearing golden toilet paper earrings as she is contemplating her unwise decisions of days past. Not of hoarding or whether she purchased too much toilet paper (stacked in the background), she worries about the rushed home done dragon tattoo on her forearm, was it worth the pain and suffering, will she be able to show it to her friends when she finally sees them? She also has symbolic tattoos on her other arm for protection the Celtic Shield Knot symbol and the words she currently lives by.
Photographer: Joan Stratton
TWO UP Come in Spinner (Vote for this Artwork)
View Video Artwork
Warren (Buck) Richardson, 2020
Artist Location: Kuranda
Medium: Digital Art Video
Dimensions: Variable
Artist Statement:
Captivated by their beauty, I have photographed a ‘collection’ of over 1500 species of moths, spending countless hours staring at my screen as I magnify and move their patterns and colours around in my digital art. Decadence put me in mind of gamblers who can similarly get hooked by the colours and movement on their pokies screens. But decadence and beauty combine in a paradox – whether it’s roulette wheels or the roll of the dice on casino gaming tables, the colours, sounds and lights are exciting. Betting is part of our culture. Even governments are dependent on the revenue. From the ANZAC tradition of TWO UP Come in Spinner, to the gee-gees at the Melbourne Cup or even the stock market, most Australians have a wager on something. But for some gamblers such mesmerising patterns become a decadent addiction, a vice, leaving the punter in a spin, their money burnt.
Photographer: Warren (Buck) Richardson
fragili vanitatem mortis (Vote for this Artwork)
Cara-Ann Simpson, 2020
Artist Location: Toogoom
Medium: Pigment print on Ilford gold fibre gloss rag
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
fragili vanitatem mortis (the fragile vanity of death) is from Furari Flores (Stealing Flowers) – a series of vanitas artworks exploring ephemerality and societal decay.
This series acts as a nexus between commentary on personal challenges and an outward interpretation of global news. They are an ironic reminder of the innate beauty found simultaneously in decadence and decay.
This particular work uses the spectrograph (visual analysis of soundwaves) to simulate vertebrae and nerves – a constant reminder of my degenerative neurological illness that can feel like millipedes running rampant in my nervous system. Just as my body rebels against its own immune defences, the world around us moves in serpentines scurrying to maintain a lifestyle of false riches, rather than acknowledge the trail of destruction from our past actions.
Photographer: Cara-Ann Simpson
The Gift – An Abundance of Time (Vote for this Artwork)
Gail Meyer, 2020
Artist Location: North Rockhampton
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 93 x 61 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
During COVID-19 lockdown times, I received a gift of an artfully beautiful coffee cup and spoon set within a decorative gold box. I decided to enjoy using this cup. Usually, I would have displayed the delicate coffee set to just look at and admire, but instead, I took the luxury of the gift and used it daily.
Sitting on my back deck and gazing out over the surrounding vista, I gave to myself an excessive amount of every morning to relax, drink coffee, eat chocolate, cherry and strawberry treats from a stacked servery plate.
Also with the coffee and chocolate at hand, I indulged in drawing a display of delicately withering sunflowers, which as the days passed, became even more artistically beautiful in their decaying shapes.
Such self indulgence with the luxury of time, tastes and creative pursuits – pure decadence for oneself.
Photographer: Gail Meyer
Repair Yourself (Vote for this Artwork)
Nadia Vargas, 2020
Artist Location: Sunshine Beach
Medium: Graphite on cotton paper
Dimensions: 35.5 x 30.5 x 0.4 cm
Artist Statement:
In the capitalist world we live in, we grow up influenced by consumerism. We learn to heal the wounds of our soul with material goods, brands and names that seem to enhance us socially. We create a false sense of belonging, of self worth, of status. We become blinded and deafed by it. We struggle to realise that we have to look inside to be able to truly repair ourselves.
Photographer: Nadia Vargas
These Are The Days of the Endless Dancing (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Margo Miranda, 2020
Artist Location: Castaways Beach
Medium: Textile and found objects
Dimensions: 11 x 18 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
My artwork – a stitched and embroidered textile book – makes simple comment on decadence and its place in the human condition. Man has always needed adornment for power, pleasure and a love of beauty. Today we see apparel industry plunder the resources of the planet for cheap throw-away fashion – all destined for landfill. We know it’s wrong but we can’t stop participating in this very decadent industry.
My art practice is informed by the duality in life. The book’s centerpiece is a tribute to the opposite of decadence – thrift, frugality and the conserving of resources. I find the darning of this vintage textile moving; with a very tender beauty.
The stitched lyrics from Van Morrison’s “These are the days” give context to ideas around decadence and its consequences. While decadence is universal, Queensland is referenced in the colour Maroon and it’s latin motto – “audax at fidelis” – bold but faithful.
Photographer: Sarah Smith
End of Decedence (Vote for this Artwork)
Jasna Spiranovic, 2020
Artist Location: City of Gold Coast
Medium: Mixed media and collage on paper
Dimensions: 90 x 80 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
I have been working on a series of work in responce to the COVID-19 pandemic. My focus has been on the word “Cancelled” as so many events have been cancelled; weddings, operas, functions , conferences, elective surgeries, festivals , jobs businesses and so on. Consequently, I’ve been questioning is this the beginning of the of the End of Decedence? Our behaviours have had to change as a society to adapt to this new world. In my art work I have torn up my mono prints and monotypes and collaged them into a drawing trying to make sense of thie old world and the new world of now.
Fragments of art work represent the fragments of life transformed into some sort of puzzle in progress as we live each day with unpredictable moments giving way to the End of Decedance in order to function and stay safe.
Photographer: Jasna Spiranovic
Me Time
Emma Thorp, 2020
Artist Location: Hervey Bay
Medium: Coloured Pencil over Acrylic on Paper
Dimensions: 69 x 47 x 0.29 cm
Artist Statement:
I happened upon a moment of awareness when I was being the typical martyr mother, sacrificing my own mental and emotional health to be what I thought was the best Mum I could be. I realised that I was not modelling a healthy balanced life for my children. I realised that making time for myself to feel fulfilled and happy made me a better mother and my children more independent. Here I am reading, surrounded by piles of washing, feeling oh so rebellious and decadent, safe in the knowledge that the washing will wait.
Photographer: Emma Thorp
Black Tree Caligraphy II (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Rose Rigley, 2020
Artist Location: Whitfield
Medium: Mixed media (monoprint, acrylic paint, hand stitching, machine stitching, glue) on board
Dimensions: 110 x 86 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
When considering the theme DECADENCE, I couldn’t navigate past the idea of self-indulgence and for me, (like many), that involves the luxury of time. Time allows an artwork to evolve, with no specific purpose other than the sheer joy of conceptualizing, discovering, and finally creating. Such a creation is enabled with methods that are often repetitive and occasionally tedious but permits the artist the luxury of pondering thoughts and long-drawn-out pauses.
In “Black Tree Calligraphy II”, the blackened husks of the tree bodies become memory’s text, creating their own language above the decadent orange and matt black surrounds. By placing the tree ‘words’ over this landscape, I could consider the space in between. It is this place – where shadows form, where silent pauses rest and where memories linger – that I am seeking to understand.
In today’s busy-ness, what an extravagance to be able to do so!
Photographer: Michael Marzik
Meet Lenny (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Suzanne Furness, 2020
Artist Location:
Medium: Textile
Dimensions: 120 x 72 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Meet Lenny. During the day Lenny becomes Leonard, a Queensland Chief Executive Officer who is still wearing a full business suit and highly polished brogues for his ZOOM meetings. But at night he transforms into Lenny – freewheeling, colourful, decadent and so happy despite COVID-19.
Photographer: Suzanne Furness
“She’ll be right.” (Vote for this Artwork)
Catherine Boreham, 2020
Artist Location: Farnborough
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 61 x 51 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Two cockatoos operating a popcorn machine is not something you see everyday. In fact, I’d never seen it until I created this artwork. It would be considered a decadence in the animal realm. To me, it appears they both have their own self interest at heart and they lack self control. I doubt the consequences of over indulging ever crossed their minds before the fact.
On a personal note, my painting inspires me to put others interests above mine and sharing what I’ve been entrusted is so important to me.
Photographer: Catherine Boreham
The Opulent Lady (Vote for this Artwork)
Susan Ball, 2020
Artist Location: Point Arkwright
Medium: Acrylic on framed canvas
Dimensions: 45.8 x 45.8 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
The Opulent Lady,’ is oblivious to the impending danger of bushfires and the tidal wave about to spoil her decadent high tea at Peregian Beach at the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
The notion of luxury and self-indulgence is depicted in the painting by ‘The Opulent Lady’ being adorned in a beautiful dress and sunhat with an abundance of food, all of which will be sadly wasted ? a wanton excess!
However, had ‘The Opulent Lady?’ been more aware she would not have proceeded with her whimsical high tea putting others at risk to save her.
Now, more than ever, during these COVID-19 times, it is important for ‘The Opulent Lady’ and others to be mindful of their actions and to consider those around them more and act less selfishly.
It is a time of true awakening.
Photographer: Susan Ball
Modeling is an art (Vote for this Artwork)
Luisa Manea, 2019
Artist Location: Mount Sheridan
Medium: Golden acrylic Paints and varnish
Dimensions: 92 x 61 x 0.4 cm
Artist Statement:
Where but in fashion would you see more wasteful decadence. Its the artistic decay of unnecessary indulgence of throw away creation, we have supported in our lifetime.
Bring back the artisan who creates objects as pieces to be looked after by a custodian, to outlive one generation after another.
Many layers of expensive and generous paint have been lavishly applied to create a work of beauty, married together with a frame found at a second-hand store. Supporting the theme of an artisan and custodian of a work that will see many generations.
Creating a decadence of history, as opposed to something to be lost at the bottom of the tip left to decay and serve no purpose.
Photographer: Luisa Manea
Lantana Hills no. 1 (Vote for this Artwork)
Jenny Neubecker, 2020
Artist Location: Waterloo
Medium: Pastel, graphite and collage on canvas
Dimensions: 95 x 62 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
Queensland’s relentless, hot, dry summers strip the life out of the landscape. Soft pastures and rolling hills wisely surrender to the harsh conditions of summer. For month after month the bleached landscape waits patiently and uncomfortably for that first summer rain.
When it finally comes grasses, that seem to be barely clinging to life, burst vigorously into new growth and the landscape erupts into masses of vivid greens. Soon after, other plant species emerge prolifically to join the grasses and the landscape is brushed with swathes of the rich, decadent purples and mauves of creeping lantana. Every living thing seems to rush frantically to grow, flower and seed then bask in some short-lived decadence knowing, and waiting for, the cycle of dry and wet that will inevitably follow.
Photographer: Jenny Neubecker
W-O-M-A-N (Vote for this Artwork)
Meaghan Shelton, 2020
Artist Location: Noosa Waters
Medium: Assemblage, found objects
Dimensions: 16 x 12 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
W-O-M-A-N
The impetus for this work is the escalation of Domestic Violence which has corresponded with government edicts for us to remain in that very sphere during COVID-19. Many people’s lives- no matter race, creed nor socio economic background, have been disrupted. Some have found themselves jettisoned from all that is familiar, lives laid bare, having to begin again.
The assemblage W-O-M-A-N was made from discarded children’s toy building blocks found during isolation. A tiny figure of a woman, features faded with wear, she is an icon in miniature. The blocks create huge architectural columns within the scale of the assemblage. A tiny red house nestles under the brand- like letter W. The polka dotted pillars that hold her up are tired, she hasn’t worn a sundress for a long time because… four children!
She seems to have just turned towards us, even without arms she takes us in hand. Her hat tilts jauntily, come along children she seems to say, let’s burn this polka dotted bridge down.
Photographer: Meaghan Shelton
Perpetual Decadence (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Margaret Burgess, 2020
Artist Location: Bloomsbury
Medium: Plaster, recycled leather, recycled clocks, handmade paper, marine debris, recycled magazines, glue and fishing line.
Dimensions: 40 x 30 x 30 cm
Artist Statement:
Researching the word decadence took me on a journey throughout the ages, from the foundations of Christianity to the fall of Rome due to moral decay as a result of decadent behavior. The studies of Freud and Jung into decadence become a part of this artwork, as I recycled the pages of this book onto the exterior of the plaster head sculpture I made, I started to question my own thoughts, behaviours, desires and indulgences. They are surprisingly similar to those who walked 100’s of years before me.
Photographer: Margaret Burgess
Watched (Vote for this Artwork)
Karen Wiz Smith, 2020
Artist Location: Gold Coast
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
A piece highlighting an ecological, voyeuristic community mindset.
Photographer: Karen Wiz Smith
Loot (Vote for this Artwork)
Raven Steele, 2020
Artist Location: Burnside
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 60.95 x 60.95 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Mother Earth’s mystic order laid,
Glittering spoils of indulgence,
Chocolate luxury is splayed,
Focus calls forth propensity.
____________________________
Open to interpretation, decadence rails against learned values and behaviours as it confronts renewal, repair, rejuvenation and re purposing with immediate gratification and the subsequent costs of lost opportunities for reflection, thought gathering and ancestral appreciation.
Decadence removes the balance provided by peripheral vision as it clenches the hardened heart within a tightened, manipulated focus.
Essentially decadence is a sensory temptation that provides the promise of short-term gains without allowing for the consideration of the benefits of achieving long term goals.
Whilst our journeys change directions, pace and companions throughout time, decadence maintains a heady waft of “What if?” “What about?” and the self-obsessed ”Tell someone who cares!”
Photographer: Christopher White
Distancing from proficiency (Vote for this Artwork)
Ilona Demecs, 2020
Artist Location: Imbil
Medium: Hand woven tapestry
Dimensions: 80 x 60 x 0.5 cm
Artist Statement:
The first land care practices such as cool burning established congruent living conditions for thousands of years on this land. Leaving behind those custom generates unliveable physical and emotional landscapes.
Photographer: Ilona Demecs
A Turning Tide (Vote for this Artwork)
Jennifer Redmond, 2020
Artist Location: Highvale
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 61 x 92 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
A Turning Tide – Decadence of Society. The mangroves off Cleveland I use as a metaphor for growth and stability as they will keep growing if there is no change to their environment. However this is in contrast to mankind where life as we know it has possibly gone forever. The excessive indulgence displayed by society has come readily and taken without a thought. Our way of life is on hold but with hope and fortitude we will emerge from the 2020 crises a better and less indulgent society. I have portrayed the mangroves with symbolic flowers floating on a turning tide.
Photographer: Brian Slattery
In the dark of night (Vote for this Artwork)
Tarja Ahokas, 2020
Artist Location: Ninderry
Medium: Mixed media assemblage
Dimensions: 65 x 108 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
In the dark of night
Everything
Everything
Looses its shape
And disappears
Decadence of darkness
Are we over indulging
In this black night
Can’t we see
The light at the
End of the tunnel?
Photographer: Tarja Ahokas
Poppy Parfum (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Michelle Gray, 2020
Artist Location: Emerald
Medium: Hand blown glass
Dimensions: 13 x 6 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
The essence of decadence is French perfume in an extravagant, elegant, hand-blown glass bottle, harking back to the late 19th Century. The rich red of the poppy represents vibrant, radiant decadence – an intense colour packed with emotion and connotation.
Queensland is the epitome of a free lifestyle adorned with many wonderful natural pleasures of beautiful weather, gorgeous spaces, and rich diversity in every location. Our free and easy Queensland lifestyle is safe and affords us the opportunities of a decadent lifestyle.
But why is this?
The simple blood red poppy also represents the sacrifices of our nation, and Queensland, as our forebears fought to preserve our freedoms, thus affording us the luxury of such safe decadent lives.
This piece was inspired by the alternate means by which we celebrated those who preserved our liberties, enabling us to luxuriate in our decadent freedoms, in the face of the adversities of 2020.
Photographer: Michelle Gray
Eyes Bigger Than The Valley (Vote for this Artwork)
Katie Whyte, 2020
Artist Location: Greenmount
Medium: Acrylic on glass panel
Dimensions: 51 x 76 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
In times of shortage for some and plenty for others, I feel that there is more than enough material opulence celebrated in our world. Instead, I chose to address decadence as an overindulgence of just one of our senses; vision.
Staying true to my arts practice of exploring how abstract shapes and colour evoke visual memory, I wanted to showcase the visual decadence of walking through the rural valley where I live, during the golden hour of a sunset. When the changing light affects the colours of our surroundings we are submerged in a new world momentarily. These colours prompt a physiological response in us in much the same way as rose tinted glasses. We feel good.
For me, valuing the connection of shared visual experience with others by taking in the splendour of the natural world around us, celebrates a decadence that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of material wealth.
Photographer: Katie Whyte
Degeneration of our coffee culture (Vote for this Artwork)
Beatrice Prost, 2020
Artist Location: Tinbeerwah
Medium: Print on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 60 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Where are we going with our degenerated obsession of coffee intake? It is not enough that humans pollute the world with their take away plastic cups. Now comes the era of aluminium capsules.
As I am working toward a large installation made of thousands of recycled aluminium coffee capsules, it amazes me how easy and fast it is to gather them locally. The irresponsible coffee aficionados feel good with the so call excuse that aluminium is cheap and ubiquitous, that it can be remelted ad infinitum and that the capsules can be recycled anyhow. But are they really? Have you ever tried to separate the grind from its capsule? I dare you especially when it is old and moulded. It is a messy, expensive, energy and time consuming business. A simpler way is to stop using them.
Photographer: Beatrice Prost
I Need a Home (Vote for this Artwork)
Pamela Finlay, 2020
Artist Location: Bowen
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 40.5 x 30 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
When I was thinking of the word “Decadence” my mind immediately went to the recent increase of the abandonment of animals that has been happening in our town over the past few months. This moral disregard for animals has got to stop. Animal rescues help foster the change in animals lives. They are impassioned people wanting to help in their community, saving innocent lives and caring for animals in need. We can all make a difference in our communities to raise an awareness and help to right the wrongs, by giving and sharing love and compassion for the innocent little animals through these stressful times. They deserve the opportunity to survive and thrive.
Photographer: Pamela Finlay
ATYB.1 (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Petalia Humphreys, 2020
Artist Location: Peregian Beach
Medium: Acrylic on plywood
Dimensions: 60 x 60 x 10 cm
Artist Statement:
The colours of yellow and green were largely associated with the Decadent movement, the artistic and literary movement of the late 19th century. These colours feature in works of the era, including Ramon Casas’ work, whose “Decadent Young Woman (After the Dance)” 1899 holds a copy of “The Yellow Book”, a popular British periodical of the decadent “Yellow Nineties. This use of yellow and green, often partnered with greys or blacks informs my work ATYB.1. Concerned with the architecture of forms upon the painted surface, ATYB.1 is a three-dimensional painting that invites the viewer to actively participate in considering the work from multiple perspectives in the gallery space, in turn revealing visual playful shifts and transmutations.
Photographer: Petalia Humphreys
Mango Bounty (Vote for this Artwork)
Marina Hooper, 2020
Artist Location: Yungaburra
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 101 x 77 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
The tropical Atherton Tablelands is a vast wondrous food bowl, spread over hundreds of square kilometres. A myriad of tropical fruits, vegetable, nuts, swamp the markets. Then there are Mangos. They call it the mango madness season, when a bite into the scrumptious mango overwhelm the senses with an abundance of sweet juicy deliciousness which runs off the face and fingers. Millions of mangos fill our larders, fridges, preserves and ourselves. Millions of mangos, bananas and other fruit fly around the world to countries that can afford to buy them. Unfortunately many countries don’t have the money and many tonnes of mangoes are deemed imperfect and can’t even be given away by growers and shamefully, decadently go to land fill and compost. Yes, that waste is decadent. There has to be another way to share this abundance.
Photographer: Marina Hooper
Lantana Hills no. 2 (Vote for this Artwork)
Jenny Neubecker, 2020
Artist Location: Waterloo
Medium: Pastel, graphite and collage on canvas
Dimensions: 91 x 60 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Queensland’s relentless, hot, dry summers strip the life out of the landscape. Soft pastures and rolling hills wisely surrender to the harsh conditions of summer. For month after month the bleached landscape waits patiently and uncomfortably for that first summer rain.
When it finally comes grasses, that seem to be barely clinging to life, burst vigorously into new growth and the landscape erupts into masses of vivid greens. Soon after, other plant species emerge prolifically to join the grasses and the landscape is brushed with swathes of the rich, decadent purples and mauves of creeping lantana. Every living thing seems to rush frantically to grow, flower and seed then bask in some short-lived decadence knowing, and waiting for, the cycle of dry and wet that will inevitably follow.
Photographer: Jenny Neubecker
Chocolate Cake (Vote for this Artwork)
Alana Read, 2020
Artist Location: Cawarral
Medium: Watercolour on Paper
Dimensions: 23 x 30 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Chocolate by nature is decadently rich, sensuous, luxurious and sinful.
Where there is sin, there is guilt and pleasure.
‘Chocolate Cake’ takes us on a journey beginning with a spiral path which leads us downward into the dark, delicious central depths of our wanton being.
Taking a bite means succumbing to our need for satisfaction and rewards us with a state of contented, indulgent bliss.
Experimentation with luscious pearlescent gold and blue metallic watercolour paints to highlight some areas, added an extra sparkle of luxury to this painting.
I took almost as much pleasure in painting this piece as I do eating chocolate cake, which is my personal choice of self-indulgence when life gets too much.
Photographer: Alana Read
Paper Sky (Vote for this Artwork)
Andrea Baumert Howard, 2020
Artist Location: Eastern Heights
Medium: Recycled office paper
Dimensions: 70 x 60 x 0.29 cm
Artist Statement:
This year has been difficult, the world feels like it is falling apart. There have been many challenges put before us. Personally, I struggled with anxiety for several months. I had lost my motivation to create.
Small acts of self-love and reflection are a way of finding joy and not be tempted to fall into melancholy.
If you look at it the right way, something as simple and humble as taking the time to watch clouds roll by can be decadent. Finding daily decadence is an exercise in the practice of gratitude that is not only reserved for the elite.
Photographer: Andrea Baumert Howard
Two Pair too Many (Vote for this Artwork)
Joolie Gibbs, 2020
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Handmade inks (bunya, Indonesian spinach, lichen) on paper
Dimensions: 32.5 x 64.5 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
At 18 I had two pairs of shoes – thongs and sandshoes. Now I have over 40! I am reflecting on these two pairs, one made in India, the other in Thailand before I toss them out. My purchase of these shoes has added to the $250 billion footwear industry. An industry responsible for one-fifth of the environmental impacts generated by the apparel industry. The debate of who has the larger footprint (pun intended), leather or viscose or plastic, as they all lead to deforestation in critical systems, not to mention the labour violations in a not too transparent industry. Do we question where they come from or how they were produced? My decadence has caught me out. Yes, I definitely have more than two pairs of shoes too many.
Photographer: Joolie Gibbs
Squander! (Vote for this Artwork)
Gregory Wuth, 2020
Artist Location: Buderim
Medium: Acrylic on board
Dimensions: 40 x 40 x 2.5 cm
Artist Statement:
The replacement of anticipation, striving and achievement with immediacy, instant gratification and wasteful abandonment is indicated by the loss of belonging to a group in the face of acquiring belongings. The disregard for others is evident in the swirling temptations of the new gain, the grabbed power and the chiming clamber of risk as the brief clasp on the replaceable is held in higher esteem than the priceless moments of authenticity and sharing. The text, in Gothic hand, emphasises the fate of self-interest as the yearning figure (near shameless subjectivity) is so engrossed in the darkness of what may be it is unaware of its entombment in the pitiless decadence. The use of metallics, pearl essence and warm enticing hues is attributable to the distraction of bling in an environment that apparently honours celebrity over substance, want over need and individual greed over the common good.
Photographer: Gregory Wuth
Indulgence
Libby Derham, 2020
Artist Location: Peregian Springs
Medium: Watercolour on recycled envelopes
Dimensions: 0.12 x 0.47 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
My current practice focuses on sensory awareness in the landscape and the substrate’s journey from discarded to prominent.
During lock down, I home schooled my two children and also taught my primary and secondary students from home. During this period, I craved alone time for painting and missed plein air outdoors. On daily walks I created ‘walking whilst drawing’ scrolls which would form the basis of paintings back in the studio, using transfer paper to keep these marks authentic from the experience. This current process of artmaking became a lifeline to me, as times got tougher. When restrictions eased for Mother’s Day, I asked for one thing, a day to paint plein air in the landscape I longed for, with solitude to think. This is the view on the hill behind our house, with magical views to Emu Mountain and the sea. Decadence to me that day was pure self-indulgence.
Photographer: Libby Derham
Shimmering Gold, 2020 (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Paul Perry, 2020
Artist Location: Bargara
Medium: Ceramic and glass tiles on reinforced paper bag
Dimensions: 50 x 34 x 14 cm
Artist Statement:
Who will forget 2020 and the impact of the Corona virus on our lifestyle, especially in Regional Queensland? Further isolated within isolation; only dressing up to put the rubbish bins out, zooming into our smart screens for social relief… when the flaky internet connection allows, peering out our front window and sharing the view. Even our beloved shopping trips restricted and under strict social isolation conditions. Now I understand the goldfish dilemma.
This calls for decadence! A shimmering facade for the isolated goldfish, no matter which angle you take. Glistening, glittering, and even glowing! Makes one feel much better.
But at the core, it’s still just life in a paper bag!
Photographer: Sabrina Lauriston
Inside Tension (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Seinileva Huakau, 2020
Artist Location: Mundubbera
Medium: Textile
Dimensions: 84.5 x 63.5 x 1.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Inside Tension represents an intergenerational memory of creating objects and the balance traditional and contemporary weaving in the Pacific diaspora. The piece is woven out of readily accessible bargain shop ribbon, reclaimed plastic buttons and discounted feathers which are the hoarded remnants of her family’s sewing. This necklace can be worn but these usually adorn picture frames of people who have passed; however she framed her work thus acknowledging the art and skill of her predecessors. By doing so she preserves the memory and skill of her teachers as well as acknowledging the land she lives on.
Photographer: Seinileva Huakau
A Case of Commoner Salt (Vote for this Artwork)
Saren Dobkins, 2020
Artist Location: Tewantin
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 120 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
This speaks to the growing protests around the world against entrenched power and privilege enjoyed by the few. Paintings hung in hallowed halls are pulled to the ground by a common man who rails against the decadence that excess wealth affords them. Salt, a currency once mined in unbearable conditions has been replaced by moneybags. Equally sordid working conditions exist today, his becoming barefoot shows this poverty. The waving of flags, an impotent symbol of protest won?t change a law, but the turnout of thousands on the street just might, and so he marches. He has toppled a suited man, a symbol of modern excessive consumption. The protesting man moves towards the removing of another figure of power. Based on the portrait of George Washington, “El Presi Dente,” represents the apex of power currently held by a man of questionable integrity. The sold sticker shows he has Sold Out.
Photographer: Saren Dobkins
Utopian Dream (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Pamela Kusabs, 2020
Artist Location: Whitfield
Medium: Acrylic on paper mache, wire
Dimensions: 100 x 8 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
To me, decadence is a symptom of a culture out of balance. Civilisations can fall, even those with the highest ideals. Our current collective cultural viewpoints are skewed, we commodify, classify, nullify, vilify. “Utopian Dream” is a call for a softer, kinder world.
The heart shaped motifs are my interpretation of the natural decadence of colour visible to the human eye. We look and see resplendent natural phenomenons, each glittery, and showy, not mere baubles. Regardless of our gender, age, postcode, we can all experience and the savour the sight of a sunset, flowering plants, the colours of the Queensland bush and soil.
Inwardly, my motifs represent the gamut of human emotions. In the most recent times, an outpouring of generosity has taken place in communities, across our great state and nation. The motif at the mid-point, the heart centre, is open, I hope this represents our future that is to come.
Photographer: Michael Marzik
I seem more aware of subtleties in my space.
Melissa Spratt, 2020
Artist Location: Gold Coast
Medium: Finger-knitted wool on water resistant backing.
Dimensions: 60 x 85 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
This artwork was created as an expression and explanation of what it is to identify as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). In this context, decadence relates to the way in which a HSP manages their external and internal stimuli. Where they are cautious not to over indulge in decadent activities. Due to having a sensitive nervous system, a HSP is aware of subtleties in their surroundings, and is more easily overwhelmed when in a highly stimulating environment. This piece is the beginning of a larger project and speaks to the theme of Decadence in a way that encompasses our growing sensitivities in a world full of overstimulation and change.
Photographer: Melissa Spratt
Content (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Nora Hanasy, 2020
Artist Location: Zilzie
Medium: Found Object Assemblage
Dimensions: 30 x 22 x 22 cm
Artist Statement:
“My crown is called content, a crown that seldom Kings enjoy” – Shakespeare.
A crown represents royalty, glory, immortality. It can wield so much power and command so much respect. A symbol of wealth made from the finest of metals and jewels. The more one has the more one wants and anyone not wearing one is insignificant. A slave to the system. My crown is made from street sweeper bristles and rusty bottle caps. It may not be shiny or studded with gemstones, but I believe the greatest wealth one can achieve is contentment. When you are content you have enough, you are thankful for what you have. Contentment is the greatest and most secure of riches. Decadence, excessive indulgence in luxury results in never ending comparison and status which in turn becomes the moral and cultural downfall of societies.
Photographer: Nora Hanasy
Much to Little, Little to Much (Vote for this Artwork)
Jan Murphy, 2020
Artist Location: Doonan
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 76 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Sometimes we take too much and give too little. Sometimes we take too little and give too much. Our needs and desires can conflict with our necessities for existence. A fine balance we live. Decadence is about taking too much, not recognising that we can be happy and fulfilled with just our necessities.
Photographer: Jan Murphy
Decadence and Decay
Tracey Lloyd, 2020
Artist Location: Deception Bay
Medium: Digital Print
Dimensions: 59 x 84 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Tracey Lloyd is a digital artist and historic fiction writer living in Deception Bay. Her work is based on manipulation of photographs taken by her, normally during research trips for her historic fiction.
Decadence and Decay explores the meaning of architecture to humanity. Decadence and Decay asks the viewer to consider the relationship between our selves and the buildings that surround us. Through the positioning of a woman in a bridal gown in front of a red brick archway in the grounds of the former 19th Century lunatic asylum at Callan Park, Sydney, the artwork explores how areas formerly known for cruel treatment of vulnerable people are now used for celebrations of humanity, such as weddings.
Photographer: Tracey Lloyd
Decadence of Man (Vote for this Artwork)
Beverley Teske, 2020
Artist Location: Alexandra Hills
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas – Acrylic inks, paint and hand printed papers
Dimensions: 60.5 x 76.5 x 5.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Toondah Harbour is a unique internationally recognised wetland, under threat from the “Decadence of Man.”
This development will reclaim 40+ hectares of foreshore and waterways with half a million cubic metres of sea bed and wetlands to be dredged. Protected habitat supporting many birds, turtles, dugongs and other marine life, will be lost forever.
Home for part of the year, migratory birds instinctively follow their innate flight path of approximately 25,000km. Flying over oceans to China and Alaska, and then returning to Toondah Harbour.
Imagine flying non-stop for 10 days, only to arrive at your feeding grounds, to find them destroyed.
My Klimt-inspired ‘towers of gold,’ created with hand printed papers, represent the apartment buildings that are proposed to be constructed in this protected area of Redland City.
What price must our environment pay for the Decadence of Man?
Photographer: Beverley Teske
The Dance of Decay (Vote for this Artwork)
Kaylie Jenkins, 2020
Artist Location: Danbulla
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 40.5 x 50.5 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
A detournement of Thomas Couture’s 1847 masterpiece “Romans of the Decadence?”
Amidst rumours of an ancient race of elitist lizard people living among the higher echelons of human society, corrupting our governing systems. The veil is lifted.
Indulgence is born of corruption. An ‘Evil’ corruption.
Consider a necessary evil, creating balance for optimum experience and growth.
Presenting the challenge, not of resisting temptation but of moderating it. Without challenge innovation is limited. However, complete abstinence, as the opposing extreme of indulgence, is equally flawed in limiting potential and experiential growth. True self-discipline lies in the constant negotiation of individual beliefs, never lazily locking anything in, but rather being present in the decisions we make at every opportunity, acknowledging the moments that shape our existence.
The decadent cephalopod knows what I’m talking about.
Photographer: Kaylie Jenkins
Here’s Looking At You, Kid – Last Drinks
Anne-Louise Ciel, 2020
Artist Location: Eatons Hill
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
“Here’s looking at you, kid”, Humphrey Bogart says to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, as he bids her farewell.
Likewise, we are looking on as the last fragile habitat of the Black Throated Finch is wantonly destroyed in the name of short term gain by a few. What can be more decadent in a time of ecological crisis, than to frivolously erase a Queensland treasure, to squander our precious pristine environment, only to pointlessly extend a dying industry.
A circular composition, we are first caught by her eyes, travel along wayward hair to a small stand of trees symbolising the Finches’ remaining shelter. Dropping, we discover this plucky little bird perched ever-so-lightly with us, then her scarf swings the return. Her expression is split: the right side a sweet smile of joy in the moment; the left side full of grim awareness of its brevity.
Photographer: Anne-Louise Ciel
Decadence 2020: The Hug (Vote for this Artwork)
Lee FullARTon, 2020
Artist Location: Blackstone
Medium: Acrylic inks and ink on Watercolour paper
Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
For me the perception of Decadence made a significant shift in 2020.
COVID-19 restrictions cut my connections to nature and loved ones.
These aspects of connection that I engaged in freely prior to lockdown moved to the notion of indulgence when given an opportunity to seek nature and be with love ones.
Those moments are small, pure, fragile and golden.
Photographer: Lee FullARTon
‘Down Down’: Are Good Things Happening (Vote for this Artwork)
Sandra Ross, 2020
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Mixed Media
Dimensions: 83 x 59 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
Over 25,000 products sit on the shelves of Coles stores every day waiting for us to choose and purchase. This astonishing realisation motivated me to draw attention to the incredible excess and indulgence humans display in something considered a necessity.
Drawing upon reoccurring themes of mountainous forms in my artwork, I have used ink and watercolour on paper to paint an organic form sitting in a nest-like tangle of dead clear-felled forest. One almost lifeless tree clings precariously to the edge as a metaphor for the destruction of our environment in order to satisfy greedy desires.
Upon closer view it becomes surprising to find tiny subtle text following the contours of the organic form. Written are the names of a mere 5% of the products, further emphasising how decadent our options have become in the choices of flavour, type, colour, size and brand.
Are good things happening…
Photographer: Jazmyn Bowman
Roasted Coral Compote Topped with Whipped Cream (Vote for this Artwork)
Maharlina Gorospe-Lockie, 2020
Artist Location: Palm Cove
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 91.4 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Whipped cream elevates a dessert’s taste and appearance, an extra scoop of pleasure that is oftentimes best avoided but added anyway. My work aims to tease the viewer, like an indulgent dessert would; but upon closer inspection, there is a message and it is not palatable to the mind and sensibilities. A bleached brain coral towering over a reef of stunning colors is not a visual treat to behold, but a signal of stress that, if unchecked and further aggravated, could lead to the coral’s demise. Recent surveys on the Great Barrier Reef have shown the most severe and most widespread mass coral bleaching event in the region to date. We know for a fact that human induced climate change is the culprit, but tragically, we are too slow to do something about it. Would you prefer some whipped cream to go with that?
Photographer: Daniela Vavrova
Rivers, Creeks & Streams
Kylie Stevens, 2020
Artist Location: Pine Mountain
Medium: River water, copper leaf, earth, charcoal and acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 91 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
Witnessing our waterways treated with decadence, becoming polluted and chocked dry, leads me to showcase them highlighting the beauty and alchemy of nature, inspiring in the viewer a deeper respect for and desire to protect our precious natural spaces.
River water thins my paint, allowing it to pool and travel across the canvas. With the addition of ochres collected from my property and ground charcoal the canvas is marked, giving control to the river itself in this stage of the work. Then, with intent and precision, I map the river in charcoal and copper leaf upon the richly-textured surface. Using the natural elements of river water and earth, the work contains the essence of the place it represents.
I am an Ipswich-based artist working with and within the environment. My diverse multimedia arts practice allows me the flexibility to express my deep connection with, and reverence for, nature.
Photographer: Kylie Stevens
Hurry Cup! (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Lucie Verhelst, 2020
Artist Location: Yugar
Medium: Textiles, thread, ribbon, beads and glue.
Dimensions: 29 x 17 x 19 cm
Artist Statement:
Coffee culture initially symbolised upper-class luxury, to later inspire the Penny Universities, forerunners of social hubs or cafes we recognise today. Testimony to societal transitions, in this increasingly fast-paced lifestyle, coffee has become a motivator that launches the day, creates time for a breather, a routine, or even a ritualistic addiction mostly recognised in absentia.
Enter the disposable cup, that caters for instant gratification and portable comfort. An appropriate motif for society’s skewed prioritisations, with ethics teetering and environmental concerns piling up. The awareness of its major contribution to landfill is common knowledge, and has converted many conscious drinkers to reusable solutions. However, due to the development of COVID-19 this progress has quickly slipped backwards.
Creature comforts are crucial to maintaining a sense of normality but what is the tipping point between necessity and decadence that costs more than it gives?
Photographer: Jon Linkins
Goodness #108
Fiona Quin, 2020
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Digital print
Dimensions: 58.9 x 83.6 x 0.5 cm
Artist Statement:
In today’s world we rush from here to there, wanting this and that, and never stopping. We take vitamins, supplements, and pills for that instant relief and quick fix with a casual disregard of the consequences. Our western society has become decadent and self-indulgent in looking after our body, health, and wellbeing.
This artwork, Goodness #108, illustrates how the “health” supplement industry has decayed our understanding of health and goodness through the take-one-a-day pill advice.
By combining digital art, photography, and graphic design techniques, I hope to convey this current state of social decadence through the lens of a magazine cover, itself a decadent medium in its short-term use of natural resources such as paper.
Photographer: Fiona Quin
When I was the forest there was nothing I could not love, 2019 (Vote for this Artwork)
Karla Pringle, 2020
Artist Location: Ninderry
Medium: Digital print on silk with oak
Dimensions: 55 x 20 x 0.1 cm
Artist Statement:
We were paradise, the land and I. We were capitalism’s insatiable appetite. Young girls on a backdrop of everlasting sunsets. We’d conjure lightning heating oceans with our sultry bodies. Our dewy mouths gushed waterfalls over ‘virgin’ forests. This was the commodification of women, BIPOC and land. Virgins and terra nullius. Our bodies were owned and used; the land, stolen and sold. I try to re/pair relationships between bodies and environment. I use outlines of pornography re-embodied within stolen land. I’m coupling bodies with place, not as backdrops to entice consumption, but as embodied beings: connected ‘in Country’ through their relationships with living environments. I hope this contributes to change colonial disconnection and disembodied destruction, and helps to create a narrative for the engagement of sentience, connection, reverence, inter guidance, and rapport with our environment.
Photographer: Karla Pringle
Outback, A Sense of Place
Katrina Goldsworthy, 2019
Artist Location: Cornubia
Medium: Watercolour and coloured pencil
Dimensions: 77 x 58 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
OUTBACK’ A SENSE OF PLACE’ 24/7 – H20 is a Pictorial history of a Sense of Place:
A Cameleer in early 2013 found a Sensor Digital Camera in the mud at a isolated dessert spring way OUTBACK in Central Australia. (The spring is on the flood plain of the Mulligan river which runs down the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert about half way between Mt Isa and Birdsville).
The Cameleer retrieved the camera and removed the disc downloading the images to his laptop.
Who could have believed the wonder that unfolded with the menagerie of wildlife to be found all BOUND by the ‘OUTBACK’ A SENSE OF PLACE.
Please note on each image is the Provenance: you will see the Temperature/date/time in the lower right hand corner of each watercolour sketch which poses the question: Is the water hole ‘Decadence’ or ‘Survival’ or ‘Both’?
Photographer: Katrina Goldsworthy
All that Glitters (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Julie Field, 2019
Artist Location: Eumundi
Medium: Glazed ceramic
Dimensions: 21 x 30 x 11 cm
Artist Statement:
All that glitters is not gold, it could be a horse!! Acquired and bred in many countries as a status symbol, sign of power, wealth and hierarchy. The humble equine could be purchased one year for over 1 million dollars and the next, given away. It’s with their forever home they become priceless.
Photographer: Julie Field
Spirit Journey (Vote for this Artwork)
Emma Ward, 2020
Artist Location: Gracemere
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas
Dimensions: 51 x 51 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
During a heavily emotional time in lock down (Covid 10 March -May 2020) I found myself abandoning my previous painting style in favor of creating abstract landscapes. From feelings of isolation, I became obsessed with the desire to connect with country in a more meaningful way. It was as if the act of painting landscapes was ‘grounding’ me during this anxious time. I began experimenting with crushing my own pigments from local sedimentary rocks, and making paints which I have used in the creation of this work. I have also incorporated walnut oil, gold leaf and salt and created the work in a free form, intuitive fashion. The artwork represents the view I get from the airplane window leaving Central Queensland on a trip to the ‘big smoke’ (Brisbane). It was a view that had been etched in my mind since my last visit to the city in January 2020 visiting the previous year’s Flying Arts exhibition. I found the whole experience inspirational and mentally transformative. Much like my impression of our landscape.
Photographer: Emma Ward
REAP
View Video Artwork
Donna Davis, 2020
Artist Location: Deebing Heights
Medium: Video
Dimensions: 30 x 54 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence is an ephemeral and unsustainable state.
This work explores the fleeting nature of decadence and invites the viewer to consider the natural world not merely for our pleasure, rather as a multitude of interconnected life that supports the health of our planet.
Collections that house human artefacts have their climate conditions monitored and regulated to ensure the longevity and survival of their contents. But what steps are we taking to regulate climate conditions on planet Earth, the living collection that houses all species, including the human?
With carbon stores continuing to fuel our decadent lifestyles, what are we prepared to change to allow our planet to heal? The work reminds us that we reap what we sow, and asks what will we sow for our future…
Photographer: Donna Davis
Decadent Donald (Vote for this Artwork)
Sharon Kirk, 2020
Artist Location: Barmaryee
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 61 x 90.5 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
When COVID-19 became a pandemic in early 2020 and we were all directed to stay home and isolate as much as we could, we had time to indulge in a sometimes gruesome fascination with ongoing television reports of how the pandemic was playing out around the world. This decadent self indulgence continued as I watched intently the spread of coronavirus from China to Europe then the rest of the world and the human toll escalated. Becoming a couch potato was a wanton and excessive waste of time and highly addictive.
The media’s coverage of the President of the United States of America’s response to this public health issue became increasingly unbelievable to me. President Trump appeared a narcissist with total disregard to the consequences of his seemingly decadent ideology that coronavirus could potentially be prevented by injections of bleach, and that, contrary to health advice, taking hydrochoroquine would help prevent contracting the virus.
My work is a response to this self indulgent notion by President Donald Trump which had ?invaded? my personal space as well as becoming a source of continued discussion within my ‘cyber’ community.
Photographer: Sharon Kirk
STILL LIFE #415 (Vote for this Artwork)
Laura Phillips, 2019
Artist Location: Eastern Heights
Medium: Oil on board
Dimensions: 75 x 75 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
The theme ‘decadence’ set my mind in gear for this year’s QRAA. Though there are still many artists working figuratively, they are pulled between a love of the art of the past such as the Renaissance period and wanting to be relevant in the contemporary scene. In our times some consider Renaissance painting to be old hat but there are those who feel that the art of our period is decadent.
The word decadence essentially means decay. Does the decay occur when there is no reverence for the past and it is not used as a springboard for contemporary painting and geared to excellence. This infers an arrogance which considers that only the painting of the present is real, meaningful and relevant when it negates reference to painting of other eras.
This work alludes to a genre that has now fallen into disfavour – that of still life. In this work, I have sandpapered the original painting back to indicate this attitude and have placed incomplete decorative work in faux and actual gold leaf on top to indicate a reference to decadent workmanship which is inevitable when there is no reverence for the past.
Photographer: Laura Phillips
Tunes of Opulence (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Nora Hanasy, 2020
Artist Location: Zilzie
Medium: Found Object Assemblage on Violin
Dimensions: 60 x 27 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
A defining symbol of decadence is a fondness of nonsensical extravagance’ – Robert Silverberg. But could our desire for opulence have a positive side? Isn’t it exactly that desire that is pushing us to overcome limitations in innovation, investing time and money in artists, designers, and architects to create marvels beyond our wildest imaginations? Frivolous, wasteful and mind-blowingly expensive? Yes, but our yearning for objects of beauty painstakingly designed and executed by master craftspeople over hundreds and thousands of hours is an irresistible temptation. Possessing extravagance and innovation has been part of history, became a part of our identity, and responsible for the development of cultures.
Photographer: Nora Hanasy
Ekka Icon (Vote for this Artwork)
Glen Smith, 2020
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Acrylic on Board
Dimensions: 33 x 28 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence; The process of falling into an inferior state of moral decay. I have to admit I suffer this state of mind every year when the Brisbane Exhibition, commonly known as the Ekka comes around. For its my love and desire for the Strawberry Ice-creams you can only get at the Ekka that drives me into a frenzy mess that I have to travel over two hours on a train, pay ludicrous amounts of money and suffer the pushing and shoving of the crowded show allies just so I can get my yearly fix of the delicious treat. I never leave the show grounds without devouring at least 4 ice-creams before facing another 2-hour trip home. So as simple as it seems the Ekka Strawberry Ice cream is my decadent secret desire and this painting gives homage to the iconic Strawberry Ice-cream Cone.
Photographer: Glen Smith
Decadence – a story of Cultural Decline (Vote for this Artwork)
Kym Tabulo, 2020
Artist Location: Mooloolah Valley
Medium: Digital print on canvas
Dimensions: 84.1 x 59.4 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Why a comics cover? I hope to motivate you to think about the real meaning of decadence and to consider your personal experiences and cultural stories regarding this theme. My thoughts are portrayed in this image. This energetic graphic artwork combines my fascination with abstract art and vibrant comics. To do this, I work in layers and begin with my original abstract paintings, drawings and photographs, which I scan and digitally combine. There are over thirty layers in this work. Once I am happy with the composition, I flatten the image into one layer and have it expertly printed onto the canvas with an archival quality finish. This 21st Century process that combines traditional and digital mediums is fascinating and provides me with endless possibilities.
Photographer: Kym Tabulo
An abundance of water (Vote for this Artwork)
View Video Artwork
Elisha Habermann, 2020
Artist Location: Gracemere
Medium: Digital photograph and audio
Dimensions: Variable
Artist Statement:
Droplets of gold. Sunlight glistening through a steady spray of water as the sun slowly sinks in the west. It is the dry season; the grass is dying. But we have an abundance of water, so every second afternoon, I turn on the sprinkler and water the lawn. It feels quite decadent in a state that is experiencing drought across 67.4% of its land area.
I have been exploring still photography enhanced by sound of late. It intrigues me. There is something a little odd about hearing motion but seeing non. I choose to photograph my subject matter with a grainy film filter. I like the texture and the noise. I am not interested in technical perfection, I am interested in composition, shape, texture and contrast. With this specific work, I moved in close, to the point of abstraction, with the focus on the water droplets glistening in the sun.
Photographer: Elisha Habermann
Butterfly frenzy (Vote for this Artwork)
Tarja Ahokas, 2020
Artist Location: Ninderry
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 51 x 40.5 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Earlier this year there were butterflies everywhere. It was an event that happens once in 10 years.
Butterflies symbolise hope and hope is what we needed after the horrendous bushfires and floods. Then COVID 19 hit us all like a sledge hammer.
Many people turned to drink, eroding their mental and economic wellbeing even further. Cracks started forming in the fabric of our society. That was their decadence.
My decadence is bottling the butterflies and indulging in hope.
Photographer: Tarja Ahokas
Sound Marks (Vote for this Artwork)
View Video Artwork
Mieke den Otter, 2020
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: Video
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
With limited materials of ink on paper and my phone I sat on day 5 within the Triangle again. I was on a Field Trip of 10 days to observe, question, collect data and make in the moment.
Instead I listened to what was around me… trees, crunching sticks and leaves underfoot, traffic and local birds. The nervous energy that I had as I set off on the walk seemed to be expelled 10 minutes in. My mind would focus on my surroundings, the natural elements that surrounded me. Soon I was home.?
My focus was to be self-directed, autonomous and be influenced by what I sensed and imagined. It was a self-indulgence I had heard about from other artists.
Sound Marks describes the decline and deterioration of native tree species on the fringes of cities. The images are designed to be projected onto a large built environment and be ephemeral.
Photographer: Mieke den Otter
Sources of love and light: waiting for dinner (Vote for this Artwork)
Adrienne Williams, 2020
Artist Location: Elliott Heads
Medium: Ink, graphite and 23.5 carat gold leaf on Arches paper
Dimensions: 22 x 50 x 50 cm
Artist Statement:
This ephemeral artist book is a tiny shrine to the studio and sofa companions who shine love and light into the lives of my artistic friends. As with so many artists, the upside-down events of this year removed most of my opportunities and with them, the lists of tasks and calendars of plans that give purpose and direction to studio time. At this moment, what is more decadent than play? What is more decadent than the luxury of having time to step out of the groove of a regular practice and play in the theatre of the absurd? The spheres of watercolour paper gifted to me, the gold leaf ordered in; engaging ‘first time’ tools. Suddenly there was purpose and direction! To lay precious metals across precious pet portraits was a joyful and ridiculous experience, connecting ten acts of love, to later be disassembled and gifted to the subjects’ humans.
Photographer: Sabrina Lauriston
Vanitas20 (Vote for this Artwork)
Karen Wiz Smith, 2020
Artist Location: Gold Coast
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Given our new unpredictable, dynamic, pandemic affected community, the artist was compelled to compose a modern version of the Vanitas art of the 16th and 17th centuries. Traditional symbols of wealth and death combined with symbols of life which are indigenous to her local area intentionally saturate the canvas…”Where to from here?”
Photographer: Karen Wiz Smith
summa prospectum ex, inferno itur (Vote for this Artwork)
Cara-Ann Simpson, 2020
Artist Location: Toogoom
Medium: Pigment print on Ilford gold fibre gloss rag
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
summa prospectum ex, inferno itur (the view from the top is the path to hell) is from Furari Flores (Stealing Flowers) – a series of vanitas artworks exploring ephemerality and societal decay.
This series acts as a nexus between commentary on personal challenges and an outward interpretation of global news. They are an ironic reminder of the innate beauty found simultaneously in decadence and decay.
Just as the vanitas still life paintings became vanitas (vanity of vanities) objects themselves through the irony of being collectible commodities, so too does this series. Cut flowers and subsequent development of art objects are in themselves a decadence and luxury that few can afford. Behind this more obvious symbolism, is another incorporated through the spectrograph (visual analysis of sound) and composition – the luxury of good health, another vanity unnoticed until it is lost. While we stand at the summit, rarely do we realise that the only way forward is down.
Photographer: Cara-Ann Simpson
I am here (Vote for this Artwork)
Gayle Fleming, 2020
Artist Location: Goodna
Medium: Acrylic on paper
Dimensions: 29.7 x 21 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
I am a late bloomer in the world of visual art. I am a self taught painter. I find with every piece a huge learning experience, and I am eager to develop my work. Acrylic, ink, pencil and watercolour is the medium I use. Line, shape, form and blending colours create my light free flowing style. Margaret Olley is one of my favourite artists as she reflected an influencers lifestyle that I feel I can connect with. My art depicts a vibracy in plant form and flora. Connecting with nature is my desire, as it is good medicine for my soul.
For this piece, I have changed my subject and technique to produce a more abstract illusion with a message that’s thought provoking and gripping for the viewer. Our personal connections between family and friends is what gives our life meaning. Although our indulgence and obsession with screens makes us all disconnected.
Photographer: Gayle Fleming
CONSTRUCTED LANDSCAPE (Vote for this Artwork)
Karen Stephens, 2020
Artist Location: Winton
Medium: Acrylic on handmade paper
Dimensions: 27 x 33 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
I confess, I?m a painter with a decadent, greedy eye. I’ll often examine my conscience when experiencing landscape because of my wild delirious hunt for more. These rituals that are a constant revision and focused looking at familiar subjects for painting take place within a reduced zone surrounding Winton in far remote Queensland and I am inspired by the landscapes and still life paintings of late Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.
Morandi was an outsider and artistic innovator whose subject matter was reduced to the 47km between Fondazza, Bologna and Grizzana – and this small triangular zone became his whole world. Like Morandi, I treasure solitude and my time exploring these regions. I search for new possibilities and discovery from limited or overlooked subject matter.
‘Constructed Landscape’ is a treasured memory of the setting sun illuminating the landscape at 5.46pm on the Opalton turn off road. Easy to miss. Hard to forget.
Photographer: FAUN PHOTOGRAPHY FAUN PHOTOGRAPHY
Decadence through the animal kingdom (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Rasa Costaras, 2020
Artist Location: Cannonvale
Medium: Ceramic
Dimensions: 26 x 10 x 18 cm
Artist Statement:
The piece is a representation of this present moment of change for humankind, with the excessive indulgence in pigs, changing by merging into the Eagle, the animal never hunted or captured that is associated with wisdom and freedom.
The eagle is an inspiring messenger that offers lessons about looking closely at the most mynute of details in order to see life from a broader perspective.
Photographer: Rasa Costaras
Decadence (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Jane du Rand, 2020
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: Glazed ceramic sculpture with oxides and gold lustre
Dimensions: 8 x 36 x 41 cm
Artist Statement:
Three dead charred rainbow lorikeets are arranged on a decorative platter, as left overs from a feast.
The word decadence makes me think of excessive indulgence, I imagine a banquet with waste and uneaten food.
Recently the images that have been stuck in my head have been some photographs I saw taken on the beach at Mallacoota after the summer bushfires, of the charred remains of birds caught in the fires with bits of coloured plumage in amongst the black ashes. I have also been coming across a number of dead lorikeets while out bush walking, and have collected these and photographed them.
These images make me think of the decadent way we treat our environment. How we, as humans don?t care, how we waste, not only resources, but also the lives of the creatures that share our planet, and how we do this for our pleasure.
Photographer: Eve Caillon
Ya grill gleamin’ (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Hilary Coulter, 2020
Artist Location: Wandoan
Medium: Cotton, embroidery thread, water colour
Dimensions: 8 x 23 x 15 cm
Artist Statement:
In 2020 decadence is the space and freedom to move. However in the absence of that freedom, decadence is status. Grillz, a lavish form of dental jewellery worn over the teeth, have been a universal symbol of status, wealth and power for thousands of years with the first evidence of grillz dating as early as 2500BC. Since this date grillz have been found in the remains of ancient civilisations from a variety of countries including Egypt, Mexico, the Philippines and Italy. More recently they have been popular in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but endorsements from American hip hop and rap artists including Slick Rick and Nelly cemented their place as 21st century status symbols. Symbols of not only wealth but materialistic hedonism, these gleaming grins are literally muzzled by COVID-19 face mask obligations. Next on the consumerist chopping block, face masks are soon to be transformed beyond their humble beginnings.
Photographer: Hilary Coulter
They ate all the flowers (Vote for this Artwork)
Veronika Zeil, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: photograph on aluminium
Dimensions: 90 x 90 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
“They ate all the flowers” hints at longing for beauty and pleasure, but also portrays self-indulgence at the expense of nature.
Red Lips and flowers -age old symbols for beauty and passion are juxtaposed in a collage of neon-coloured papers, hand-painted perfect lips and teeth and filled to the brink with native flora from the Queensland bush. Faceless mouths emphasize insatiable hunger and decadent perfection. We savour short-lived gratification, act on desires and indulge with little empathy for other living beings.
The tragic consequence of such indulgence is that it does not sustain passion, and whole ecosystems are decimated for our short-term gain. Our longing for more each day – how much longer can that be sustained?
We may live in a land of plenty but times of distress over natural disasters such as bushfires, floods or drought, bring home notions of what life looks like in times of shortage.
Photographer: Veronika Zeil
Mad Max Dollhouse (Vote for this Artwork)
Julie Purcell, 2019
Artist Location: Kippa-Ring
Medium: Oil on cupboard doors
Dimensions: 41.5 x 90 x 0.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Visiting our property at Beebo is like stepping into a dystopian future with no mainstream power or utilities. Through the 1980s my Grandfather lived there in an almost pre-modern way. Over the years small improvements were made to create a more comfortable space with a few mod cons. After Grandad’s passing my family inherited the property and cottage and we added more homely touches. Dad installed a hot water system making washing up a lot easier and we now use a gas powered stove and solar powered refrigerator. The cottage provides a man made space of controlled comfort within a beautiful yet impersonal natural bush setting. This ascetic space reminds me that simple developments grant so much convenience and pleasure. Light, refrigeration and clean running water are essential – all else, including the box of home brew depicted, is vanity!
Photographer: Julie Purcell
Downtown Perspective (Vote for this Artwork)
Miriam Innes, 2020
Artist Location: Pie Creek
Medium: Charcoal on paper
Dimensions: 56 x 76 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
Distinguished as a decadence, to travel can be interrupted as a luxury. With sufficient funds in your back pocket to board a plane, fly across times zones, to see and experience another place, another culture. Travelling to familiar places, to gloat your experience through stories and images of sleepless club nights and daytime selfies before famous monuments on your social channels. Iconic places, cities like New York whose images are so known to us all that we can feel a part of the experience whether visited or not. What if your longed for ‘life-time’ experience of the city that never sleeps is realised as a city in a pandemic slumber, devoid of the very heart it boasts, a city preparing to shut down, whose people are at the mercy of fear and illness, your journey and life time opportunity crumbles before you, into isolation, helplessness and a bitter decadent memory.
Photographer: Miriam Innes
DISCARDED (Vote for this Artwork)
Geoffrey Head, 2020
Artist Location: Gladstone
Medium: Digital print on aluminium
Dimensions: 34.5 x 120 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Today we are duped into thinking that when something fails, we ditch it and get another one.
This artwork draws attention to this extravagant attitude by showing piles of unwanted consumer goods that have been deposited at the local waste centre metal heap.
The hills of discarded goods emerge and grow as we replace rather than repair. Items contributing to the mountain of consumer waste include bicycles, washing machines, wheelbarrows, barbeques and even a wheelchair. While many products seem to be designed with obsolescence in mind and cannot be repaired, there is some consolation in that these now rejected items can be recycled and reborn in another form.
Printed onto recycled aluminium, the images serve as a reminder of our consumer habits.
The enhancement of colour is designed to heighten the idea of extravagance and give an almost frivolous quality to the items we recklessly discard for new ones.
Photographer: Geoffrey Head
Piss off forever (Vote for this Artwork)
Wilhelmus Breikers, 2020
Artist Location: Urraween
Medium: charcoal and graphite on paper
Dimensions: 57 x 77 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
There is decadence and “Piss of forever”, although wary of cliché narratives, takes advantage of the picturesque to suggest the uncertainty in life.
Photographer: Wilhelmus Breikers
Seagull and Crane – a traditional Lardil story from Mornington Island
Joelene Roughsey, 2020
Artist Location: Gununa, Mornington Island
Medium: Acrylic on linen
Dimensions: 101.5 x 101 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
This Traditional story shows that avoiding responsibility and assuming a decadent, privileged attitude and being a bully will result in some real consequences. This story is told often here on island.
Seagull and Crane – A traditional Lardil story from Mornington Island
On peaceful Bende Reef, out from Biberr, lived the Seagull Woman and her husband, the Crane Man and their little baby. The Crane Man would go out hunting for fish, oysters, and crabs. Sometimes he’d bring back a little bit of food for the family, but not always.
One day when he did come back with food, Crane said to his wife, “Well, Seagull, you gotta get up and cook now. I got some food here for you to cook and it’s my turn to have a rest.” And, then he went and laid down. Sometimes he would just eat his catch out there where he was hunting, and sometimes he didn’t come back at all. One time he was gone for three years.
After three years he walked back up and said, “Hey, it’s me. I’ve come back.” Seagull Woman was not impressed. Seagull Woman took the baby on her little walpa (raft) and dragged it along, dragged it along with the rope.
And she dragged, and she dragged it round and round and round. Cutting deep channels into the land until the water flooded in. While she dragged that walpa she sang that lajirambena (lullaby) song. And so she separated the islands from the mainland by creating those channels of water.
Some people say that Seagull Woman also put a curse on the Crane Man. Because nowadays the Crane can only hunt in shallow water. But Seagull Woman, she’s strong. She can hunt on the open sea, she can fly around and dive, and she can hunt in shallow water or deep water. She has a big family and can look after herself.
Photographer: MIART Mornington Island Art
Sunset Over Purga (Vote for this Artwork)
Grant Quinn, 2020
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Digital photograph
Dimensions: 30 x 30 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
Louis Armstrong once sang “What A Wonderful World”.
We live in a world full of hope, but over time, society has taken our world for granted. A world of decadent greed, a world that seems to spend to much time pointing the finger of blame, instead of working towards positive solutions. Topics such as climate change, emissions and waste being top on the agenda, but we need to step up, together, and make this world a better place, not just for us now, but for the generations to come. If we all make a change, we can continue to see our world at the end of each day, as it should be, one beautiful sunset after another.
Photographer: Grant Quinn
Casuistry Extreme
View Video Artwork
Yanni Van Zijl, 2020
Artist Location: Sunshine Beach
Medium: Video
Dimensions: Variable
Artist Statement:
Casuistry – the resolving of moral problems by the application of theoretical rules to particular instances.
Extreme – from drought to the depths of despair.
Casuistry Extreme is a film that creates an engagement about humans relationship between our actions and the events that are the consequences.
“Wanton excess or wastefulness. Perhaps casual or deliberate disregard of consequence.”This film is about mankind’s accountability for the environment.
In the latest Intergovernmental Panel on climate change we were warned that we have 12 years to act in order to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees.
In Australia, fire, flood, and drought are more prevalent than ever before.
We are currently in a climate emergency, Australia has just experienced nine out of ten of the highest temperatures since 2005.
Yanni has used herself as the canvas on which to represent the extremes of landscape and our impact on the environment.
Photographer: Yanni Van Zijl
Fraser Island
Caitlin Broderick, 2019
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 50.5 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Standing on cascading shores, breathing in the clean, salty air, watching the waves roll gently over the turquoise seas and golden sand. This is nature’s decadence. Fraser Island is a guilty pleasure, a place of self-indulgence, where we can embrace a lifestyle that values the outdoors and appreciate the natural wonders of our Australian landscapes. Many places in Australia have lost their natural beauty, their history, their culture, as our greed for more takes away from the land in which we live. Fraser Island remains almost untouched; rich in colour, history and nature.
Photographer: Caitlin Broderick
A decadent moment (Vote for this Artwork)
Sue Shakeshaft, 2020
Artist Location: Logan
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 40 x 1.5 cm
Artist Statement:
I chose to create my interpretation of decadence using a combination of colours and energetic explosive mark making, which convey overindulgence and exuberance in an abstract and expressive way. I am influenced by the works of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. To me the process of flicking and throwing down splatters of thick paint over layers of wet paint created an overwhelming feeling of having a decedent self-indulgent moment.
Photographer: Sue Shakeshaft
Crocodile dreaming (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Peta Lloyd, 2020
Artist Location: Coowonga
Medium: Artists book, multi-plate collagraph prints, collage and ink pencil.
Dimensions: 36.5 x 50 x 36.5 cm
Artist Statement:
He?s basking in the winter sun on the side of his waterway, lazily taking in his surroundings, watching under hooded eyes for signs of an intruder, he?s ancient and powerful, he is King of the river.
Not far away, beside a wallow, she sits atop her nest laying up to 60 eggs in a trance, she?s a good mum protecting her eggs from animal or human.
Their love making was in the river, it was a stormy evening, the lightning show stimulated their libido, the stage was set, their music was playing.
She only left the nest for a short while, on her return she finds her eggs gone, her babies stolen! She creeps away to save herself, she grieves for her babies, she grieves for her river, she grieves for the loss of her King.
Nature?s fine balance has been altered because of the greed of a few humans.
Photographer: Peta Lloyd
Cockatoo Crackle Banquet (Vote for this Artwork)
Louise Dean, 2020
Artist Location: Pentland
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 61 x 3.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Nestled within the depths of Queensland’s White Mountains National Park, just a stone’s throw from my back door, nature’s pure essence evokes a cacophony of colour and sound as feasting native birds imbibe in a banquet of wildflowers, flaunted in abundant glory.
Droughts, fires and finally welcome soaking rains combine with nature to create an astounding habitat recovery – grass-tree spears coated in seeds, blossoming banksia, purple heather, golden grevilleas and bright yellow wattle intermingle comfortably together, their myriad colours and textures offset by shades of earth, sky and flowering eucalypts.
And with the wildflowers come the flocks of birds, naturally seizing advantage and the opportunity to partake of a banquet during times of plenty and excess.
Pure simple decadence – especially if you’re a cockatoo and an artist with a paint brush!!
Photographer: Louise Dean
Two Boys and Two Devils – a traditional Yangkaal story from Forsyth Island (Vote for this Artwork)
John Williams, 2020
Artist Location: Gununa, Mornington Island
Medium: Acrlic on Belgian linen
Dimensions: 102 x 102 x 2 cm
Artist Statement:
This Traditional story tells about how greediness and disrespect always come back to bite you on the bum. This is a cautionary tale and is also one of the important dances and songs of the Lardil people here on Mornington Island.
Two Boys and Two Devils – a traditional Yangkaal story from Forsyth Island
A long time ago on Gurraben Reef off Forsyth Island, two little boys were making a fire with firesticks. Up above, two malgarn (devil-birds) were singing out, “Wii!”
The two boys heard them and mocked them, singing out, “Wii!”
The two malgarn again sang out, “Wii!”
And the two boys again copied them – “Wii!”
Then the malgarn sang out louder, “Wii!”
And the two boys again copied them – “Wii!”
And again, the malgarn sang out even louder, “Wii!”
And again, the two boys copied them, singing out even louder, “Wii!”
The malgarn jumped down and grabbed those two boys and wrapped them up in a net. They dragged the net south onto a sandbank. One malgarn said, “Come over here, let the two boys lay down there in the net. You and I can go to the point and make some firesticks.”They left the boys tied up in the net near the ocean in the south-west and went to the north-east to try and make a fire to cook them.
The malgarn rubbed their firesticks, jila, jila, jila, jila! They started to get fire. They rubbed again, but the fire wouldn’t start. Maltha (nothing). Meanwhile, the two boys were still on the sandbank, struggling to escape from the net.
“Have you got anything like a knife or tomahawk to cut this net?” asked one boy. “No,” replied the other boy, “but look! I’ve got a bottle here beside me!” “Well, that’s alright,” said the first boy, “Go on, cut it with the bottle!” So, he tore and cut at the net until he made his way out.
The first boy was still inside, looking to see how far away the malgarn are. He was worried they would see them escape. The other boy reassured him, “They’re far away, far off to the east.”
“You go out first, then I’ll come out after you.” The first boy came out then and together they rolled down the sandbank. Rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, right into the saltwater. They swam and they swam, all the way west back to Forsyth Island. The two malgarn were still trying to make fire.
“Right,” said one, “Go and get them now. We’ll eat while it’s still light.” The other malgarn went and looked. He called out “Hey, there’s nothing here! No boys! They’ve gone!” “Get them!” said the first malgarn, “Don’t hide them! I won’t give you any. Get my food!” “They’re not here,” said the other one, “Look, there’s nothing!”
“Get them! Don’t hide that food of mine. I want to eat them. Don’t hide them for no reason!” “They’re not here! You look for them!” The first, malgarn started heading to the north-east, ready for a fight. He picked up the net and looked in every corner. The two boys were really gone.
Of course, the two malgarn blamed each other for losing the boys. And then of course they started fighting. They fought each other all over the place – in the west and north and south and east. While they were fighting shooting stars fell down into the ocean. Well, when they finally had enough of fighting, the two malgarn thought that maybe they should try looking for the boys.
“Come on, you go to the north side and I’ll go to the south side.” While they were looking, they sang a song in Yangkaal. “Danda gurra, danda gurra, danda gurra, danda gurra, danda gurra, danda gurra, danda gurra. Danda warrirr!”
After a while two malgarn still hadn’t found any sign of the two boys. They took off and flew over Robert Island and back to Forsyth Island in search of the boys. They landed on a sandbank at Marragadba, wandered around to the west and did durlda (shit) there. The people saw those malgarn in the west and quickly sent the boys to the east side. But then the malgarn went east too. “Here they are on the east side, wandering around. Hide the children, those boys. Hide them all!”
They did their best to hide the children, but the malgarn must have heard them, because next thing they flew over and landed right there in the middle of the people’s camp. The malgarn asked the people, “Are our good ones here? The ones who ran here a little while ago?” “We don’t have anyone,” the people replied. “Don’t hide them! Don’t hide them! yelled the malgarn. “Get my devil’s children! Get my children!”
The people were worried, so they bring out one little child to offer to the malgarn. “This is the one, right? This one?” “No, that one’s bad, he has a big stomach. That one’s yours, he’s bad.”
They brought out another child. “Is it this one?” “That one’s bad too. He’s bad, with a skinny body.”
They brought out two more children. “How about these two?” “No, those are your bad ones, leave them. Those are bad, they’ve got skinny bodies.”
They brought out two more children. “How about these two?” “No, those are your bad ones, leave them. Those are bad, they’ve got skinny bodies.” The malgarn explained exactly what they were looking for. Eventually the people were forced to bring out the two boys who had escaped from the devils’ net. “How about these two people?”
“Yes, those are ours,” the malgarn said. “Bring them up!” Well, the people weren’t so silly as to give their boys away that easily. “Righto!” said one of the men, “Before you take these boys, go over there and shake-a-leg.” The malgarn started to shake-a-leg, because by now they were ready to do anything to be able to eat those two delicious boys. But the people continued with their plan …
“Go on, put your legs wider apart,” they said. “Open your legs.” The two malgarn opened their legs wider still, and the men all speared them. The malgarn were writhing in pain. And then they flew straight up into the sky with the white spears sticking out behind them. And they kept on going up until they disappeared out of sight.
Photographer: MIART Mornington Island Art
Rise (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Amber Countryman, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: Fine black leather, cast sterling silver.
Dimensions: 4 x 26 x 23 cm
Artist Statement:
In this artwork I am acknowledging the situations I have let myself fall into simply by not standing my ground. I have formed a habit of keeping others happy, disregarding my own wellbeing and begging for approval. While I continue to build strength and know myself better, I am aware that habits are hard to break and I need to firm up personal boundaries. My solution is this stylish knee attire, using the fear of physical self-harm to prevent the inevitable emotional self-harm, made with these lavish materials to remind myself that I am worth it, that I am not here to play the submissive role any longer, I deserve better.
Photographer: Amber Countryman
The Blue Lion Spectacle (Vote for this Artwork)
Anitha Menon, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: Oil and paper on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 75 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Even the placid complacency of a regional home is not beyond the enchanting avatars of a make-believe world of consumerism. The scramble over some rare Lion King Ooshies like Blue Mufasa and Orange Simba last year had its ripple effect in Queensland too. Today, the market is king and consumer its slave. Too many offers, options and many dreams to sell – these aspects have led to market dominance on daily lives to the extent that consumer entitlement, judgement and wastage have become commonplace and a way of life in societies, big or small.
Decadence is chaos of thoughts and actions in a market-driven world… a state of trance, pleasure and carelessness…. decay starting from the roots…over influence of social media… a lack of care for the environment. It happens gradually… merging the virtual and customised world with the real, for kids and adults alike, and the King watches on.
Photographer: Anitha Menon
We are all looking for angels or something to hold onto (Vote for this Artwork)
Loralee Jade, 2020
Artist Location: Peregian Beach
Medium: Oil on linen
Dimensions: 91.44 x 60.96 x 3.8 cm
Artist Statement:
We are all looking for angels or something to hold onto’ was created from a combination of, a preference for what is beautiful and an endeavour to give sensation. A hope of solidifying feelings of one moment, in order to preserve and keep them from inevitable decay. However it takes more than just one moment to preserve the very heat and motion of life. ‘We are all looking for angels or something to hold onto’ is a woven few oscillating between forwards and backwards. At times it’s like a decaying hole or deterioration and other times it is clear, solid and moving forward. In the same way that things get worn or tarnished, the feet of statues when devotion calls for repetitive touch. Or photographs of warm dirty hues that are folded and unfolded. Or clothes getting worn in at the knees and elbows from hugging and bending. It is this tarnishing of love that through retreating back and pulling forward creates a foggy displacement. This beautiful process of decay is mirrored in the putting down just to take traces away. Rather than explicit somethings, ‘We are all looking for angels or something to hold onto’ is woven impressions and suggestions of decadent moments grasped and held together in place.
Photographer: Loralee Jade
Happy New Year (Vote for this Artwork)
Felicia Lloyd, 2020
Artist Location: Gladstone
Medium: Digital print
Dimensions: 84 x 60 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
Resolutions, reflections, and regrets – deflated gold balloons question the changing notion of excess and luxury. As the world shut down earlier this year, I tried to shut it out. When I came back, the words “I can’t breathe” played over and over. Without filter or warning I saw a young man die in his prison cell, then more die in the street. While people were angry about not having birthday cakes with candles, others were taking their last breath. This work marks a time when celebrations were missed, normal left and breathing became more important than gold. The passing of this time is best marked in slow, measured breaths… in and out… and the notion of second chances becomes the ultimate decadence… time to spare… start over… reconsider. Perhaps the greatest motivator is the realisation of time running out… What if there are no more “second chances?”
Photographer: Felicia Lloyd
Seriously-Decadent? (Vote for this Artwork)
Andrew Linklater, 2020
Artist Location: Kewarra Beach
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 120 x 60 x 6 cm
Artist Statement:
Decadence today seems very often to refer to wonderful visually-appealing, rich food, but it holds an association with an earlier lifestyle in a society steeped in class compared to today. That we can snub our noses at historical times or a child might indicate their displeasure of the past by tipping an ice cream on the head of an important person are in itself acts of decadence.
I have tried to capture this concept in a way which might make the viewer consider how far society has come.
Photographer: Andrew Linklater
The Bower Bird Collection (Vote for this Artwork)
Carmen Beezley-Drake, 2020
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: Acrylic, collage and found objects on canvas
Dimensions: 62 x 62 x 5 cm
Artist Statement:
Looking for inspiration outside the human experience to portray the theme Decadence, I felt the Bower bird fitted into this niche. It’s ritual display and excessive arrangement of collected objects during the mating season speaks to me of decadence.
The Bower bird is renowned for his decorated courtship ‘bower,’ an elaborate arrangement of found objects, highly decorated with objects scavenged from near and far. This eclectic display is entirely for the purpose of winning a female’s acceptance, and so these found objects become meaningful to the male Bower bird because of the purpose they serve.
The Spotted Bower bird Chlamydera maculate, collects mostly white, shiny objects. Shells, bones, glass, silver items are found in these elaborate bowers. The female sits waiting to make her judgement on his labour intensive and decadent offering. One could say both the female and the male Bower bird indulge in decadence with their courtship rituals.
Photographer: Carmen Beezley-Drake
Dawn of the dog {2} (Vote for this Artwork)
Paul Reynolds, 2020
Artist Location: Cooroy
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 120 x 20 cm
Artist Statement:
Every morning they come down from their gated communities and waterfront fortresses.
To sip lattes and frappes served by the lower 98 per cent. After lives in in the corporate banking and political worlds ,signing off on redundancies, asset stripping, acquiring the life savings of others and robbing asbestos victims.
They walk their pampered pooches carefully picking up their faeces. In a different but at the same time disturbingly similar to their past lives.
The style gives a nod to saucy british postcards of the 60s, while the title to G.A Romero’s cult zombie classic ‘Dawn of the dead’ While contemplating the work in relevance to the topic ‘Decadence.’ I thought it replete with metaphors, symbolism and more anologies than you could throw a stick for.
Photographer: Paul Reynolds
INDULGENCE (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Paula Bowie, 2020
Artist Location: Coolum Beach
Medium: Ceramic
Dimensions: 37 x 50 x 40 cm
Artist Statement:
Like a tranquil still life, this installation of ceramics vessels holds space beautifully.
Candle holders,fruit bowl and wine decanter are a reminder of times of decadence and and celebration….sensual and luxurious. Keep looking and you can imagine draping grapes,a splash of red wine, dim candle light and laughter.
These vessels are wheel thrown with white stoneware clay, mid fired , then finished indulgently with a touch of gold.
Photographer: Paula Bowie
Turquoise Tides (Vote for this Artwork)
Rosie Lloyd-Giblett, 2020
Artist Location: Noosaville
Medium: Acrylic on board
Dimensions: 120 x 92 x 8 cm
Artist Statement:
Over the last few months we have spent a lot of time in our local areas, my location is the Sunshine Coast. My current works have been based around the theme…Somewhere not far from home. This particular work “Turquoise Tides” tries to capture the colors of the ocean floor and the decadence of swimming. You feel a sense of freedom when you watch light reflect through the water and feel the lull of the waves. Our lives have been essentially “Locked Down” in emotion and contact with loved ones who live afar. I have felt guilty with my pleasure of swimming in the salt water but I am thankful for mother nature.
Photographer: Tonia Cecil
Page 354 (Vote for this Artwork)
Kristen Flynn, 2020
Artist Location: Chinchilla
Medium: Giclee print on canson rag
Dimensions: 80 x 50.8 x 0.2 cm
Artist Statement:
Baroque paintings are complexly excessive. They are visually decadent as they indulge in movement, colour and drama. In my self-portrait ‘Page 354′, I have layered part of Peter Paul Rubens’ Baroque painting ‘Education of Maria’ over my face to create numerous and complex layers of meaning. Rubens’ image was taken from an art book I had laying on my kitchen table; it prompted me to think about how many ‘snapshots’ of female identity where living in my house. Compositionally, Queen Marie de’ Medici is central to my face, with two of her three Graces which symbolise fertility and beauty, either side. I have constructed an expression of power in the face of art’s troublesome history of the female nude, and history’s obsession with females beauty and ability to reproduce. My skin becomes a statement of specious visual decadence.
Photographer: Kristen Flynn
Pandora
Ange Venardos, 2020
Artist Location: Bribie Island
Medium: Watercolour
Dimensions: 110 x 100 x 10 cm
Artist Statement:
Where is the line between luxury and greed?
In Greek Mythology, Pandora let her curiosity get the better of her and opened ‘the box’. Her choice unleashed many evils into our world and triggered complicated problems. My painting tells the story of where Decadence begins – that point where we choose to plunge into an existence beyond what we need to live comfortably day by day.
It is a reminder that everything is linked. Our choices and actions may seem inconsequential, but affect the world in ways we might not even imagine.
Photographer: Ange Venardos
Evanescent (Vote for this Artwork)
Josie Birchall, 2020
Artist Location: Ropeley
Medium: Oil on wood
Dimensions: 92 x 92 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
There have been no flowers in my garden, not for years. And in these times of drought, water is used sparingly on the veggies. Purchasing a bunch of flowers from the supermarket is an act of pure self-indulgence. It’s not something I do often as I always feel guilty for doing so. It seems such a waste of money considering flowers would not be deemed a ‘necessity’ during a pandemic, and also especially since within days, the flowers wilt, die and are then gone for good. Therefore, to quote female Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954) – “I paint flowers so they will not die”.
Photographer: Josie Birchall
Deconstruction (Vote for this Artwork)
Priscilla Warren, 2020
Artist Location: Cedar Creek
Medium: Mixed medium on board
Dimensions: 120 x 90 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
We’ve been scorched
We’ve become world weary
The filters of self indulgence
And social media
Have peeled away
We’ve seen, we can’t unsee
We’ve lived a decadent lifestyle
And came through the other side
The self reflection is harsh
We don’t want to move back
And yet we have no
Certainty of what’s ahead.
Photographer: Priscilla Warren
The rose-coloured glass she was looking through
Hannah Murray, 2020
Artist Location: South Townsville
Medium: Mixed media on watercolour paper
Dimensions: 64 x 53 x 0.31 cm
Artist Statement:
Created using a selection of drawing and painting media my work is from an ongoing series titled Happy Hour. With origins as far back as Shakespeare, the words ‘happy’ and ‘hour’ have appeared together for centuries and used to reference designated periods of drinking, entertainment and pleasurable times. ‘Happy Hour’ in tropical paradise is the absolute epitome of decadence in hedonistic Western society. The exotic allure of North Queensland is no exception. Promoted as being “no place like it on Earth,” holidaymakers are enticed to “escape to luxe island hideaways and indulgent retreats.”
The aim of my work is to challenge the treacherous duality of “Happy Hour” by asking viewers to look beyond the rose-coloured glass and consider the consequences of such fleeting pleasures. My greatest concern is that in our insatiable pursuit for happiness we are inadvertently contributing to the demise of already fragile environmental and cultural systems.
Photographer: Hannah Murray
Decadence
Angela Heffer, 2020
Artist Location: Kawana
Medium: Digital illustration
Dimensions: 35 x 35 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
The first thing I thought about when I read the title ‘Decadence,’ was an overindulgence in fine food. Immediately, I pictured a group of women I had seen enjoying themselves at a local cafe prior to the COVID-19 social restrictions being enforced. I had made a sketch at the time, so with a little imagination I embellished the scene to show two ladies of the ‘Red hat’ society partaking in a high tea.
Older women in rural and regional Australia have collectively experienced a lot of hard times and grief. They have also volunteered many hours helping those less fortunate than themselves. For these reasons, I believe they deserve a little decadence in their lives.
My digital illustration was made by drawing with an Apple Pencil on iPad Pro. I used a 6mm fine black tip then filled in the shapes with solid, decadent colours using the illustrator application.
Photographer: Angela Heffer
societatem ab intus putrescit (Vote for this Artwork)
Cara-Ann Simpson, 2020
Artist Location: Toogoom
Medium: Pigment print on Ilford gold fibre gloss rag
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
societatem ab intus putrescit (society rots from the inside) is from Furari Flores (Stealing Flowers) – a series of vanitas artworks exploring ephemerality and societal decay.
This series acts as a nexus between commentary on personal challenges and an outward interpretation of global news. They are an ironic reminder of the innate beauty found simultaneously in decadence and decay.
A nod to the Victorian symbol of jealousy and momento mori post-mortem photography, ?societatem ab intus putrescit? reflects our society and the inherent decadence and selfishness of individual acts leading to rot and decay. I am not innocent, and have often chosen the convenient, accessible or affordable option, rather than review my daily choices to reflect my ethical beliefs.
This work also symbolises my health – that visually I often appear vibrant, while my inner workings continue to degenerate as my neurological illness wreaks unseen havoc. My work often incorporates spectrographs (visual analysis of soundwaves), and this one is found sparkling in the lower petals – imperfectly perfect.
Photographer: Cara-Ann Simpson
Life’s Necessities
Second Image of Artwork
Joanne Taylor, 2020
Artist Location: Barcaldine
Medium: Paper pulp, box board, tissue, wax crayon, acrylic, silver leaf
Dimensions: 14 x 10 x 47 cm
Artist Statement:
Toilet paper more than any other commodity sums up for me, what’s important to ordinary people in the modern era. We all need it daily regardless of our socio-economic circumstances and it is available to everyone as required. Yet it is often the most stolen of items during tourist season in outback towns, perhaps because of its relative low value, and the perceived inability to police it’s theft.
The Corona virus crisis of 2020 has brought our first-world priorities into sharp focus in the most extraordinary way. Travel restrictions have curbed the tourist season in the outback – no “grey nomads” in their caravans. This work “Life’s Necessities,” seeks to remind us how lucky we’ve been during an era of prolonged prosperity and relative peace. Sometimes we completely lose sight of things of real necessity, of much more importance to earlier generations during times of privation.
Photographer: Donna merchant
Liquid Gold (Vote for this Artwork)
Stephanie Allen, 2020
Artist Location: Mia Mia
Medium: Textile
Dimensions: 36.5 x 35 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
Is there anything quite like the rich, sticky, golden liquid flowing from a fresh honeycomb lifted out of the hive? Dripping with sweetness agonisingly produced by our precious bees. Simply Decadent. Gold is decadent; honey is a natural liquid gold. In our household honey is quite literally ‘Liquid Gold’ – a delicacy and most enjoyable when supplied fresh by a local. I believe Honey will be seen as a most decadent indulgence with the current decline in the bee population if environmental factors and some current farming practices remain without change. This art piece is made as a small textile quilt. The main layer is gold rice paper with a gold tule like fabric layer to replicate the honeycomb. I’ve used a gold spotted organza for the exaggerated size honeycomb shapes. The bees are made from Australian merino wool and a mix of fabrics and fibres with thread painting.
Photographer: Stephanie Allen
Pause
View Video Artwork
Renee Yates, 2019
Artist Location: East Ipswich
Medium: Animation
Dimensions: Variable cm
Artist Statement:
Pause (2019) reflects the decadent nature of seeking stillness in a society that so often venerates the busy. A moving-image streetscape, the work invites viewers to “take a pause” and explore the intricacies of the world that are often missed in the hustle and bustle of modern life. Made in a pre-COVID world, the image’s audio-visual elements, comprising of field recordings and subtle animation of clouds, planes, birds, chimney smoke, flickering lights and falling jacaranda blooms, pull the viewers into the decadence of standing still in a suburban world. On process: a series of hand cut painted paper collages, photographs, and pastel and charcoal strokes were digitised and arranged then animated then brought to life with a field recording of Queensland suburbia.
Photographer: Renee Yates
High Tea (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Barbara Stephenson, 2020
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: Textiles
Dimensions: 25 x 50 x 52 cm
Artist Statement:
Nothing says decadent pleasure and fun quite like the timeless ritual of a high tea. We frock up elegantly and sip champagne. Time stands still and food is elevated to an art form. Centuries ago, the ingredients of tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar and spice brought by explorers and traders from distant exotic lands to pique jaded palates. Sumptuary laws ensured these luxuries remained the decadent pleasure of the rich and influential. Today they have become an addictive everyday pleasure and their increased production is detrimental to the natural habitats of rainforests, reefs.
I have wrapped and twisted strips of discarded blankets and clothing until the soft yielding fabric takes on solid dense forms. Reminiscent perhaps of a childhood dolls’ tea party. Are they food or flowers? Cake or coral? The sugary pastel colour palette is dominated by white, reflecting on the dying beauty of bleaching coral.
Another slice of cake anyone?
Photographer: Allan Lisle
Decadence Ruins (Vote for this Artwork)
Chelle McIntyre, 2020
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: Disgarded plywood and oak veneer assemblage with wax
Dimensions: 70 x 80 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
Humans maintain a rage against nature through demand and desire, a hungry appetite fed by the machine that rumbles on, making money out of making stuff. Environment is under pressure yet we persevere in the pursuit for more, forsaking the natural world for industrial progress and material prosperity. As a horticulturalist, I have been moved by changes in our weather systems and the on-going disrespect for trees, our aquifers and their contribution to planet. 2019 was another dry time in my region, without rain old established trees were dying and the hottest season ended in the new year’s summer of fires across the country. Nature and forests are my true decadence, an escape from a hectic, manufactured world to another where the wealth of life and growth perhaps may soon be rare and then finally appreciated. This memory of trees was salvaged from processed, discarded wood.
Photographer: Don Hildred
Grandma’s Gravy Boat (Vote for this Artwork)
Grant Quinn, 2020
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Digital photograph
Dimensions: 30 x 30 x 1 cm
Artist Statement:
What started as a gesture of kindness, a simple gravy boat, handed down to me from my grandmother. Little was I to know, that this simple gravy boat would begin my journey and decadent obsession of becoming a collector. Having lived and worked throughout Regional Qld from Goondiwindi to Blackwater to Ipswich, Grandma’s Gravy boat was always with me. Reminding me of my need to explore thrift stores, op shops, antique stores and more. Searching for that elusive piece that finishes a collection, or starts a new one. Pieces that tell a story. Stories of family, of love, of tragedy, of life, and like the memories I have of my grandmother and her white gravy boat with the navy blue stripe.
Photographer: Grant Quinn
Redemption Series – Echidna
Deborah Mostert, 2019
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 103 x 76 x 3 cm
Artist Statement:
I picked up this little female echidna after she was hit by a car and took her back to the studio to both mourn her passing and try to redeem her death. I drew and painted her over a day or so before taking her to the Queensland Museum where she will prepared as a study skin for the collection. When there is decadence in our society it seems it is so often at the expense of the natural world.
I have inverted the traditional museum cloche with it’s attendant practices of killing animals for specimens and hinted at the redemptive threads that bind all living creatures.
We no longer shoot animals for our museum collections, but we probably kill many more in wanton carelessness.
Photographer: Deborah Mostert
King Of the Toilet Rolls and His Golden Bowl (Vote for this Artwork)
Second Image of Artwork
Kerry Sanders, 2020
Artist Location:
Medium: Ceramic, gold leaf, wood and paper
Dimensions: 50 x 40 x 40 cm
Artist Statement:
I have been inspired by the community response during the COVID-19 Pandemic and used this to guide my work to express ‘Decadence.’ I want to make a statement on the ‘first-world problems,’ that we live with and often refer to in Australia. Specifically, I was amazed at people’s reaction to buying up toilet paper ultimately creating a shortage. Showing the toilet roll as a decadent, but precious household item seems appropriate. The Toilet Roll became so rare and sort after in resent months, it rose to a Regal status. I used Gold Leaf on the crown and ceramic bowl to create a whimsical sculpture relating to community and its obsession with access to toilet paper and the decadent roll it played. Of course, the toilet has often also been referred to as a ‘throne’ and it’s history as a ceramic bowl is well known!
Photographer: Kerry Sanders
hoc est pulchritudinem – ac interitus et exitium
Cara-Ann Simpson, 2020
Artist Location: Toogoom
Medium: Pigment print on Ilford gold fibre gloss rag
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
hoc est pulchritudinem – ac interitus et exitium (this is the beauty – their destruction and decay) is from Furari Flores (Stealing Flowers) – a series of vanitas artworks exploring ephemerality and societal decay.
This series acts as a nexus between commentary on personal challenges and an outward interpretation of global news. They are an ironic reminder of the innate beauty found simultaneously in decadence and decay.
Photographed on black velvet and digitally arranged to evoke concepts inherent in medieval funerary art, this work describes the inevitable decay of life – a flower decomposing from the moment of separation from its life-giver. The spectrograph (visual analysis of soundwaves) reads the title – a reminder that while there is much beauty in the transient commodities that we immerse ourselves within, they, like life, will pass and may lead to self-destruction and demise.
Photographer: Cara-Ann Simpson
Just for the Taste of it. (Vote for this Artwork)
Jamian Stayt, 2020
Artist Location: Andergrove
Medium: Coal, Resin and Danger Tape
Dimensions: 20 x 17 x 9 cm
Artist Statement:
The small indulgences we have daily, the one’s at the time that may seem insignificant, could these be classed as decadent?
For instance, the daily ritual of engaging that one-off single use individual.
Does the consequence of our deliberate disregard to its life cycle emote decadence?
What If we multiply the above act?
Does it now invite notions of luxury and self-indulgence at the expense of a mother?
To help address these questions please find my work “Just for the Taste of it.” Utilising the elements of Coal, Resin and Danger Tape I aim to highlight an environmental decadence.
Yet; I also can’t help but think.
By utilising these elements could this also be classed as decadent to the artist?
Could my self-indulgence in satisfying a creative taste also fall into the realms of excess or wastefulness?
Or can I justify their use as a promotion of the greater message?
Photographer: Jamian Stayt
Your Reflection (Vote for this Artwork)
Karena, Siu Nga Ip, 2019
Artist Location: Cairns
Medium: Watercolour on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 76 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
The Artist presents “Your Reflection” with Australian proud – World Natural Heritage Area, the Great Barrier Reef as the background.
Finger corals of the same tone represent thousands of tourists, while expressing how human desire dominates this place, dominates the fate of the innocent future generation in their own hands.
The Artist has begun to explore the Great Barrier Reef since 2012 and witnessed the decadence in our eco-system and the changes of the underwater-environment of the reef. Hoping to awaken the empathy among ourselves. We have destroyed the habitats of one species after another because of our living style and needs. Forgotten mankind is just one of the passers-by on the Earth, not its owner.
The Artist has drawn her inspiration from one of her Dive at Norman Reef (approx.70-80km from Cairns), the Great Barrier Reef.
Photographer: Karena, Siu Nga Ip
the roll of the future (Vote for this Artwork)
Karen Johns, 2019
Artist Location: Kyoomba
Medium: watercolour
Dimensions: 31 x 41 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
My favourite model is my quoll skull which I set up in my lounge room with a lot of other dead animal and plant material. I played with the light and the settings looking for an idea and then it stuck me… a toilet roll grabbed from the bathroom and placed in the skull’s mouth. What else could be more symbolic of the times today?
This day I wanted colour to brighten up life in isolation. I allowed the watercolour to run around the masking to make the harshness of the skull and the delicacy of the butterfly. Wildlife forgotten in a COVID-19 world where obsession with toilet paper left climate change far away as little covids float around the world. In one hundred years’ time will the decadence of toilet paper stock piling be remembered? Will anything be around to remember?
Photographer: Karen Johns
The Sweet Fermentation (Vote for this Artwork)
View Video Artwork
Rosi Griffin, 2020
Artist Location: Mermaid Beach
Medium: Video
Dimensions: Variable
Artist Statement:
The principal theme of my work is based on the domestic home. I explore the physical and psychological consequences of urban development and the demolition of homes in the suburbs. Domestic life behind our four walls, the sense of security we feel or the dread and suffering from phobias or isolation, is also of great interest to me.
In the video “The Sweet Fermentation” I focus on an old domestic tradition of starting a yeast culture to produce a sickly sweet decadent saffron desert. The mixture changes throughout the process and invokes images relating to bile and bodily fluids as the colour changes from yellow to a yellow/green. The choice of yellow stands for happiness, energy and optimism, but is also associated with cowardice and deceit. The video is symbolic for domestic rituals, offerings and celebration but also has the underlying threat of causing us uncomfortable sensations, just like a decadent desert.
Photographer: Rosi Griffin
Youth Category – Click on individual images to view and vote
Over Indulging (Vote for this Artwork)
View Video Artwork
Rosie Wild, 2020
Artist Location: Mackay
Medium: Stop motion animation
Dimensions: Variable
Artist Statement:
Cream cake on a Sunday – pure decadence, self-indulging in the light fluffy layers, one slice after another. My work takes a critical view on contemporary and personal issues. Often females are pressured by media to conform to the ideal 21st-century body, by tv and media advertising diets and exercise equipment; consequently making many girls feel as though they are unable to enjoy the decadent things in life. Whilst I struggle to conform to these ideal expectations, I often find myself avoiding these decadent treats, then soon over indulging in cakes and sweets.
Photographer: Rosie Wild
A Time Before
Edwin Hamill, 2020
Artist Location: Buderim
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 120 x 4 cm
Artist Statement:
Humans are social creatures, we grow up together, entertain each other and form bonds together. The ability to interact with each other in a public space has previously been a privilege that was taken for granted until recent world events. My work “A time Before” focuses on that lack of interaction and our isolation due to quarantine, the decadence of social interaction is now a hope rather than something we once experienced as a social norm. Depicted is a scene with dancers, rich drinks and a line of attendees, nowhere to be seen is a mask or any PPE as we were indulging in what, until recently, was a normal weekend activity. A simplified pallet has been used in order to represent the richness of the scene and portray our previous societal norms as something the we indulged in, unknowingly within weeks it would become a privilege.
Photographer: Edwin Hamill
Torn (Vote for this Artwork)
Rubi Cheesman, 2020
Artist Location: Mackay
Medium: Etching with acrylic paint
Dimensions: 100 x 90 x 0.5 cm
Artist Statement:
“Torn” underlines the overall idea of privilege in today’s 21st century, in which we are constantly overindulging in unnecessary items. This growing decadence is seen in the food we eat, the clothes, cars, and electronics we consume. We may self-consciously be aware of our consumption, yet so many of us still fall into these old habits. The colours in the art piece represent the distractions and attractions luring me into decadence. This constant tension between overindulgence and denial is shown on the distorted lines of my face. These distortions represent opposing emotions, an illustration of what it feels like to be pulled in all directions between my morals and old habits.
Photographer: Rubi Cheesman
Worth the cost?
Erin McKenna, 2020
Artist Location: Erakala
Medium: Digital photograph
Dimensions: 20.3 x 25.5 x 0.1 cm
Artist Statement:
In response to the theme of decadence, I had decided to respond with a piece focused on how too much decadence can be a negative thing. ‘Worth the cost?’ is a photograph based on plastic surgery and Botox. Indulging in these procedures can lead to regret and a loss of one’s identity. In order to communicate this, I had used red shades from the eyeshadow, lipstick and syringe as a symbol of power, wealth and the mental and physical dangers involved with these procedures. The blue background was used in order to create a medical vibe to the image. By having the hand on her cheek, the feeling of her insecurities about her looks is conveyed. The placement of her eyes in the middle matched with the sunken features created by brown eyeshadow further communicates her despair.
Photographer: Erin McKenna