Last month, Platform Youth Arts revealed the details of their ‘Brackets Art Prize’ competition, the region’s only Contemporary Art Prize specifically for emerging artists.
Open to any artist living and working in the City of Greater Geelong and surrounds aged 16 – 26, entrants were required to construct a monument or performance that speaks to 2020 using found materials, items from home, or their body as primary material and source. They were to then install their monument, or perform their action at home or a public space, and then using the medium of video, they had to document the action, decay or destruction of that monument.
The idea was to encourage artists to respond to the monumentality of the times and create artworks that can be shown on an online space, keeping with social distancing protocols.
With a number of inspired entries, Platform Youth Arts has today revealed the winners of the 2020 Brackets Art Prize.
Local creative duo Kiera Varrese and Isaiah Cirillo were awarded the $1000 first prize for their video work ‘Analogue Musings’, a short film that explores events during 2020 and the cynicism amplified by self-isolation. It features a spoken monologue that was inspired by Kiera and Isaiah’s own diary entries and observations during isolation.
Sophia D’Urso was awarded second prize and $500 for her performance film ‘A message to young people’, while Miranda Jarvis’ ‘Shadow Dance’ came in third, awarding her with $250. Entries by Christy Chudosnik and Ebony Macpherson were also highly commended by the Platform Youth Arts team.
“The Brackets Art Prize is unique in that it is an opportunity for artists to go beyond the competition and connect in an ongoing way with our mentors, youth arts community and development programs,” explains Platform Youth Arts curator Amber Smith.
“It’s exciting to see young, local artists experiment with different ways of making art and collaborating with each other. Young creatives are rising to the challenges they face, and creating art at home from nothing but ideas and everyday materials. We look forward to re-opening our galleries and performance spaces in the future, and providing a physical hub and community for these emerging artists.”
Congratulations to all artists involved in this year’s competition! You can watch the short films and learn more about these up-and-coming artists on the Platform Arts website.
You can view more from these artists via their Instagram’s below:
Kiera Varrese: @chaotiic_good
Isaiah Cirillo: @isaiahcir
Sophia D’Urso: @sophiadurso_
Miranda Jarvis: @mirandajj_
Feature photo from the winning video work ‘Analogue musings,’ by Kiera Varese and Isaiah Cirillo.
