St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove Year 12 graduates have taken out two of the three main awards in the 2017 Clancy Prize.
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The religious art prize is open to students in Years 7 to 12 at schools within the Archdiocese of Sydney, run by Sydney Catholic Schools.
The theme for the 2017 prize was a quote from Pope Francis: “A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just”.
Refugees, asylum seekers, soldiers, and the homeless were depicted in many of the 59 works featured at this year’s exhibition.
The exhibition, and prize giving, was held at Australian Catholic University’s McGlade Gallery in Strathfield.
Jessica Saify received the prestigious Brian Jordan Award during the prize giving last week with $1000 prize money for her work Hereafter, an exploration of life after death made of perspex, plastic, feathers and white paint, and suspended with fishing line.
“It was a long process and there was a lot of trial and error,” Jessica said of the sculpture which was also her HSC Visual Arts major work last year.
“It’s meant to represent the afterlife and a body drifting in clouds suspended. I feel that it is showing mercy just by being at peace.”
Lavinia Mahoney received the Monsignor Tony Doherty Award with $500 prize money for Threads & Laces, a tribute to her grandmother who migrated from Lebanon.
The detailed work includes a book that features hand-stitched textiles and complements family portraits sketched with pencil and charcoal.
“Everything in the book was her threads and laces because she was into sewing and textiles,” Lavinia said.
“I wanted to create something that showed her journey from Lebanon to Australia, then raising a family. I think the theme of mercy is a good theme. It links up to every drawing in a different way and shows mercy in everyday life.”
The other big award given out at the prize giving was the Executive Directors Award which went to Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich Year 12 graduate Piper Hillyer.
A collaborative work by St John Bosco College Engadine Year 10 students picked up one of the smaller awards, one of three ACU School of Arts Awards.