Kiacatoo’s Kelly Mackey is a finalist in the prestigious National Capital Art Prize.
The annual National Capital Art Prize is the first Australia-wide competition for paintings of any subject. The 2022 National Capital Art Prize Finalist Public Exhibition will be held at the Fitters’ Workshop in Canberra from September to October. There are three sections – Open, Sustainably and First Nations, with the winner for each category to receive $15,000. Artworks made using oil, acrylic, watercolour, mixed media and pencil are part of the 2022 event.
Kelly, a talented Mosaic Artist, has entered ‘Floral Rebirth’ in the Sustainability category of the competition and is hoping the local community will vote for her creative piece in the ‘People’s Choice Award’ section. The community has until 11 September to make their vote count – head to www.nationalartprize.com.au/contestants/floral-rebirth/ to support Kelly.
She has described her entry as: “My art practice utilises discarded crockery destined for landfill and explores the seemingly unforgiving nature of the tesserae. By manipulating and reimagining rigid forms to create detailed and organic pieces, audiences are drawn into my work, and are encouraged to explore the textures and forms through touch. As nature regenerates from destruction, so too the broken and once loved pieces of crockery in my works are reborn and transformed into treasured artworks to be enjoyed now and into the future.”
According to www.nationalartprize.com.au “Sustainability is the balance between the environment, equity, and economy.”
“It is defined as: “the integration of environmental health, social equity and economic vitality in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse and resilient communities for this generation and generations to come.”
This is a new category for the National Capital Art Prize. It is based on “the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. The agenda outlines a set of goals the world is working toward achieving,” www.nationalartprize.com.au said.
“The works must reflect the areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.”
In this category artists were able to base their works on one or more of the 17 UN goals – no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions, and partnerships for the goals.
Works could be in any medium including but not limited to original painting, drawing, photography, digital art, sculpture etc.
Ms Mackay is the creator of Mac_mosaics, a business venture with over 7,000 followers and many happy clients across Eastern Australia.
It started from humble beginnings, when the drought had a stranglehold on the area. Her interest in art spurred her to follow her passions and create extra income in the extremely challenging times of drought.
“Mac_mosaics was born in August 2019,” Kelly explained to Condobolin Argus in 2021.
“After struggling through a third straight year of debilitating drought on the farm, I turned my creative passion into a viable and growing business. Reusing colourful second hand crockery, I create bespoke mosaics featuring intricate images of iconic Australian birds and flowers.
“After I’ve sourced my crockery and/or tiles I begin cutting. Every piece is hand cut and shaped. I source a lot of my crockery from op shops. I have lovely people contacting me through social media donating their treasured family crockery also. There are also some great local people who also source me materials.
“Once the work starts taking shape it’s all glued. Then when it has had enough time to dry I then proceed to grout followed by the cleaning.
“If it wasn’t for the drought I would never have got this opportunity. Between feeding sheep and cattle I was looking for a distraction. This led to me creating my first mosaic. Then I discovered crockery as a material to use, I was hooked.”
Each piece Kelly creates can take around 40 hours to complete depending on the size.
In order to ensure the success of her business, Kelly has made extensive investments including home studio; advertising material including logo design, and stationery; specialty mosaicking tools, equipment and materials; a storage system; a purpose built delivery case; and a new utility vehicle for deliveries.
One of the most unique aspects of Kelly’s business is the fact she and her partner personally deliver each completed piece to the client.
“When I sold my first mosaic, which I was absolutely thrilled about, I researched freight companies, carefully packaged the work up, and shipped it off,” she said in 2021.
“Once delivered however, it was discovered that the work was damaged in transit. After discovering what had happened my partner and I drove the 650km to Sydney to pick it up, bring it home and fix it, before personally delivering it back to the purchaser in Sydney.
“Consequently, as part of my business model, I personally deliver each work, to ensure complete customer satisfaction. This is especially important to me, as the purchasers are buying the work from a photograph on my Facebook or Instagram page, rather than from a traditional gallery. The goodwill and gratitude this has created, from my very first customer, has been an important element of my business success.”
Remember, residents can vote by heading to www.nationalartprize.com.au/contestants/floral-rebirth/