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Art Competition Gallery 2016
Welcome to the Life in Death gallery! These artworks were entered in Palliative Care Australia’s art competition earlier in 2016. Hover over an artwork to learn more about it.
We received 82 entries, of which, 34 were chosen to exhibit at an art gallery in Canberra. Life in Death was a vibrant and creative exhibition that celebrated life as well as the role death plays in shaping it.
The winners are:
Overall winner – ‘Christening Shroud’ by Anzara Clark.
People’s Choice winner – ‘Ashkeeper’ by Ashley Fiona.
Palliative Care ACT winner – ‘Flight’ by Barbara van der Linden.
Thank you to all the entrants and those who attended the exhibition!
My mothers's gift
By Margaret Ambridge
Drawing
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It seems a terrible thing to cut your own mother’s hair off. I struggle with images of women, bald, accused of sleeping with the enemy, having their hair cut off, of punishment, prostitution. Punishment for having cancer, punishment for chasing a cure… But as my mother said to me “there are some things in life Margaret where you have no choice…feel the lump Margaret, so you know what it feels like, just in case”.
Ashkeeper
By Ashley Fiona
Photograph
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I create porcelain Ashkeepers to help families celebrate those loved and lost. The motivation behind my porcelain creations draws inspiration from my personal journey of love and loss. I was only 13 when my mother died. I still remember the plastic container that held her ashes. It was unsightly and unrefined, everything she wasn’t. I wanted to create a beautiful vessel to nourish the soul through memory - An outcome of my own personal healing, an Ashkeeper is designed to do just that. Ashkeepers bring life to the sadness of death and encourage us to cherish positive memories forever.
Irrepressible fragility
By Sally Mikosza
Photograph
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Love and reverence expressed by gentle hands held in incidental heart shape, knowing that the freshly emerged beauty held therein will not last long, noted as in the already fallen fragrant frangipani flower in the background. Nevertheless, this is an image of fleeting but exhilarating simple joys repeated throughout life, always ending in non-negotiable finality of death, yet always re-occurring. A pattern of chaos. A picture of joy and delight, wisdom and appreciation.
For sale: baby shoes, never worn
By Rachel Rizk
Object
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Within the casket-shaped shoe box lie two tiny soles; tangible vestiges of a soul who will never walk the earth. There will be life in death. The parents’ love is boundless. Their child will live on in their handful of memories and unspoken dreams. And the tiny shoes will soon cocoon the feet of another adored infant.
Under the Cedar Limbs
By Bronwyn Ward
Drawing
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This work is a musing on the poem "Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird" by Walter Stevens. It moves from right to left, with each blackbird experiencing a different point in the acceptance of dying. Some are looking back in reflection, others are angry, one wants to run away. The final one on the left looks defiantly ahead, at peace and ready for what awaits after death. This work flows from my many years experience working in palliative care with both patients and families as a Complementart Therapist.
Darkness and Light
By Paulina van der Linden
Photograph
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I had the privilege of spending the night at hospital with my mother one night before she died. She had been in a coma for two months, ravaged by a viral infection slowly destroying her brain. Her strong body fought so very hard to live. On that night I brought in my paper lantern lights to create a softer environment. It was a strange night, whenever I looked at her I found her staring intensely at me. I felt so close to her and can only hope I brought her some comfort.