Locals Have Spoken: These Are the Northern Beaches’ Favourite Environmental Artworks

Nearly 3000 votes, 170 finalists and three very different works of art.

The public has had its say on this year’s Environmental Art & Design Prize, choosing an ocean-inspired work that seems to float from the wall, a rather ominous ticking rock and a beautifully simple graphite drawing inspired by a family holiday.

The People’s Choice winners have now been announced, with Kristy Gordon taking out the Art category for Three Water Drawings, Manly’s Christian Roth winning Design for Time is Ticking, and young Belrose artist Victoria Dupuit claiming the Young Artist & Designer award for The Frog Rock.

Each winner takes home $1000, but perhaps the more interesting part is what caught the public’s attention.

An ode to the ocean

Ettalong artist Kristy Gordon’s Three Water Drawings began with something many of us on the Beaches know well: time spent in the ocean.

Created from digital drawings printed onto hand-shaped acrylic, the three transparent pieces sit away from the wall in handmade brass cradles, almost like bubbles suspended in space.

Kristy builds her drawings from the fleeting things she notices and feels while swimming and snorkelling, layering light, form and repetitive marks to capture something that is usually impossible to hold onto.

The result is described as an ode to the ocean, with the works becoming “watery vessels holding time, experience and memory”.

Kristy’s wider practice explores our connection with wild places and the ocean through drawing, sculpture and installation, while her PhD research looks at drawing water and the idea of “slow art” in an increasingly fast world.

Time is ticking

Manly artist Christian Roth’s winning work is considerably less serene.

Time is Ticking combines basalt rock, brass, gold leaf and electronic components to deliver a pretty direct message about what we’re doing to the planet.

A crack through the rock represents the first fractures appearing in our environment, with lava seemingly ready to reclaim the world.

For Christian, the concern is deeply personal.

Born in Switzerland, he remembers the oil crisis of the 1970s and the acid rain crisis of the 1980s, which damaged forests in the Swiss Alps and left him acutely aware of environmental issues and his own footprint.

After studying engineering, Christian moved to Australia in 1990 and now uses that engineering background in his art, working with wood, stone and metal to combine sculpture with movement.

The rock that looked like a frog

Then there’s possibly the sweetest story of the three.

Belrose student artist Victoria Dupuit didn't need a grand environmental moment to inspire The Frog Rock. She found it beside an Airbnb while away with her family.

As they explored, the family decided the rock formation looked like a frog resting in the landscape. What could easily have remained a funny holiday observation instead became the inspiration for Victoria’s detailed graphite drawing.

Using layers of shading to capture the texture, shadows and changing light across the rocks, Victoria turned that shared family memory into a study of the way imagination changes what we see in the natural world.

Her work primarily uses graphite and pencil and explores realism, memory and place, finding stories in landscapes and ordinary moments that might otherwise pass us by.

And clearly, something about this particular frog struck a chord with visitors.

Almost 3000 votes

This year’s Environmental Art & Design Prize brought together 170 finalist works across Manly Art Gallery & Museum and Curl Curl Creative Space, with almost 3000 votes cast in the People’s Choice Awards.

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said the response showed the ability of art and design to connect people with environmental issues.

“The People’s Choice Awards are a wonderful reminder of how art and design can connect people with important environmental issues,” she said.

“Congratulations to this year’s People’s Choice Awards winners and to every finalist who has helped inspire discussion, reflection and new ideas for a more sustainable future.”

And if nearly 3000 other people have already picked their favourites, you might as well go and see whether you agree.

If you haven't seen the exhibition yet, there is one last chance. The Environmental Art & Design Prize wraps up today, Sunday 20 September, with both Manly Art Gallery & Museum and Curl Curl Creative Space open from 10am to 5pm.