Finalists selected for 2023 Castaway Sculpture Awards

Rockingham Foreshore will again come alive in October with the annual Castaways Sculpture exhibition.

Entries have been finalised with more than 60 sculptures selected to adorn the foreshore and Rockingham Arts Centre from October 21 to 29.

The Awards will feature $27,000 in non-acquisitive prizes for artists, including the $10,000 Alcoa Major Award.

This year Catia Dolzadelli reflects on psychological misadventure through her work, In Case of Emergency, an exquisite suitcase created from aluminium offcuts.  

Coster Mkoki’s work, A Labour of Love 2, describes his unflinching willpower, putting one foot in front of the other, as he works to bring his family in South Africa to Australia.

Linda Rae, the very first artist from Kalgoorlie to be selected for Castaways, sends imploring environmental messages, whispered on the wind by Mother Earth, in Iris – Messenger of the Gods.   

At the Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Paul Fontanini celebrates the hidden beauty in nature’s decay, casting molten aluminium into a rotted, hollow jarrah log in Casting with Nature – Hollow Jarrah Fragment 1.

Using upcycled aluminium and stainless-steel cookware and electrics, Lisa Dymond has created This Feels Tight, a quirky figure seemingly trapped by its own electric light head. 

For the fourth year, Castaways has a guest artist, a move designed to encourage an exchange of knowledge between more experienced artists and emerging artists.

Denise Pepper will be the guest artist for 2023 and her work is seen in both outdoor sculpture and gallery shows.

She is the recipient of a raft of prizes both in Australia and overseas, and in 2021 was one of just 13 people selected from across the country to participate in the TV series Making It Australia on Network 10. 

Castaways also aims to encourage environmentalism in future generations, with primary schools and secondary schools featuring in the Castaways Schools Exhibition.

Mayor Deb Hamblin said Castaways highlights the City’s strong commitment to recycling and its growing reputation as a centre of cultural activity.

“Castaways provides artists with a platform to highlight their creative abilities and there will be 63 sculptures on display at the Rockingham Foreshore and Rockingham Arts Centre,” Mayor Hamblin said.

“The City looks forward to welcoming community members and visitors from far and wide to this fabulous event, and we thank sponsors Alcoa and Fremantle Ports for their continued support.”

Prizes for Castaways 2023 include: