SCA awards $40,000 art scholarships

The finalist exhibition featured ten SCA alumni across two categories. Marley Dawson was selected from a group of four Mid-Career/Established shortlisted artists, while Danica I. J. Knežević was among six Emerging finalists.

This year’s judging panel included Julie Rrap (Co-Director, Sydney College of the Arts); Blair French  (Curator & Writer); and Talia Smith (Artist & Curator). ⁠

The panel unanimously agreed that Marley Dawson’s artwork was compelling, noting:

“Marley’s finalist work is playful, beautifully executed and dynamic. It fits into a practice that uses DIY processes across construction, mechanics, and kinetic techniques to create sculptures and installations that highlight aspects of our world that tend to be overlooked: the uncanny, surreal and extraordinary in the everyday.

“His travel proposal offered a fascinating new direction to look further into the way DIY labour has come to influence his artistic practice through generations of his family.”

Of the emerging recipient, Danica I. J. Knežević the judges noted:

“Danica’s finalist work explores the subject of familial caregiving with both playfulness and sensitivity. Her travel proposal was compelling – creating for her an opportunity to explore personal ancestry, to meet family and reconnect with her South Slavic heritage.

An artist-researcher, Danica’s proposed project addresses what defines a place, how you can transform a place into a home, and what it means to retrace the steps of her late grandmother's journey to Australia.

Co-Director, Sydney College of the Arts, Associate Professor Julie Rrap said: “Across the exhibition, we were impressed with the extremely strong field of candidates across both categories.

“Material outcomes were matched by accomplished research proposals that are well aligned with the culture we pride ourselves on at SCA. The high quality across the board presented the judges with the difficult task of selecting the recipients. We look forward to seeing the material outcomes of the selected recipients travel plans.”

2023 FAUVETTE LOUREIRO MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS

EMERGING CATEGORY: Georgia Banks, Dylan Batty, Szymon Dorabialski, Morgan Hogg, Anna May Kirk, and Danica I. J. Knežević

MID-CAREER/ESTABLISHED CATEGORY: Lauren Brincat, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Marley Dawson and Clare Milledge

The exhibition is on display at SCA Gallery until 28 October.

About Sydney College of the Arts
For more than 40 years, SCA has been a leading centre for education and research in the visual arts in the Asia-Pacific region, producing some of Australia’s most influential contemporary artists including Jane Campion, Ben Quilty, Rosemary Liang, Shaun Gladwell, Mikala Dwyer and Marc Newson. In 2020, SCA relocated to a state-of-the-art facility at Old Teachers’ College at the University of Sydney’s main campus, designed by renowned architects ARM.

About the Recipients

Marley Dawson

Using chemistry, mechanics and construction techniques, Marley Dawson creates sculptures and installations that highlight aspects of our world and selves that can be uncanny, surreal and extraordinary. Dawson has been exhibiting extensively for over a decade inside Australia and internationally.

Danica I. J. Knežević

Danica I. J. Knežević is a performance artist whose practice explores the negotiations between self and others through reciprocal happenings often found in the acts of caregiving. Implicit in her work is Knezevic's use of her body and the transference of communication that often comes into play between audience and performer, which mimics the interchangeability of caregiver and receiver.

_{Hero image caption: Marley Dawson, ‘Hum (morris)’, 2022, ‘Hum (louis)’, 2022. ‘Big Wheel (at 40)’, 2022. Recipient of the 2023 Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship (Mid-Career/Established). Photo: Document Photography.}