Image: Justine Vaughan, ‘Barred Bandicoot dreams of being striped Honeyeater’
Twenty-five artists were shortlisted for the inaugural 2D Surrealist Art Prize, displayed in an exhibition at dAda mUse from November to December 2023, in competition for the two prizes. Artworks selected address the surrealist theme as well as responding to the Salvador Dalí collection.
Justine Vaughan was a warded the Peoples' Choice for their piece ‘Barred Bandicoot dreams of being striped Honeyeater’.
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"I love painting surrealist, ambiguous imagery, visual puns, such as eggs, eyes, and the theme of metamorphoses.
This painting depicts an Eastern Barred Bandicoot looking up at ( dreaming of), being a striped New Holland Honeyeater. A bandicoot is also curled up beside its food source, a trail of Jack Jumper ants.
The egg-shaped composition is anchored or pieced by a vertical, metallic pole. With the Tamar River background, a distorted tree struggles to survive, providing branches for nests, eggs and a sad, watching eye.
At Swan Point, by the Tamar, we see Honeyeaters and sometimes, Eastern Barred Bandicoots. Fortunately, we receive a grant from Northern Resource Management, for 300 indigenous plants to provide long term protective habitat for the endangered Eastern Barred Bandicoots, on an acre of our land at Swan Point."