THE FACTORY ART PRIZE 2024
FORGIVENESS FORGIVEN FORGIVE
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:32
2024 Winning & Commended Artworks
FIRST PRIZE 2024
Allison Robinson
Mixed media painting, 64cm diameter
Forgiveness Exposed
Forgiveness is an exchange between beings. A grace that is deep at our core and part of our nature. A gift that has the power to heal and mend the broken or bring peace to those that are longing. A process that has been very raw and difficult for me personally as I heal from a psychological injury. It remains a significant part of all life, always, not just mine.
Jesus showed us Forgiveness. He gave us the power to Forgive others. He died so we are Forgiven.
In my artwork we have two beings... embracing and emotional. Raw in their grievances and vulnerable to one another as they experience this exchange. They are two beings that ARE nature, they are HIS creation. Both of them....being as real with each other as the native plants and flowers that make them. They also harness the symbolic.... The butterfly wings - a powerful message of transformation, The couple in love pictured on her body - a new relationship born from forgiveness, The birds in their hair - freedom and hope in new beginnings, The lines on their faces - a road travelled, The yarn in their hair - the artfulness of being held together by art itself.
Their inner journey exposed for us to see in its raw beauty.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE 2024
Robyn Collier
Oil painting, 41 x 61cm
Seeing the Light
This painting represents to me the light feeling of peace that comes with the lifting of your darkest feelings of anger, separation and entitlement when we refuse forgiveness.
I was once told that forgiveness and forgiving was the cutting of the cord that binds the two parties together. Once cut the relationship between your pain and the person can be released.
It is not an act of accepting wrongs - real or imagined. It is an act to free yourself from the other. No longer are you tied to a dance of retribution and negative feelings that damages only you - no one else. The sun shines, the spirit rises - you set yourself free. It’s a new day.
STUDENT FIRST PRIZE 2024
Claire Amelia Nicholls
Acrylic paint, 90 x 90cm
Lavare (to wash)
Lavare is the latin origin for the lavender flower and means 'to wash'. To wash is to forgive, and lavender also symbolises purity and virtue.
The lavender flower is incorporated on the card at the bottom right of the painting, and symbolises the washing away of sin and making room for forgiveness.
The use of a 'card' conveys that the recipient of the basket will be the one that is forgiven.
The painting uses a traditional baroque black background, with a basket of flowers and fruit in the foreground, symbolising the bounty of the 'Garden of Eden'.
The bounty includes half a pomegranate, representing blessings and the potential for growth, and Australian natives that place the painting and my love of the bush.
HIGHLY COMMENDED 2024
Miriam Roediger
Watercolour on book, 30 x 20 x 3cm
Read this book if you want to know who has forgiven you and why it is important
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." – Mark 2:3-5
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgivenas her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." – Luke 7:44-48
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 john 1:8-9
HIGHLY COMMENDED 2024
Andrea Andrejas
Pastel pencil, Clairefontaine Pastel mat Sable-sand, 40 x 55cm
A Chance Encounter
I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners, ORYANG-ORA belonging to the wider DURUG Aboriginal tribe of the wider Sydney region and pay my respect to Elders past and present.
After much consideration, I chose "The School of Arts Town Square" because it is a recognizable location and a picturesque scene setting for my visual art narrative "A Chance Encounter" of our Lord Jesus Christ Lamb of God.
It was equally important to create an atmosphere of hustle and bustle of everyday life that flowed naturally and is relative to today's society. The narrative evolved over time and I found myself at times lost in the story, wondering...
"CHRIST ENGAGES WITH HIS FLOCK, REJOICING, YET HE IS HUMBLE, COMPASSIONATE AND GENTLE, BEARING THE VISIBLE SCARS OF THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS FOR ALL."
After the momentous event, how would we personally and also as a multi-cultural society respond to Christ's chance encounter? ...spark a conversation...renew our faith...forgive the unthinkable...
HIGHLY COMMENDED 2024
Richard Cutler
Oils, 188 x 96cm
Christ’s Death Leads to Our Forgiveness
They tortured him so much that he did not look human. Isaiah 53
I made one arm look much longer than the other. In riga mortis one almost become wooden and they call the cross a tree, so there is some resemblance between the body and the tree.
Christ is painted red, which make him a universal sign for our forgiveness, as we all have red blood.
The blood flows down to the skull, traditionally it was Adam’s skull being forgiven by the new Adam, Christ.
There is a wholeness radiating from the halo to the rest of the painting and the earth seems to be rising up. These represent Christ’s divinity and his humanity.
The Romans used I for our J so the text on the cross is INRI (I for Jesus, N for Nazareth, R for Rex-king, I for Jews).
The water separated from the blood means real death. So the glory in the painting is for our resurrected forgiveness.
The Factory Art Prize has been made possible through donations from
Valley Heights Garage
Peter Hickey & Gretchen Aman
Mark & Merran McIver
The Factory Art Prize is a curated open art prize that invites local artists to think laterally and with sensitivity and engage with the theme “Forgiveness, Forgiven, Forgive” by interpreting this in two or three dimensional works.
Judges
Acclaimed Portrait Artist David Newman White
Learn about David in this video
Artist - Illustrator - Designer - Owner and Director of Cocoon Creative Rosie Wheeler
Head of Visual Arts, Penrith Anglican College Steve Lewis
Terms and conditions
Theme Commentary
Steve Young, Senior Minister
Forgiveness is like gold. It is precious because it is so rare – the world is an angry and unforgiving place. To forgive means to give up bitterness and vengeance towards someone who has wronged you. It involves absorbing the hurt of the offence rather than returning it to the offender.
God is a forgiving God. The Bible is rich in depicting his forgiveness:
“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
“you have put all my sins behind your back.” (Isaiah 38:17)
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)
“Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” (Psalm 51:9)
“You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)
God's forgiveness is not automatic, but it is given to those who sincerely ask for it in faith. Nor is it cheap; it cost him dearly.
The foundational experience of a true Christian is to receive God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ, who suffered to pay its cost. In his last supper, Jesus used the wine as a symbol of his sacrifice: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
The receiving of this forgiveness is so profound for a Christian – in setting them free, lifting their burden, wiping their record – that it teaches and empowers them to forgive others. The ideal towards which Christians strive is Christian communities marked by forgiveness, shining like beacons of God's grace in a mean world. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you,” (Colossians 3:13).
Jess Thorpe, Event Organiser
The root word Forgive along with its friends, can bring with it so many associations and stir up so many strong emotions in our core. It can rouse thoughts of wrongs done and guilt held onto when forgiveness felt like it was not an option. It can question the purposes of justice and right from wrong. But it can also stir within us the grace given when someone seeks forgiveness or we, ourselves, seek to forgive or be forgiven by others. Humility, love and self-sacrifice can all be part of the process.
Do we grant forgiveness? Do we accept forgiveness? Do we seek to forgive or be forgiven? Do we need God to forgive us, and if so, what for? Can things that are broken be restored? We can reflect upon these questions in our many relationships and in the world around us.
This topic challenges us to consider what we see in our own lives, experiences and relationships with one another as humans. In our society, do we still recognise the ability to forgive as central to our interactions, or has it been replaced by the need to ensure justice and right punishment are met first?
As you reflect on this topic and your response to it, consider exploring what the bible has to say about real forever forgiveness offered through Jesus, but also, reflect on your experiences of forgiveness, of being forgiven and the action to forgive.
The 2023 Factory Art Prize
The Factory Art Prize 2023 exhibited artwork from local artists engaging with the question Jesus asks of his disciples: ‘Who Do You Say I Am?’
With more than 30 entries, an opening night attended by 130 people, and over 200 visitors during the exhibition, we’re delighted to be hosting the Factory Art Prize again in 2024.
Winning and Highly Commended Artworks | 2023
Crucified with Christ Emily Lane (First Prize 2023) | What do you say that I am? Jenny Hanslow (Highly Commended 2023) | Channel of the reflective Paula Garrard (Commended 2023) | Untitled Melody Tallon | Healing Our Damaged World Robyn Collier