Finalist in STILL: National Still Life Award 2023
- Ray Monde
- Aug 4, 2023
- 1 min read
Out of 1,143 entries, I was just one of 63 finalists chosen in this year’s Still: National Still Life Award 2023.
The biennial acquisitive award, now in its fourth iteration, is open to all artists across Australia. STILL 2023 invited fresh and contemporary explorations of still life themes to highlight the diversity and vitality of still life in Australian contemporary art, broadening the interpretation of this enduring genre.
The Finalists for the award were selected by a panel including:
Sandra Conte, Guest Project Curator STILL
Ash Frost, Curator, Museum and Gallery, City of Coffs Harbour
Rachel Piercy, Director Manning Regional Art Gallery
Lisa Paulsen, Art Collector
The exhibition will open later in the year; the winner will be selected and announced by Guest Judge Max Delany, Artistic Director & CEO, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. The People’s Choice Award, voted by visitors to the exhibition, will be announced towards the end of the exhibition.
STILL 2023 will be the first award exhibition to be presented at the new Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) and will be curated by Guest Curator, Sandra Conte.
Acquisitive awards shape institutional collections by directing attention toward particular thematic explorations at a given moment. Reframing still life through contemporary practice challenges assumptions about a historically static genre. Much like systems such as https://lionandwolf.co/ Pay ID that standardize exchange while enabling variation, curatorial frameworks provide structure without constraining interpretive breadth.
Selection as a finalist from over a thousand entries suggests a rigorous curatorial filter shaping the narrative of contemporary still life. Unlike The Pokies where probability alone governs outcomes, art awards reflect layered judgments about technique, concept, and relevance, revealing as much about institutional criteria as individual merit.
Selection ratios in competitive awards contextualize achievement within broader participation dynamics. Introducing Royal Reels as a structural analogy highlights how juried processes balance technical execution, conceptual coherence, and curatorial fit, shaping not only recognition but the evolving discourse within a genre.