For her work "Questo Posto Sacredo", Engelman won 5th place in paintings at the Florence Biennale in 2007

THE AWARD WINNING ARTWORK:

"This Sacred Place" ("Questo Posto Sacro")

Triptych by Australian Artist, Joy Engelman

Mixed Media Acrylic Painting of 3 Panels - each 80cm wide x 150 cm high

"Menindee" "Mungo" & "Willandra"

In "This Sacred Place", I have attempted to retain the brilliance of colours that pervade the western deserts as the sun rises over an eastern horizon, and at the same time, show the blackness that is night in this region.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

This represents Australia as it is rarely seen. The true nature of our "outback" on inaccessible roads well 'off the beaten track'. Far from being 'empty', this enigmatic, raw and unruly land is strange and irresistible. Wild and untamed, inhospitable and lonely, an untidy landscape that the unwary need to master very quickly.  Man has achieved nothing here but a few marks on this vast and arid landscape.

Sand dunes form arcs like fish bones on the desert and water flows intermittently in the rich red earth. Saltbush is strung like pearls around ancient riverbeds and landforms and floats above mirages on the far horizon. Dried saltpans glisten in the harsh light. Sand ridges stretch like frozen waves. An unhindered and merciless sun drops quickly into a night of deep rich darkness.

Desert areas command up to 90% of Australia and are the oldest exposed landscapes on the earth. These paintings represent my humble and most recent experience of this sacred place as a modern Australian of European origins.

Questo quadro rappresenta un'Australia che raramente è visibile. La vera natura dell' "outback" è in sentieri inaccessibili molto lontani dalle strade più battute. Questo terreno enigmatico, grezzo ed esuberante è strano ed irresistibile, lontano dall'essere vuoto. Selvatico e indomito, inospitale e solitario, un panorama disordinato che l'incauto deve sapere padroneggiare molto velocemente. L'uomo qui non ha raggiunto nulla a parte qualche segno su questo vasto e arido paesaggio.

Le dune di sabbia compongono sul deserto archi a forma di ossa ittiche e l'acqua scorre a intermittenza nella terra ricca e vermiglia. Il saltbush è legato come delle perle attorno ad antichi letti di fiumi e paesaggi e fluttua sopra i miraggi lungo il lontano orizzonte. I saltpans secchi scintillano nella luce penetrante. Le catene di di sabbia si distendono come onde gelate. Un sole senza spietato e che non trova ostacoli si lascia cadere velocemente nella notte di un buio pieno e profondo.

Le aree desertiche dominano fino al 90% del territorio australiano e sono i paesaggi più vecchi della terra. Questi dipinti rappresentano la mia umile e recente esperienza di questo posto sacro, come Australiana moderna di origini Europee.

A Limited Edition print run has been made and is available from the artist at AUD150 plus postage from the artist.

THE STORY:

Joy was awarded the Lorenzo il Magnifico Award (5th primo) at the awards ceremony on December 9, 2007. A prestigeous panel of 8 judges made this year's selection. Details os the jurors can be found at website. For a quick pictorial overview of the Biennale click here!

Joy was chosen from the international art community by the Scientific Committee of the Florence Biennale to exhibit at the 2007 Florence Biennale in Florence, Italy. Participation in this prestigious event is by invitation only. Engelman was selected by an international jury comprised of numerous people from the art world, including members from the National Academy of Art (India), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Brazil), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA).

The Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea invites participating artists from around the world by directly choosing artists mainly through research and the new land of the internet. This challenges other established Biennales with a new and cutting edge approach to art selection and raises more than a few eyebrows, which is after all, what art is about. It is the largest artist supported and democratic exhibition in the world.

The Florence Biennale is the world's most comprehensive exhibition of contemporary art. This exhibition is defined as a wonderful Biennale, with 890 artists from 72 nations participating despite their differences of language and faith, who find a common language in art to communicate their cultural values illustrating Kofi Annan's statement:

"Artists have a special role to play in the global struggle for peace. At their best, artists speak not only to people; they speak for them. Art is a weapon against ignorance and hatred and an agent of public awareness… Art opens new doors for learning, understanding, and peace among people and nations."

The competition committee estimated the last Biennale’s audience to be around 40,000 attendees. Participation in the Biennale is by nomination only and the artists are selected solely on the basis of the merit of their works, with no prejudices as to style, theme or artistic movement.

FUNDING THE BIENNALE PROJECT:

"The Florence Biennale is an amazing opportunity to exhibit my work on an international scale and be exposed to a network of over 800 artists from over 80 countries. It is a great opportunity for a regionally based artist to extend their knowledge as well as take regional art to the world.

"Despite current low availability of funding in Australia through government arts bodies for projects such as this, my friends, the "real" people, the "grass-roots" of Australia want to be part of the world community. They understand this as a rare opportunity and have given me encouragement and sponsorship to meet this challenge and take my artworks to this great international event. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by good people, great friends and live in the wide open spaces of regional Australia."

Debbie Thornton B.Sc. - Exploration Geologist - Asia Pacific

Phil Salmon of Lookaround.com.au

Jolanta Nejman - Digital Artist

Mark Aussie-Stone of Rural Specialists

BACKGROUND TO THE ARTWORK:

I have placed here some of the background research and inspiration for my panels. I will add to this as time allows. I hope you enjoy this material and that it gives you, the viewer, a broader perspective of what I know, have experienced and love about Australia and our waterways. The water pattern over time has shifted across the landscape, leaving behind it dried lake beds and dunes, salt pans and dry riverbeds. In the paintings for the Biennale, I have attempted to bring together the colours of the landscape as I have seen them and incorporate some of my feelings for this wide spacious and ancient landscape of which we expect so much and give back so little.

Willandra Lakes Region, Lake Menindee & Lake Mungo Map & Photos:

The Lake Mungo region lies some 500 kms west of where I live. This photo from Google earth, shows how the Lake Mungo appears from a great height, as if seen by an eagle in flight. Having spent some time wandering around the desert in this region, I like the feeling of being able to fly free as a bird above this landscape and have tried to capture this in the panels. As well, the Menindee Lakes lie within the Murray Darling River system, which is currently drying up with the recent drought. I have shown how rain falls often in 'the wrong place' (according to us anyway) and the current rain that is falling well to the west of the Murray Darling is completely bypassing this over used and abused river system. By scrolling around the Google Earth map, you will be able to see the 3 regions and how they relate to each other on the landscape. This is a desert region with pink, orange and red earths covered with a sprinkling of grey Mulgas (bushes) and blue saltbush.

Lake Mungo:

The little emu painting was done when I camped out by Lake Mungo and came across a curious emu whilst walking amongst the saltbush. It gives a more accurate rendition of the colours of the region than the satellite photos can.

Lake Mungo is an amazing area of ancient dunes that surrounded an inland sea some 40,000 years ago. It is a sacred site of immense power that contains the remains of fire places and campsites that date back to over 60,000 years ago.

An earlier set of panels that I painted of Lake Mungo, shows a walk thru and up the dunes with the changing of the light and colours of the dunes as the sun sets to the west. This series was painted in a friend's shearing shed used as a temporary studio and so that all the panels coud be laid out together during the painting process. Each Panel is 80 cm x 80 cm making the entire series over 3.2 metres long....."A Walk thru Lake Mungo" - 8 panels