ARTfest sculpture competition takes shape

This year, she is one of the local artists who will be entering the sculpture competition, Ripe, which is being run as part of ARTfest.

Nadja will be an artist to look out for, having won the competition back in 2007.

She has been sculpting for almost 20 years, and while she started out with basic vases, she has since completed her Masters degree in sculpture at the Australian National University, opened her own studio, started running sculpture classes, and discovered a passion for the human form.

“My interest in sculpture has always been there,” Nadja said.

“I would like to make a living out of it eventually.”

She moved to the local area 13 years ago, and is a member of the Nulladolla Pottery Club.

Last year, she had an exhibition at the Gaffa in Sydney, where her human form sculptures were designed to be touched, and explore gender identity.

One of her most exciting pieces, was called the breast exchange.

This was a series of three sculptures which all had removeable and interchangeable breasts.

“I had a few friends with breast cancer, so the theme was on my mind.”

Nadja is also participating in Australian Ceramics Open Studios this year and her studio, located at 563 Croobyar Road, will be open to the public on August 15 and 16 between 10am and 4pm.

Nadja has not made any final decisions about what her piece for artfest might entail, but she would like to do a human form.

Ripe has one of the biggest prize pools in ARTfest.

The sculptures will be on display at Cupitts Winery from September 20 until October 8.

Artists are invited to submit a piece for the exhibition, with a prize pool of $4000 up for grabs.

There is no specific theme for the sculpture competition.

“We anticipate that there will be between 20-25 entries, consistent with previous years for the competition, however it would be nice to receive more,” said ARTfest coordinator, Julie Sydenham.