TOPshots 2021-22 winner revealed
The Monash Gallery of Art has announced the winner of the TOPshots 2021-22 competition as Madison Jeffares from Caulfield Grammar School. She receives the inaugural Rosie Hughes Memorial Prize, sponsored by The Waverley Camera Club in memory of their late member, Rosie Hughes.
Courtesy of the artist and Caulfield Grammar School, Caulfield Campus.
Jeffares's winning artwork, Soteria’s garden, explores the idea of sanctuary as simultaneously being an escape from danger and a place of peace. Using the photogravure process and the form of a triptych, Jeffares embraces the interplay between the picturesque and semi-sublime landscape to create an idyllic paradise that can be appreciated as both a natural beauty and as a shelter from the pressures of Year 12 and a global pandemic.
TOPshots is an annual celebration of emerging photomedia artists, established more than a decade ago. The award and exhibition showcases exceptional photographic work produced by students who have completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects of Art, Media, and Studio Arts, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Visual Arts.
Head to the gallery to check out the work that will feature in the TOPshots exhibition.
The artworks displayed in this exhibition have been selected from a large pool of entries, and represent a small sample of the creative talent that emerged out of Melbourne’s high schools in 2021.
Artist statement
In ‘Soteria’s garden’ I wanted to explore the idea of sanctuary as an escape from danger and a place of peace. My concept embraces the interplay between the picturesque and semi-sublime landscape to create a vast, idyllic paradise which is both appreciated as a natural beauty and embraced as a shelter from the pressures of Year 12 and a pandemic. The scene acknowledges both the expansive environment and the cultivated haven within a terrarium designed to provide shelter for plants to thrive, acting as a metaphor for personal growth when provided adequate security. I have drawn inspiration from sources including Gothic architecture and Greek mythology, combining ideas of religious haven, personal belief, and female protection as contributing components of sanctuary.
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