Winners Announced for 2023 Castaways Sculpture Awards

Aitken’s sculpture, More than one thing is a striking red heart created from mattress springs, layered with aluminium cut-outs of hearts, glinting and moving in the sun as the breeze catches them. The work sits atop an old water heater as a plinth, finished in blackboard paint. 

This was the eighth year Aitken had been selected to exhibit in Castaways. He has previously won prizes at the event including a People’s Choice Award and a Sustainability Award, and in June this year he gave up full time work to concentrate on creating artwork.

It blew me away,” Aitken said. “I’ve always tried to win this event, incorporating aluminium into my work. You see people using materials in very innovative ways, and you can learn from their ideas. Winning three awards in eight years is pretty good odds I think. 

Edith Cowan University Associate Professor Lyndall Adams and artist Peter Dailey were the judges, and both praised Aitken’s work saying it was ‘beautifully understated’. “Sometimes we can say more with less. It is a well-made and well-presented work with a nice use of a natural element – the wind,” the judges noted. 

Shenton Park artist Moira Fearby and Margaret River-based Heloise Roberts won the $5,000 Sustainability Award for their joint work Insidious. Consisting of deconstructed plastic bottles, the work emulates an insidious introduced botanic species.  

Kelmscott artist Scott Michell won the $5,000 Innovation Award with Thirty Bike Flying Pike, a construction created from recycled bikes and truck handrails reimagined as a fish, fitted with bike bell ringers as eyes, providing a symbol of both freedom and adventure.   

Neda Bahremand from Claremont won the $2,500 Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition with Magician, an elegant form created from recycled household glass. Kelly Robbins won the $2,000 City of Rockingham Local Resident Award with Ficifolia, consisting of aluminium light covers containing red brush bristles.  

In the Castaways Schools Exhibition, Settlers Primary School from Baldivis won the Alcoa Primary Schools Award with The Tides Can Change, and SMYL Community College in Rockingham won the Secondary Schools section with How will you care for your oceans?    

City of Rockingham Mayor Deb Hamblin congratulated the winning entrants on their sculptures. 

“Castaways always delights visitors to the Rockingham Foreshore and Rockingham Arts Centre, and we are thrilled to see the high level of work that is on display for this year’s awards,” Mayor Hamblin said. 

The creative skill on display by our winners is what makes Castaways such a popular annual event, and we commend them for their efforts. The City would also like to thank sponsors Alcoa and Fremantle Ports for their ongoing support. 

Curator Lyn Di Ciero said there had been a steady stream of visitors to Castaways across the Foreshore and Rockingham Arts Centre. “It’s amazing to see the locations filled with visitors admiring the inventive and stunning sculptural works made by artists and schools who have all risen to the challenge of transforming recycled materials into objects of beauty,” Di Ciero said.     

For more information visit Castaways.

Main image: All of the Castaways winners were recognised during an awards ceremony at the Gary Holland Community Centre. 

Image two: Alcoa Major Award winner Richard Aitken with his sculpture More than one thing. 

Image three: Moira Fearby and Heloise Roberts won the Sustainability Award for their work Insidious.    

Image four: Neda Bahremand won the Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition with Magician.  

Image five: Scott Michell won the $5,000 Innovation Award with Thirty Bike Flying Pike.  

Image six: Settlers Primary School won the Alcoa Primary Schools Award.

Image seven: SMYL Community College won the Secondary Schools award. Pictures: City of Rockingham.