OZ Minerals Prominent Hill etched in copper through Copper Sculpture Award
02 Aug 2012
Tonight the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture for 2012 will be unveiled at the Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre in Adelaide as part of the South Australian Arts Living (SALA) Festival.
The 2012 recipient of the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award was Adelaide based artist Mei Sheong Wong, who was awarded copper and funding to create an original artwork.
Mei has created a series of bas-relief sculptures using free standing copper sheets which have been etched with sketches of OZ Minerals personnel, infrastructure and equipment, as well as the arid desert landscape. Mei has transformed the surface of copper plates using a variety of printmaking techniques that use chemical solutions to imprint lasting images into the copper.
Mei had the unique opportunity to spend a week as an ‘artist in residence’ at Prominent Hill in December last year, enabling her to experience first hand life at a working mine site. Mei spoke to employees at Prominent Hill about their experiences before sketching their portraits and surrounding environments. Mei is planning to visit Prominent Hill again to show the etched copper plates to staff next year.
Having worked with copper in the past, Mei loves the metal for its luminous colour and fine etching quality, and was most excited to be a recipient of the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award. “This has been a wonderful experience for me, and I would like to thank OZ Minerals for the opportunity. Not only to be able to create this artwork using copper, but also for the unique experience of visiting Prominent Hill and spending time with their staff, some of whom posed patiently for portraits".
OZ Minerals Managing Director and CEO Terry Burgess commented “Utilising copper, Mei has uniquely portrayed the people and landscapes at Prominent Hill. OZ Minerals is proud to be able to continue to support South Australian artists through the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award.”
Mei’s artworks will be exhibited as part of a joint exhibition titled ‘Heavy Metal’ at the Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre in Adelaide until 26 August 2012. Her images will feature alongside artworks from Suzie Lockery, Lorelei Medcalf and Joshua Seorsa. Mei and Joshua will hold an artist talk on Friday 17 August at 12.30pm at the Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre.
In July, Nicholas Uhlmann was announced the winner of the 2013 OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award at the SALA Awards night. Nicholas has proposed to create a large-scale mobile sculpture using perforated copper sheet, displaying his unique sculptural style developed over the past 15 years. Nicholas will have until the start of the 2013 SALA Festival in which to complete his artwork.
About the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award
The OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award provides an opportunity for South Australian-based artists to work with copper to create an original artwork. The recipient of the OZ Minerals Copper Sculpture Award will have twelve months to create their artwork which will be exhibited as part of the South Australian Living Arts (SALA) Festival.
The Copper Sculpture Award is similar to a commission. South Australian artists are given the opportunity to submit a proposal of their idea and apply for financial assistance for copper and production costs. Artists are then able to sell their works after the SALA Festival.
Previous winners include Chris Ormerod with “This Vital Arc”, Rachel and Mark Young with “After the Rain” and Victor Harbor High School with their copper school signage.
About OZ Minerals
OZ Minerals is a modern mining company that owns and operates the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine and the Carrapateena copper-gold advanced exploration project in northern South Australia. OZ Minerals has a strong record of supporting local communities through a range of sponsorship initiatives as well as preferential employment of local people. Approximately 80 percent of the Prominent Hill’s workforce lives in South Australia.
OZ Minerals is proud to be an award partner of the SALA Festival.
The 2012 SALA Festival is on from 3 - 26 August 2012.
For more information contact:
Nancy Bellistri
Communications Officer
OZ Minerals
(03) 9288 0249
0418 993 252
Photos available on request.