Elyssa Sykes-Smith (NSW), Anne Neil (WA) and James Tapscott (VIC). Photo Charlotte Curd
Perpetual Wealth and Sculpture by the Sea are pleased to announce the three recipients of the prestigious Helen Lempriere Scholarships, with a total of $90,000 awarded to support Australian artists participating in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi to advance their careers.
$35,000 Senior Artist Anne Neil (WA)
$30,000 Mid-Career Artist James Tapscott (VIC)
$25,000 Emerging Artist Elyssa Sykes-Smith (NSW)
The Helen Lempriere Scholarships are designed to enable artists to further their artistic development through travel, study and the purchase of important new equipment while supporting their participation in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi.
The scholarships are gifted as part of the Helen Lempriere Bequest, a charitable trust managed by Perpetual Wealth, providing scholarships with the aim to foster and promote contemporary Australian sculpture. Over the last 16 years the Helen Lempriere Scholarships have provided 48 artists from every State and Territory in Australia with $1.26M of financial support that has not only materially advanced each recipient’s knowledge and skill as artists but has materially advanced sculpture as an art form and the visual arts in Australia.
This year’s scholarship recipients: Anne Neil; James Tapscott; and Elyssa Sykes-Smith will each exhibit a new work in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi with this year’s exhibition marking 30 years since its first edition at Bondi.Founding CEO & Artistic Director of Sculpture by the Sea David Handley said, “Congratulations to Anne, James and Elyssa on receiving this year’s Helen Lempriere Scholarships, worth a combined $90,000. We are honoured to provide these scholarships that have provided career transforming financial support to 48 artists from every State and Territory across Australia since 2010. The scholarships demonstrate the extraordinary power of one person’s philanthropic gift to the benefit so many others”.
Perpetual Wealth National Manager of Philanthropy & Non-Profit Services, Jane Magor said, “Quote”. Perpetual Acting National Manager, Philanthropy & Non-Profit Services, Emily Wellard-Baring said: “Through Helen Lempriere’s enduring generosity, these scholarships provide artists with the freedom to pursue new experiences, develop their practice and create meaningful new work. We are delighted to support Anne, James and Elyssa, and to see Helen’s philanthropic legacy continue to enrich Australia’s cultural landscape and inspire future generations of artists.”
Anne Neil is renowned for her whimsical public sculptures, where she balances an appreciation for the finer, handcrafted details with industrial fabrication. Based in Perth, Neil has a background in jewellery and works mainly with metals. Often operating at large scale, she completed her post-graduate studies at the School of Art ANU in Canberra, and is represented in collections in Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Neil has exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe seven times since 2006, with this her first exhibition at Bondi.
Neil will exhibit ‘A Collage of Fragments’ at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi this year. A visual representation of fragments of patterns found in the landscape that overlap to create new forms.
With the Helen Lempriere Scholarship, Neil plans to use the funds to travel to Japan with the particular goal of walking through their forests to draw and to take inspiration from the environment.
Neil says, “I am very humbled by this recognition. To say thank you is hardly enough. It is indeed a great honour to be awarded the Helen Lempriere Scholarship. This award will allow me to continue with my journey of exploration, to travel and explore abstract ideas inspired by thoughts and drawings of new landscapes.”
James Tapscott is a contemporary land artist who invites the natural world to collaborate as part of his art practice. His works are determined by the location they will be displayed, using minimalist aesthetics and often involving elemental materials. Born in Perth and living in Melbourne, Tapscott is exhibiting at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi for the first time with ‘Ex-Halo’, a ring of mist that invites viewers to experience the site differently and become an active participant in the artwork.
Tapscott intends to use the scholarship to buy equipment to allow him to experiment with new techniques, and to fund a research trip to Japan which has been a special place for him in the development of his career.
Tapscott said, “I’m honoured to receive the Helen Lempriere scholarship as it represents recognition within the ongoing cultural dialogue of Australia. As an Australian artist who works primarily overseas it means a lot to be appreciated at home for my work over the years.”
Elyssa Sykes-Smith is a multidisciplinary artist who works across sculpture, performance, socially-engaged projects, education and health research. Inspired by the Baroque period, her public art explores humanity and invites the viewer to experience an environment from a different perspective. Sykes-Smith did her MFA at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She has worked at Sculpture by the Sea as an educator and exhibited at Bondi eight times since 2012.
Skyes-Smith’s work at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi this year is titled ‘Seed’. The sculpture combines hybrid human and plant forms, inspired by the epicormic growth following the Black Summer fires of 2019-20, and climate psychology.
Sykes-Smith will use the scholarship to undertake research investigating the potential of seaweed and algae as sculptural materials.
Sykes-Smith said, “For the past decade, environmental sustainability has been central to my sculptural practice. The scholarship will enable me to develop knowledge, technical skills and professional networks across the intersecting fields of art, science, design and material innovation. The scholarship will allow me to establish a unique area of specialisation, positioning my practice at the intersection of sculpture, environmental research and material innovation while contributing to broader conversations about sustainability within the arts.”
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi has been the world’s largest free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition for 30 years. Staged in spring each year since 1997, the exhibition transforms the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk into an outdoor gallery with 100 sculptures by artists from around the world for an estimated 450,000 visitors across 18 days. The exhibition generates national and international media opportunities and reputation benefits for the exhibiting artists.
The majority of Australia’s leading sculptors of the last 50 years have exhibited, most numerous times, including May Barrie, Anne Ferguson, Geoffrey Bartlett, Bert Flugelman AM, Richard Goodwin, Fiona Hall, Inge King AM, Stephen King OAM, Michael Le Grand, Louise Paramor, James Rogers, Ron Robertson-Swann OAM, Michaelie Crawford, Jennifer Turpin, Ken Unsworth AM and Hossein Valamanesh. The exhibition’s international profile has seen some of the biggest names in international sculpture exhibit, such as Sir Anthony Caro, Phillip King CBE, Zadok Ben – David (England), Sui Jian Guo, Chen Wen Ling (China), Kozo Nishino, Keizo Ushio, Haruyuki Uchida (Japan), Fletcher Benton, Peter Lundeberg (USA) and David Černý (Czech Republic).