The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize commemorates the South Australian Museum’s first curator, Frederick George Waterhouse. Its purpose is to promote and recognise excellence in natural history art. The Waterhouse is Australia’s richest prize for natural history art, inviting entries in three categories: paintings; works on paper; and sculpture & objects.
At the National Archives of Australia, you can see the 10 prize-winning and 20 highly commended artworks from the 2007 Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize.
Judges for 2007 were Silvio Apponyi, sculptor; Zoe D’Arcy, Acting Director, Public Programs, National Archives of Australia; Suzanne Miller, Director, South Australian Museum; and Chris Orchard, artist and art educator. Judges were hard-pressed to select the winners and felt that there were admirably high levels of competence across the board.
Strong themes coming from the diverse range of entries include a focus on climate change and messages about species decline. Also prominent are messages surrounding endangered and extinct animals – some offering hope, some more despairing.
The judges were delighted by the juxtaposition of micro and macro in the finalists’ work. Visitors will experience the most minute details in one work before zooming out to wide-angle in the next. Also pleasing is the balance between deep traditions such as scientific illustration and more experimental works. The result is a diverse collection of art sure to enthrall visitors.
Heather Marsh is overall winner of the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize 2007 for her sculpture 'The gift of hindsight', receiving $30,000 in prize money. Her artwork features 64 images of endangered birds painstakingly drawn with pen and ink on eggs which sit in a black wood cabinet.
From Victoria, Heather is an illustrator, visual artist, writer and arts manager. Her fascinations include wunderkammern (cabinets of curiosity), scientific and natural history, and the origins of language. Part of a series of works exploring ‘Man’s’ relationship with nature, ‘The gift of hindsight’ is a memento mori for endangered birds.
The South Australian Museum developed an education kit (pdf 384kb) to accompany this exhibition.
