Jacky Cheng discusses her winning work in the John Stringer Prize 2022 and is joined by prize finalist, Katie West, and Recent Acquisition artist, Joshua Cocking.

Jacky Cheng was born in Malaysia of Chinese heritage, and now resides in Yawuru Country also known as Broome. Her practice is fundamentally about identity and awareness through cultural activities and memories of home, country, and relationships. Her central focus is on correlating and weaving narratives from native experiences whilst mapping esoteric and social relationships of her origins and her new-found home, where she continues to question her notion of ‘home’, ‘belonging’ – ‘here and there’ and the ‘in between’.

Personal cultural histories of the most significant experiences were reflected, documented, and expressed using papers and fibres as the predominant mediums in her practice. Being away from her homeland allowed her to nurture her own identity and it became imperative that she keep her grandmother’s stories and teachings alive. She states “I now make to remember.”

Today, Jacky is an art lecturer at North Regional TAFE based in Broome. Her award-winning teaching accolades was also recognised at the state and national Vocational Education Training (VET) sector bestowed by the Australia Training Awards. She was also a finalist for the Curtin University Teaching Excellence Award by Awards Australia.

Katie West is an artist and Yindjibarndi woman based in Noongar Ballardong Country. Their current work revolves around installation, textiles and social practice. Using found and naturally dyed textiles, sound and video, they create works and happenings that invite attention to the ways we weave our stories, places, histories and futures. Underpinning their practice is the process and notion of naturally dyeing fabric – the rhythm of walking, gathering, bundling, boiling water and infusing materials with plant matter.

Joshua Cocking received a BA (Honours, First Class) from Curtin University in 2021. He is motivated in his work and artistic practice to focus on humanist, environmental and technological issues. A cautionary tale at the eleventh hour, his paintings are seductively compelling and symbolic. Disclosure about the environmental, social, economic and cultural precipices that contemporary society stands on, are deeply encoded within his artwork. The fragmentary and lyrical titles of his work allude to larger narratives that balance beauty and catastrophe. Cocking has won upwards of eight awards for his art, and hold residencies at the

Stay on for a paper form making workshop with Jacky Cheng from 1.45pm – 3.00pm.

JOHN STRINGER PRIZE

7 October – 4 December 2022

The John Stringer Prize was inaugurated by The Collectors Club in 2015 in celebration of the memory of one of Australia’s most acclaimed art curators, the late John Stringer. A long-term friend and mentor to its members, he established The Collectors Club in Perth in 1996 to promote informed collecting and patronage of Western Australian art. The John Stringer Prize strives to continue his important legacy and since 2018, the John Curtin Gallery has been proud to present this annual exhibition celebrating artists making a major impact on contemporary practice in Western Australia.

Each year, a panel of three leading arts professionals are tasked with selecting six Western Australian-based contemporary artists whose practices they deem worthy of recognition. The panellists for this year’s prize were: Helen Carroll, Manager, Wesfarmers Arts; Jane Chambers, Revealed curator, Fremantle Art Centre and Sarah Wall, curator, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA). The six artists are invited to produce a new artwork in any medium for inclusion in the exhibition. In the months leading up to the Prize, members of The Collectors Club visit each of the nominated artists’ studios and intimately come to know their work. Club members then vote at this exhibition by way of secret ballot to decide on the Prize recipient.

John Stringer Prize 2022 finalists are: Amanda Bell, Bruno Booth, Jacky Cheng, Guy Louden, Katie West and Holly Yoshida.