Tom Malone Prize 2018
Winner of the 2018 Tom Malone Prize
Tom Moore was awarded this year’s honour for his work Pyrotechnic puffer fish.
The judges commented:
“Tom Moore is arguably the country’s most consistently humourous and out-there glass artist. His practice moves across installation in locations as diverse as galleries and gardens, and also includes output in drawing and animated video.
Over the years, he has given Australian and international audiences access to new creatures in glass as he has been responsible for the evolution of countless strange types of hybrid species. And now we have his Pyrotechnic puffer fish. It is a remarkable breed that comes into being via a gamut of historical Italian references to the famed properties of glass that would shatter if touched with poison and more modern and contemporary surrealism. We love it for its detail, its evidence of glass mastery, its straight-faced hilarity, dazzling technical spirit, and, above all, for seeming to come straight out of a dream as most of Tom’s creatures do. It really is like nothing we have seen before.
Tom won the Tom Malone Prize in 2013. He is now, therefore, the fourth of the double winners of the Prize, joining Cobi Cockburn, Jessica Loughlin and Clare Belfrage in this position. With this award he is part of a truly elite group of Australian artists excelling in this most demanding of mediums.”
Shortlist
Joanna Bone Urchins 2017. Blown glass, Swedish overlay (purple urchin) and cane roll-up technique, cold-worked on lathe and engraver then sandblasted, green urchin: 7.5 x 10 x 10 cm; purple urchin 9 x 11 x 11 cm; red urchin 11 x 13 x 13 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Aaron Micallef.
Benjamin Edols, Kathy Elliott Fear rises like an unbridled sea 2017. Blown glass with cane applications, wheel carved, 34 x 23 x 23 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Greg Piper.
Judi Elliott Ceremonial vessel 2016. Kiln-formed glass [with glass footring by Benjamin Edols], 7 x 59 cm diameter. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Rob Little.
Holly Grace Gulf hut – remnants 2017. Blown glass, fired on glass enamel paints and decals, with sandblasted imagery, gilded gold leaf interiors and found metal handle, Billycan I: 19 x 19 x 19 cm; Billycan II: 31 x 10.5 x 10.5 cm; Billycan III: 17 x 15 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: David McArthur, Parallax Photography.
Gerry King Above clouds 2017. Kiln-formed glass, machine polished, 38 x 100.5 x 1 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Grant Hancock.
Peter Kovacsy Eternal ties 2017. Clear lead crystal, kiln-cast in a mould, Australian red cedar, carved and scorched, 37 cm x 16 cm x 9 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Peter Kovacsy.
Marc Leib Routines, patterns, sequences 2017. Kiln-formed glass, cold-worked, two panels: 86 x 43 x 0.9 cm each. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Kevin Gordon.
Jeremy Lepisto Alongside (from the Container series) 2016. Kiln-formed glass and fabricated metal, 76.2 x 28 x 25.4 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Adam McGrath.
Tom Moore Pyrotechnic puffer fish 2016. Blown and solid glass, epoxy, 50 x 51 x 28 cm (largest). Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Grant Hancock.
Nick Mount Duck Egg and enamel white still life 2017. Blown, carved and polished glass, with murrini, resting on a Black Heart Sassafras base, 59 x 63 x 22 cm. Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Pippy Mount.
Jason Sims 4ft link 2017. Qubelok aluminium, acrylic tube, reflective glass, LED lighting and electronics, 76.5 x 100 x 72 cm (including plinth). Courtesy the artist. © the artist. Photographer: Pippy Mount.
