‘Woman’s Work’ wins People’s Choice

Deb Shepherd’s towering and intricate thread hanging, ‘Woman’s Work #1’, narrowly beat Merit Award winner Lucy Dolan Kang’s hanging, ‘The beginning and the end’, in the Peoples’ Choice Award competition of the Parkin Drawing Prize this year by a single vote. Merit Award winner Emily Harris’ ‘Take It Away’ received the third highest vote from the 377 votes cast. 

Deb described her work as, “A gesture in response to the perceived inequality of women’s work and their value within society.” In her artist statement, Deb explained, “ Creativity through art, fashion and textiles has always played a fundamental role throughout my artistic life. Through the use of free-motion stitch as an artistic technique, where the needle acts as the pen, and the fabric, in place of paper, is freely moved around beneath to create the image by drawing with thread, my artwork aims to push the boundaries of stitch as an art form.”

Deb Shepherd beside her People’s Choice Award winning work, ‘Woman’s Work #1’

Lucy Dolan Kang’s work of dye and bleach on repurposed drop cloth with gold work and garnet, suspended on charred driftwood, “delves into the cyclical nature of time, challenging the notion of a linear progression. It questions the boundaries between beginnings and endings, emphasizing the evolution and repetition of existence.” In her artist statement, Lucy explained, “An ouroboros symbolises this ‘near’ completion of a circle, stitched onto an image of a cloudburst, a natural, ‘recycling’ phenomenon reflecting natures innate drive to restore balance.”

Lucy Dolan Kang, ‘The beginning and the end’