A piece of art that depicts the environmental damage to the Menindee Lakes has taken out the major award at the City of Ryde's Sustainable Waste to Art Prize (SWAP).
SWAP is a unique competition in which artists who live, study, work or visit the City of Ryde produce artworks that are made from repurposed wa ste material. This year's competition attracted more than 150 entries which transformed waste into a range of objects including insects, animals, landscapes, portraits and clothing.
'Menindee Ghost Ship' by Danja Derkenne was awarded first prize in the open category. Ms Derkenne's work was made from industrial waste collected from the ground in the Menindee Lakes in western NSW and depicts how human intervention has impacted on the lakes.
"'Menindee Ghost Ship ' not only reminds us of how we have destroy ed an entire river system, but the fact that this sculpture is made from metal rubbish strewn everywhere along the banks of the Darling River also reminds us that the destruction is wilful and ongoing," Ms Derkenne said.
Tyler Old took out the Youth Envi ronment Prize (for 14 to 17 year olds) for 'Priscilla the Peacock', in which she use d single -use plastics and other household waste items to create an eye -catching piece of work.
Students from St Lucy's School Visual Arts Department, meanwhile, were awarded the Junior Youth Environment Prize (10 to 13 year olds) for 'Not Just A Pretty Face'. The work explores the concept of individuality with selected repurposed materials from the school's storeroom.
The Functional award - for the design object judg ed to have best used reclaimed material to form a functional piece - was taken out by Julie Scully and her repurposed mannequin entitled 'Burlesque '.
The win ning artworks as well as the 75 other finalists form this year's SWAP Exhibition at Meadowbank's See Street Gallery, which will run until Thursday 3 October. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday between 11am and 4pm with free entry for all members of the public.
Those who attend this year's exhibition can vote for their favourite work in the exhibit with the work receiving the most votes to be awarded the People's Choice Award at the conclusion of the exhibition.
City of Ryde Mayor, Clr Jerome Laxale, encouraged everyone to visit the SWAP exhibition and see the amazing artworks on display.
"SWAP is a unique event and one our community should be proud of. Not only does it showcase the incredible talent of our local community, but it teaches us about waste and how we can re -use resources to stop them ending up in landfill, " Clr Laxale said.
The City of Ryde would like to acknowledge all the people who made this year's SWAP competition and exhibition possible including Meadowbank TAFE, curator Ben Eadie, Council staff and the expert judging panel which was made up by the founder of environmental charities Boomerang Alliance and CitizenBlue Dave West, waste to art practitioner Marina Debris and Artbank Chief Curator Oliver Watts.
