Sunday 12 January 2014

RAWARDS 2013

Flowers by Julia Rose
WORDS |  Thea Halpin

RAW has been kicking around in Australia for a little over a year and a half now and held its 2nd annual Rawards in Brisbane on 10 January. The showcase encompassed two stories and seemingly countless hidden rooms full of the best and brightest local talent.

Upon entrance to the venue guests encountered the enchanting sight of a Sleeping Beauty themed installation by Flowers by Julia Rose. A live model in a sheer gown lay perfectly still in a four post bed amongst a sea of flowers. The installation was stunning and by far the most Instagrammed moment of the evening. As for the model that managed to lay perfectly still for nearly four hours while hundreds of eyes gazed, props to you! Probably the hardest job there.

Bad Pony

The musical highlight of the evening was the outstanding performance from RAW musical artists of the year Bad Pony. The Sydney group appeared sans drummer yet still managed to fill the elaborate venue with heavy tribal undertones and energetic indie choruses. All around an impressive effort from a band that played their first show less than a year ago and spent last year soaring in the Triple J Unearthed charts. Not only did they win the Raward but win the most attractive of the RAW artists. Solid stuff guys, keep up the good work. With a barefoot lead singer and BYO rug, Bad Pony is definitely an act to watch.

Hungry Designs

Visual artists and illustrators flooded the venue embracing every medium fathomable. Fractured pop culture images were popular amongst the artists on show ranging from Yellowbee Illustrations watercolour cityscapes to a zombie Christopher Walken (Walken dead?) of the post-punk Emetic Art. One of the stand out collections was Hungry Designs’ twisted fairytale images including their collection of Disney characters taking mirror selfies. Miss Nikki’s candy coloured rockabilly-style illustrations took a modern twists in typography on what otherwise looked like scenes from Grease.

Alexandra Malpass

The evening ended with a fashion showcasing some of the most outstanding designers from the past year. The category was won by Sydney designer Alexandra Malpass who showcased a piece from her collection “Numinous” that focuses on the temporal state of everything and the human fascination with decay. Malpass engaged several techniques of “rusting” her one-off pieces to ensure they were aging as soon as they were created. To Malpass this “holds a confronting and significant emotional exploration for many, as death is engrained into the garments as soon as they are conceived.” The showing was eerie, distinctive and was the most chillingly enchanting moment of the evening.

Sarah Bradley
BB Le Buff
Luna Candy
 

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