A north-west photographer and expectant mother is in line for a $30,000 prize for her art.
Caroline Springs artist Bindi Cole, a Deadly Art Award winner in 2009, is on the shortlist for the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards (VIAA) for three different pieces.
But she’ll have to beat 30 other talented artists to get there.
It’s a remarkable achievement for Cole, who endured a tumultuous childhood in St Kilda and recently had her design chosen for one of Melbourne’s new art trams.
Her VIAA entries include Lakorra (a Wathaurung word for sky) – a series of photographs taken from various locations across Melbourne’s west.
“I’m happy to be nominated,’’ Cole said. ‘‘I’m up against a lot of good artists. Three entries ups my odds, I guess. I’m all about reconciling identity and finding out where
I belong.
“I like to look at the tensions in society, but most of all I just like to have a voice.” She says she gets her creative side from her mother, who died when Cole was 16. “My mum was a writer,” she says. “In fact, I’m working on a book right now, a kind of memoir, which involves me writing her letters and her responding.”
The VIAA winners will be announced in Ballarat on November 2.
Online voting for a $2500 people’s choice award will close on November 25.
» Details: Click here.
