Ephemera Fever

Judging for Ephemera took place at the Lloyd Mann Gardens in Home Hill as part of the 2023 Harvest Festival on Sunday.

Inspired by a similar event in Townsville, Ephemera aims to bring the people of Home Hill and the Burdekin together to celebrate art in their region.

“What we’re looking for in the exhibition is ‘way out’ stuff, not the conventional, every day, smooth corners, it can be rough,” said Ephemera organiser and entrant Uli Liessmann.

“The best idea should win based on five criteria including idea, materials and so forth.”

Three judges, all unknown to Uli, completed judging last Sunday with the winner to be announced at the Harvest Festival Street Festival Grand Parade and Street Party on Saturday, November 11.

“I’ve got no idea who the judges are, I don’t even know if the judges know each other, so we’re trying to make it as fair as it possibly can,” said Uli.

Uli thanked the artists for their entries.

“I’m just really thankful that they’ve put the time and effort into it, because they’re all a fair bit of work,” he said.

The community will also have the opportunity to vote for their favourite piece to be awarded the People’s Choice award.

Read on to find out more about each of the entries and visit Lloyd Mann Gardens in Home Hill to see the installations for yourself.

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Artist Lou Jezard with Ambush Predators

Name: Ambush Predators

Artist: Lou Jezard

Materials used: Timber and wire frame and two layers of palm leaves

Time spent on the installation: Started in May

Inspiration: “Barramundi is an iconic fish of the Burdekin for sport and table,” Lou said.

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Artist Lou Jezard with Gossips

Name: Gossips

Artist: Lou Jezard

Materials used: Palm leaves and inflorescences over a wire frame

Time spent on the installation: Two weeks of “retiree hours”

Inspiration: “We have a plethora of gossips in Home Hill,” Lou said. “People say, ‘Who did you model it on?’ and I say, ‘Give me a name and I’ll tell you.’ I only ever got three names. Plus, Halloween is coming up at the end of this month, so I thought it was fitting.”

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Artist Uli Liessmann with Peace

Name: Peace

Artist: Uli Liessmann

Materials used: Recycled wooden pallets

Time spent on the installation: Six months

Inspiration: “The verse says, ‘I saw many go and I saw few return’, so it’s a bit of a war thing that fits into what’s happening in Ukraine and now Palestine,” said Uli.

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Artist Uli Liessmann with Whatever

Name: Whatever

Artist: Uli Liessmann

Materials used: Timber and paint

Time spent on the installation: “It takes longer to think about it than it does to put together, so probably a month.”

Inspiration: “Everyone seems to have problems, so I was having a shot at that,” said Uli.

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Burdekin Art Society representative Ruth Rush with Looking for Lunch

Name: Looking for Lunch

Artists: Students of the Burdekin Art Society’s children’s classes

Materials used: Repurposed and recycled bottles, bottle caps, household items, paint and more

Inspiration: “With a focus on repurposing and recycling, the children’s imaginations in repurposing and recycling found objects led to the creation of these amazing pieces,” Burdekin Art Society representative Ruth Rush said. “Students had great fun and learnt many new skills in creating their individual pieces and spent many weeks creating their work ready for Ephemera.”

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Artist Scotty Apelt with Cane is King

Name: Cane is King

Artist: Scotty Apelt

Materials used: Repurposed steel - “I’ve repurposed an old gas tank for the abdomen and used the same sorts of things the farmers use for their bores, so the bore cylinder, bore steel and a little bit of playing around and understanding how steel works,” said Scotty.

Time spent on the installation: Three weeks and three days

Inspiration: “We’re in the Burdekin; cane is king,” Scotty said. “I’ve got another surprise coming not next year but the year after, so I’ll keep everybody in suspense. I have what I’m going to do planned out for the next three years.”

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Artists Maree McKeough and Lorraine Lynch with It’s a Colourful World

Name: It’s a Colourful World

Artists: Maree McKeough and Lorraine Lynch

Materials used: Acrylic wool and abandoned disability equipment

Time spent on the installation: “Hundreds of hours”

Inspiration: “We were both disability support workers,” said Lorraine. “Maree still is, and I’m now on disability myself, so we thought we wanted to try something different. The community will identify and will bring people’s minds into the modern disability world.”

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Piper

Name: Piper

Artists: Home Hill State High School art teacher Simone Pitt and year 9 students Zaiden Coad and Kurt Robinson. Alan Styles assisted with the installation.

Materials used: recycled irrigation pipes, zip ties, a hammock and one plastic piece found on Alva Beach.

Time spent on the installation: six hours

Inspiration: The life size figure is based on Ms Pitt’s measurements.

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Let’s Talk Peace

Name: Let’s Talk Peace

Artist: Sandra Milani

Materials used: Recycled Callistemon (bottle brush) timber, recycled fabric, copper wire, solar lights and a Hebel block.

Time spent on the installation: approximately 50 hours

Inspiration: “It came from everything that’s been going on with The Voice and reconciliation and people rewriting history the way they want it,” Sandra said. “I think we have to move on from today, you can’t rewrite history, you have to put that aside at some stage … we’ve got to have peace.”

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‍Keep an eye on ‘Home Hill Harvest Festival’ on Facebook to find out how to vote.

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