A BALLARAT artist has scored one of the biggest successes of his short career, winning a prestigious art award on the other side of the country.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Joshua Muir's painting Ocean Explorer was this month named the winner of the Rockingham Art Award, in the Indigenous artists category.
The painting will now take pride of place in the gallery at Rockingham in Western Australia.
Muir, 27, from Redan said the theme of 'space' had resonated with him.
READ MORE: A rising star celebrates survival
"I captured the astronaut to clearly state that it was an iconic image and the ocean in the background was saying that it was vast and almost infinite, so I decided to mix it between the two," Muir said.
"I wanted to work with the idea of reflection and I thought it fitted well with the theme of space.
Muir said it was also a good opportunity to mix colours, something that is his trademark.
"I've always like to match colours, so I was keen for this to be blues and purples, to get that sort of mystique," he said.
"It's a relatively speedy process, the idea just comes to me and I create the image.
I think I've found a niche in how I do things, It's something I enjoy sharing with people, reflecting the environment and telling stories is something I pride myself on."
The City of Rockingham Art Awards attracted over 195 artwork entries across seven categories: Youth, Local, 3D, Emerging, Heritage, Indigenous and Open.
In all, 89 of those entries are currently being exhibited at the Gary Holland Community Centre and Rockingham Arts Centre.
Muir, who has been working as a professional artist since only 2015, said it was the first time entering a competition in Western Australia/
"Being over the other side of the country and somewhere I haven't touched was a big thing for me," he said.
"I entered previously mainly around Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory. It was an idea to go into another state.
"I've been fortunate that my paintings have been exposed a lot across this state, but it's nice to capture that now across the whole country."
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
