Mid West Art Prize People’s Choice Award winner Willow McAuliffe inspired by predecessors

A piece exploring the notion of sexuality and gender in a regional setting has claimed the people’s choice award at the 2023 Mid West Art Prize. Artist Willow McAuliffe said the experience of their piece being chosen by the public as their favourite was surreal — growing up in awe of previous winners. “It was a really vulnerable subject matter, I wrote a few different artist statements on different topics but they weren’t sitting right so I thought about what was going on at the time,” they said. The piece entitled This Is Not a Love Story showcases ”small town culture and exploring sexuality through the lens of that experience”, McAuliffe said. The born-and-bred Geraldton artist stumbled upon the setting for the photos when walking through Fremantle, finding a small bar with cinematic lighting, which inspired them to book in a photoshoot. “It was really spontaneous,” they said. “The gallery staff and community pretty much raised me so it was kind of like coming out. But it was a parallel because there wasn’t direct feedback, but it was all really positive.” The young artist began studying at Notre Dame University last week, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts to continue with photography full time. “Zac Bruce won the prize in 2019 with his film, and I was so fixated by it. I just knew that was what I wanted to do,” they said. McAuliffe also won the Latitude Jewellers award and received the most votes throughout the duration of the exhibition. Geraldton Regional Art Gallery co-ordinator Briony Bray said receiving both awards was a great achievement. “We hope that this encourages more young artists to enter their work in the Mid West Art Prize, and continue sharing their stories through their arts practices,” she said.