Castaways Sculpture Awards

Now in its 14th year, Castaways is the City of Rockingham’s premier arts and culture event held in November.

Castaways gives emerging and professional artists the opportunity to exhibit their creative skills by designing sculptures made from recycled and repurposed materials.

In the Main Exhibition on the Rockingham Foreshore, the public chose ‘Fractured Time’ by Bridgetown artist Kim Perrier as the winner of the Fremantle Ports People’s Choice Award.

Kim Perrier, who also won the People’s Choice last year at Castaways, said “Castaways is always an exciting exhibition and this year was no exception. I felt honoured to win this award again.

“The sculpture illustrates the ‘mother of time’ rewinding the clock as numerals spiral down the tapered base, sucked into a black hole where time ceases to exist. Winning the People’s Choice communicates to me that people see the value in my work, so it is very encouraging, thank you.”

The Sculpture ‘Fractured Time’ is made from recycled and repurposed materials, the life size ‘mother of time’ is women cast from recycled aluminium sitting inside a 1.2metre aluminium flange salvaged from a jet engine.

Kim and Marie Perrier have been developing a sculpture park at their property on Dreyfus Street in Bridgetown to house and display Kim’s latest contemporary work.

The sculptures Kim has produced over the years have been a mix of different materials, ranging from works in bronze, concrete, resin to remnants from the bush.

The sculpture chosen by the public vote for the ‘People’s Choice’ Award in 2021 was a ‘CarboNature’ combined with aluminium casting and is now on display in the park.

Kim has five sculptures underway at the moment, one of those being a ‘money frog’ design. He plans to use this sculpture as an honesty box for when visitors come to view the garden, with the frog being a depository where they can leave a cash donation after enjoying the sculptures in his Sculpture Garden.

The garden has been opened to the public now for around five months housing around twenty-four sculptures. The Perriers have also set up solar light system so the sculptures are lit up at dusk.

Kim continues, “My art is my passion, creating and designing new styles of art is what drives me to create and send creative thoughts out to the world.

“For over four decades, innovative styles keep emerging from my deep dedication and creative thoughts and by exploring a myriad of materials and techniques.

“‘HumaNature’ and ‘CarboNature’ evolved as urgent, strong symbols in the world, to honour, respect and care for our symbiotic relationship with nature. Will I ever be wealthy? Maybe not in the usual way, yet I feel I live a rich life. I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m telling you it’s worth it.”