The Road Autumn 2020

2020 ALUMNI ART PRIZE
RACHAEL BEARDALL
The 2020 artist commissioned is Rachael Beardall, Class of 2014.
Rachael created this unique art piece of acrylic and impasto on
canvas. Each artist is asked to develop an artist statement describing
the motivation behind the piece.
2020 Artist Statement
TO LIVE BY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST (2020)
When applying for this Art Project I sat and pondered our College
Motto ‘To Live By The Light of Christ’. For me, Damascus College
represents a wonderful community of young people who are on
their own journey in life and have so many stories to share. Then I
considered some of the great things that Damascus is involved in and
I kept coming back to the environmental aspect.
Our College is set on such rich land with beautiful views in every
direction. This campus has beautiful nature grown into its roots, so I
began to peel away the layers of the environment. We have beautiful
Gum trees, walking trails, wildlife, big and small, and for me the
mightiest of them all; the humble Bee.
The Bee is such a wonderful creature. Bees are perfectly adapted
to pollinate, helping plants grow, breed and produce food. Nearly
two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural production benefits from bee
pollination but the numbers of bees are shrinking at an alarming rate.
I hope that focusing on the bee will raise awareness of them and their
importance.
The Blue-Banded bee ties in with the cycle of a student at Damascus.
Our College nurtures students to be whatever they choose in life,
offering many pathways. I have seen many examples that, through
education, students understand and care for our planet.
Blue-Banded bees are native to Victoria and are very prominent on
our campus grounds. I wish to pay respects to the Wadawurrung
people for the care of this land that I hope we walk gently on. I
have featured the Murnong plant. The Murnong daisy connects to
our indigenous brothers and sisters who have walked this land for
generations and used this little yam as a food source, pollinated
by our little bee. I have also included purple lavender as I find it
interesting that the Blue Banded bee is drawn to purple flowers and
foliage and, therefore, these have a higher pollination rate.
With my artwork, I invite the audience to consider how they ‘Live by
the Light of Christ’ within their own community. Hopefully, through
this artwork, the awareness of our native bees will become more
apparent and we can start to appreciate them in their entirety. To
me, a simple bee, often unseen but one of God’s beautiful creations,
brings forth the presence of the ‘Light of Christ’.
Rachael Beardall, Class of 2014
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