Finalist of the Australian Body Art CarnivaleThe winners of the 2014 Australian Body Art Carnivale

The 2014 Australian Body Art Carnivale saw around 100 competitors embrace this year’s theme of ‘Dreams and Nightmares’. The Carnivale, which is held annually in Eumundi, is a festival of colour and a veritable celebration of body art in its many forms. The event not only allows the public to witness the phenomenal transformation of human canvases but also gives the opportunity for artists to showcase their talent and creativity.

The colourful community arts event again drew thousands of spectators to watch some of the nation’s best body artists, face painters, visual artists and wearable art designers create and parade their masterpieces.

Event Manager Danielle Taylor says the theme of ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ drew a wide range of interpretations across all competition categories and some truly incredible art emerged.

“Some artists focused on dreams, other on nightmares, and many intertwined the two – showing the duality between good and evil, beauty and horror”.

“We saw works that featured spiders, grotesque gore, sci-fi horror and monsters as well as angels, rainbow sprites, goddesses and knights in shining armour,” says Danielle.

Danielle highlighted what a great weekend the event is for art-loving members of the public.

“It truly is phenomenal to watch the artists come together from near and far to create something special,” she said.

“The artists were under pressure to create their masterpieces within the defined time limits of the competitions, yet all had smiles on their faces and really seemed to enjoy themselves and celebrate the opportunity to work alongside fellow artists,” Danielle said.

“The support for novice competitors, including two 13 year old artists in the Face Painting Competition, was particularly great to see, with more experienced artists really encouraging the new competitors throughout the day.”

Finalist of the Australian Body Art Carnivale
Finalist of the Australian Body Art Carnivale

The prize-winners for 2014 are as follows:

Brush & Sponge BODY ART
Winner & People’s Choice: Kim Cakebread
Runner Up: Gina Nomachi

Airbrush BODY ART
Winner & People’s Choice: Janie Fearon
Runner Up: Kelli MacAlpine

SPECIAL EFFECTS BODY ART
Winner: Juliet Bradford
Runner Up & People’s Choice: Kelli MacAlpine

WIMMERS Face Painting
Winner: Ayesha Henderson
Runner Up: Lauren Edmonds
People’s Choice & Judge’s Encouragement Award: Caitlin Tickner

BENDIGO BANK Wearable Art (fabulous fashion made from recycled treasures)
Winner: Heather O’Flaherty
RUNNER-UP Yasmin Bridges
PEOPLE’S CHOICE Julie Johnson

CAR BONNET PAINTING
Winner: Rene McGovern
Runner Up: Adam Rolfe
People’s Choice: Holly Hughes

The winners of the Photography Competition (a competition with images taken over the Carnivale weekend) will be announced at the opening of the ‘Colours of the Carnivale’ exhibition at Discover Eumundi at 2 pm on Sunday 22 June.