Viki Murray

Local Contemporary Art Prize 2026 – Finalist

Image courtesy of the artist.

Viki Murray | Suspended in faith | 2026 | mixed media on canvas | 95cm x 125cm

­­This work explores the liminal space between fear and trust, drawn from a near-fatal experience that left two lives suspended in emotional free fall. Loosening complete precision in my technique, I used lighter paint, fluid lines and open space to evoke an ethereal, dream-state atmosphere where reality wavers at the edges.

Two white corellas, photographed from the local pack, whose playful shrieks mark the end of day in my pocket of Eumundi, hover in the night sky. Symbols of faith and surrender, they sit between landing and taking off, embodying the fragile balance of waiting and holding steady in uncertainty.

Below them, coastal casuarinas shimmer in December full-moon light, their minimal, needle-like foliage anchored despite sandy soil. Their quiet resilience mirrors my own search for grounding through hardship.

Suspended In Faith conveys the emotional landscape of that time: choosing trust over fear, held by moonlight, nature and the small circle surrounding us.