About Castaways

The City’s iconic Castaways Sculpture Awards returned this spring and took over the Rockingham Foreshore from Saturday 25 October to Sunday 2 November 2025.

Castaways is an annual outdoor sculptural exhibition showcasing artworks created from repurposed materials at the Rockingham Foreshore.

Castaways started in 2008 as a community arts project to raise awareness around the discarded items or ‘castaways’ washing up on local beaches and has continued to expand and evolve. Today, Castaways provides an important opportunity for emerging and professional Western Australian artists, schools and local businesses to be a part of a regionally-recognised arts program that continues to promote sustainable values.

Castaways Sculpture Awards consists of three exhibitions, with a prize pool of $27,250 (non-acquisitive):

the Main Exhibition displayed at the Rockingham Foreshore.
the Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition at the Rockingham Arts Centre.
the Schools Exhibition displayed in Churchill Park.

Main Exhibition

The Main Exhibition showcases outdoor sculptures set against the backdrop of the Rockingham Foreshore.

Western Australian artists are invited to enter their sculpture for selection.

Sculptures must use recycled and repurposed materials, and must include a 30% visible aluminium component to be eligible for the Major Award.

Kim Perrier, De-Vine, (detail) aluminium. Image courtesy the artist.

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Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition

The Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition celebrates the intricacy of small-scale three-dimensional artworks.

Emerging and professional artists are invited to create indoor sculptures using recycled and repurposed materials.

The exhibition is held at the Rockingham Arts Centre, just a short stroll from Rockingham Foreshore.

Liliana Stafford, Home, recycled windowpane glass and enamel. Image courtesy the artist.

Schools Exhibition

Primary and secondary schools are invited to design and create a sculpture from recycled or repurposed materials for public exhibition alongside emerging and professional artists. A number of benefits have been reported by teachers, including student collaboration, belonging to a community event, and the pursuit of knowledge and new skills.

Castaways aims to introduce to young people how values and important messages can be effectively promoted through engaging channels – important for future community leaders. The Castaways Schools Exhibition is displayed on the Rockingham Foreshore in Churchill Park, alongside the Main Exhibition.

Rockingham Beach Primary School, Peggy the Seabird, wire, carpet, fake grass, cans, bottle caps, milk crate, papier-mâché. Image courtesy the artist.

Gary Aitken, Richard Aitken, Lesley Barrett, Jake Coghlan, Jeff Cork, Joy Francis, Damien Gavillet, Francesca Geromino, Chamonix Higginson, Rene Lehner, Scott Michell, Coster Mkoki, Andrew Mullet, Marite Morris, Kim Perrier, Kelly Robbins, Ed Stafford, Liliana Stafford, Jane Trinder, Ben Veljacich and Erica Zaino.

Gary Aitken, Being Baker, Margaret Beechey Rothery, Amanda Benn, Sherri Brown, Moira Court, Angel Delury, Lisa Dymond, Sky Edwards, Cynda Empsall, Kate Faulds, Anne Gee, Budi Hanaf, Patricia Hines, Michelle Knowles, Marite Norris, Janice O’Meara, Garry Robson, Courtney Smith, Linda Smith, Ed Stafford, Liliana Stafford, Carmen Tyrer, Chris Winspear and Erica Zaino.

Charthouse Primary School, Rockingham Beach Education Support Centre, Rockingham Beach Primary School, Rockingham Montessori School Adolescent Program, Safety Bay Primary School, School of Alternative Learning Settings - Rockingham, Secret Harbour Primary School, Settlers Primary School, Sheoak Grove Primary School, SMYL Community College - Tesla Campus, and Treehouse Homeschool.

Guest Artist

Born in South Korea, Jina Lee studied at the Kaywon School of Arts in South Korea, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage and a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Kookmin University in 2009.

She first exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea in Cottesloe and Bondi in 2015 and relocated to Perth. Now part of the Decade Club at Sculpture by the Sea in Cottesloe, she has been included in exhibitions and symposiums around the world and is director of Western Australia’s first stone sculpture symposium, held in 2022.

Jina is one of very few artists working in stone in Western Australia. She forms a personal relationship with every stone she works with, believing that stone is not just a medium, but a living element that carries the Earth’s history within it.

Through her work, Jina seeks to remind us of our bond with the natural world and with one another, encouraging a moment of pause, reflection, and reconnection in an often fast-paced world.

Podcast Interview

Click here to listen to Castaways Curator Lyn Di Ciero interview Guest Artist Jina Lee about her involvement in Castaways, her most successful artwork and her advice for emerging artists.

Lyn Di Ciero

The 2025 Castaways Curator, Lyn Di Ciero, is a visual arts writer, curator and filmmaker who established the Artist’s Chronicle in 1991, the longest-running independent visual arts magazine in Western Australia’s history. Di Ciero is also a former Visual Arts Feature Writer for The West Australian newspaper (2010-2016). She was the Australian manager for the School of Colour in the 1990s, which included operating distance education across Australia, and has documented several art collections, including the City of Belmont, the City of Rockingham Town of Mosman Park and Perth Airport.

She has curated the City of Rockingham Castaways Sculpture Awards since its inception, and the annual Soroptimist International of Fremantle Help the Homeless Act Auction, which raises funds for critical services for the homeless and at-risk homeless in the community. From 2020 to 2022, she was the curator of the Mandorla Art Award, Australia’s most significant thematic Christian art prize.

Since 2013, she has explored filmmaking as another form of storytelling in the visual arts, with her filmography including commissions from the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the City of Rockingham and St John of God Health Care.

Schools are provided guidance with their sculptures from the 2025 Castaways Schools Facilitators.

Jacq Chorlton (Funkydory)

Jacq creates award-winning wearable art, recycled materials sculpture, painting, ceramics, community art and more. She has been a participant in Castaways on nine occasions, winning three awards.

Rachel Lemon

Rachael is an award-winning artist who has been selected for Castaways and the Rockingham Art Prize. Her community art projects include art classes and workshops for all ages and assisting the Baldivis Brumby Girl Guides, students from St Munchin’s Primary School and Ridge View Secondary College’s art club. In 2023, she led school guided tours at Castaways.

This year's independent selection panellists met to select the 2025 finalists from the submitted artworks.

Tony Davies

Tony Davis has an extensive background in Art Education and has been exhibiting paintings and sculpture since 1973, with seven solo and many group exhibitions to his credit, including exhibiting at Sculpture by the Sea, both at Cottesloe and Bondi, 23 times. He won the major award at Bondi in 2022. A lifetime of experience with WA native timbers and many years as a fine wood craftsman and furniture maker has resulted in a preference for wood as his favourite medium for sculpture, often in concert with corten steel. The magnetic language of wood, archiving time and place, contributes to a grounded connection with the environment as he continues to explore intimate relationships between man and the increasingly hostile and ever-changing world around us.

His works are included in many private and corporate collections in Australia and overseas, including Minderoo, Kerry Stokes, Curtin, Tim Roberts, Supreme Court, City of Bunbury, City of Wanneroo, the Hotel Association, Eden Gardens, the Snowy Mountains Sculpture Trail and Gowing Bros.

Jenny Dawson

Jenny Dawson has been a practicing freelance artist since graduating with both a Teaching and Fine Arts degree in 1989, specialising in drawing and ceramics. Completing residencies in Fremantle, Hobart, and Deruta, Italy, Jenny established her own studio at J Shed, Fremantle in 1992. She spent several years producing maiolica-decorated tableware with renowned potter Ian MacRae before co-founding the J Shed Art Studio in 1998 with her partner, photographer Peter Zuvela.

Jenny has created over 60 public artworks, often in collaboration with other artists, incorporating ceramic components in the design. Her personal work includes limited-edition slip-cast earthenware, hand-built cubist-style vessels, and whimsical small sculptures that highlight the tactile and playful qualities of clay.

Jenny has received multiple awards for her public art and design contributions, including the 1999 Civic Design Award and the 2008 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence. Her works are held in numerous private and government collections, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia. More recently, Jenny travelled to China to exhibit her specially designed Dog teapots in Shanghai, to celebrate the Year of the Dog. Jenny continues her work at J Shed, exploring new techniques learnt during this influential Chinese residency.

Once the finalists' sculptures have been installed for the exhibition, the independent judges will select the winning artworks for each award category.

Main and Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition

Dr Audrey Fernandes-Satar PhD

Audrey Fernandes-Satar was born in India, has studied in Lisbon, Portugal and lived in Australia for the past 40 years. She grew up within a microcosm of stories of freedom and activism – collective memories shared, or overhead, and then kept safe in an imaginary repository somewhere in her mind. Her practice spans poetic text, painting, sculpture, drawing and the moving image. She has completed numerous site-specific art projects in public spaces and exhibited in Australia and overseas, including at the 23rd Venice Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy in 2023.

Audrey holds an MFA from the University of Lisbon, Portugal and a PhD from Murdoch University, Perth, where she has been a lecturer for the past 18 years.

Johannes Pannekoek

Johannes Pannekoek is recognised for his bold, curvilinear metal sculptures. With a background in creative design and engineering, he further developed his practice through studies in Applied Environmental Art at Central TAFE.

His work explores abstract forms through parabolic curves, spatial relationships, and the interplay of volume and line. Using both ferrous and non-ferrous metals, Johannes embraces complex mathematical and fabrication techniques to create distinctive sculptures with a refined material finish. From his design studio and fully equipped workshop in the Hills, he leads a small team of skilled professionals who help bring his intricate designs to life.

He has regularly exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, both Cottesloe and Bondi since 2012. His most recent award was the 2024 Hancock Prospecting and Roy Hill Sculpture Award at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe. His public art commissions range from St Hilda’s Primary in 2009 to Crown Towers in 2016 and the City of Melville in 2024.

Schools Exhibition

Stephen Armitstead

Stephen Armitstead has an extensive background in education and Visual Art practice of over 25 years. He has taught in a number of institutions including both High School and University. Currently Head of Learning for The Arts at Applecross SHS, he teaches both visual arts and media to students from year 7 to year 12.

In his art practice, Stephen Armitstead works with experimental installation, video, photo-media, architecture, sculpture, interactive elements, and sound. Originally from New South Wales, Stephen studied Fine Art at COFA, UNSW. Armitstead’s work has been represented in solo and group exhibitions in WA, SA and NSW and his work has been selected for the Mid-West Art Prize (2018, 2015) and for the Joondalup Invitational Art Award (2010, 2012).

He has collaborated on site-specific temporary artworks for the City of Fremantle (2013) and for the City of Subiaco (2011). His most recent solo exhibitions include a 2019 exhibition at Cool Change Contemporary in WA, and 2017 at Feltspace in SA.

Paul Leeming

Paul Leeming who is the current Visual Art coordinator at Carey Baptist College Harrisdale, has been steeped in Visual Art and creativity from a young age. As a 12-year-old, living in Manchester England, he was a runner up in the National BBC’s Blue Peter Keep Britain Tidy art competition and excelled in Visual Art, living in Germany, England, Scotland and Australia, attending Churchlands Senior High school under the tutelage of Phil Stanley.

In the 1980’s, Paul trained to be a Graphic Designer at the old Perth Technical college under an esteemed creative stable of lecturers such as Cedric Baxter, Neil Hollace, David Silvester and Brian McKay, and worked for several advertising agencies in West Perth as a freelance Graphic Designer/Illustrator. After a stint of working in the US and UK, Paul embarked on fostering his love of Art and Design within the context of Art Teaching, working both for the state education department and private sector.

Paul’s passion, as a dedicated Visual Art coordinator and specialist sees him adept at teaching a diverse range of art disciplines, including painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and Illustrated design. His experience in delivering high-quality Visual Art programs fostering student creativity, is aligned with the Western Australian Curriculum, and reflects nearly 30 years of practice. Paul has seen numerous Visual Art students excel and win awards and pursue their chosen careers to become important influences in both in the art world and educational setting.

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