The Blue Fringe Arts Awards originated as the Adrienne Brown Awards in 1992. Adrienne had schizophrenia and found relief through her love of poetry, the arts and music. After her death in 1990, her family created the Awards in memory of Adrienne’s battle with schizophrenia. The family recognised the valuable role that artistic expression played in their daughter’s life. From this, emerged the Blue Fringe Art & Literature Festival, now in its 28th year.
Through its life Blue Fringe has showcased the talents of thousands of poets, artists and story tellers. For many it is the first time they have shared their work publicly and for some the experience is life changing…
“Blue Fringe is an opportunity to be heard, to be seen. It opens up conversations. It brings mental illness out of the darkness and into the light”
‘Eight Out of Ten Men’
This is one of my drawings from Falling Through the Cracks, a series of works in which I have explored the desperate, the forgotten, the no longer recognisable people in our society. The invisible. People who have fallen through the cracks, as well as those who have evaded and manipulated the ‘system’ and those who are deviously in hiding.
Although some of the faces might be recognised, they are devoid of names which would personalise their identity. My subjects, although based on real people, are nameless.
For this work, ‘Eight Out of Ten Men’, I received the Highly Commended award for 2020.
Jennifer Trezise ... Artist & Poet 