Meet the artist – Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2024 winner Jackie Streit

Vexations in blue by Jackie Streit has been awarded first prize in the Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2024. Streit’s artwork is one of 38 thought-provoking works by this year’s finalists on display until May 2025 at Meroogal, a historic house museum in Nowra, on the NSW south coast.

Launched in 1998, the biennial Meroogal Women’s Art Prize celebrates the achievements and creativity of women artists in NSW through works that respond to Meroogal, its rich cultural heritage and enduring sense of place. It pays tribute to the four generations of resilient and resourceful women who maintained and cherished the house from the time it was built in 1885 until it became a museum in 1985.

In selecting the finalists, the panel of judges looked for works that cast new light on the stories of Meroogal, the people who lived there and the treasured belongings they left in the house.

The 2024 first prize winner, Jackie Streit, is a Sydney-based artist and a first-time entrant in the prize. Along with the prize money and a one-year membership of Museums of History NSW, Streit received a scholarship for a prestigious two-week artist-in-residence program at Bundanon on the Shoalhaven River in 2025.

Dr Jacqui Newling, curator of the Meroogal Women’s Art Prize exhibition, interviewed Jackie Streit about her experience as a first-time entrant and prize winner.

What prompted you to enter the Meroogal Women’s Art Prize?

I’d heard about the Meroogal Women’s Art Prize while exploring opportunities to engage in new, unfamiliar creative challenges. Regional NSW has vibrant artistic communities and I was intrigued by the unique history of the Meroogal property and its inhabitants. I love the idea that the art prize supports women artists of NSW and that the house is focused around generations of women navigating the societal expectations of their time.

Is Vexations in blue representative of, or a departure from, your usual artistic medium?

My principal medium was painting, and I had dabbled in other forms of media, but I put my practice to the side for a good few years to focus on motherhood of two kids, and to work as a print designer. I returned to my art practice only a few years ago, painting and showing with a local female collective of artists, who were all kind of in a similar predicament to me and were still practising art in the late or early hours in between many other jobs.

When I returned to painting, I still wasn’t feeling like I was developing my concepts as I wanted to, so I started experimenting with sculpture and dimensional form last year. It really reignited my love for working with my hands and building on concepts in a concrete way. Mixing up my mediums to suit my concepts has been really stretching my creative muscle, so to speak. Vexations in blue has been a great reminder to myself to continue to follow my creative instinct and not limit myself to a single medium.

How did you research Meroogal?

I had been meaning to visit the house for years after hearing about the prize, and this year I managed to visit while we were staying in a little farmhouse not too far from Nowra. The guided tour includes so many interesting aspects of the house and the women and their roles during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I was especially taken by the women’s sustainable approach to life with their ability to reuse and conserve what they already had. It wasn’t until I read the diaries of Tot Thorburn [the youngest of the Thorburn sisters who lived at Meroogal] after the tour that I developed an insight into her inner dialogue. Tot writes about her many roles, and the expectations of a woman to tend to the house with its laborious and physical demands, and she questions why the men go off to work and the women are limited to house duties. She is constantly wanting to better her faith, even though she seems quite devout, all whilst keeping up societal appearances within the limitations of Victorian roles.

Your artwork is imbued with symbolism and embodies several elements of Tot’s experiences. Can you tell us more about this?

Vexations in blue is based around the expectations and roles of women. In Tot’s time it was to tend to the house, the children and the men, expectations that, in some respects, women are still trying to break with today. I took inspiration from the photos of Tot and tried to represent hairstyles she had in her photos, noting that her hairstyles became more and more relaxed as she aged, or maybe due to her workload? The blue ribbon is an expression of her longing for something more but is also derived directly from an event she recorded where she had been teased about an outfit she wore that had a blue ribbon [Tot’s diary, Thursday 18 July 1889]. The ribbon may have been a particular statement of individuality she had tried to make, hence why she was so upset about it. 

The purse represents her holding it all together: her frustrations, her role in society, her longings, much like today’s ‘mental load’.

What was it like to see your work displayed with others’ in the house?

It was wonderful to see the amazing talent of women artists in this year’s prize and the diversity of concepts and mediums in their response to Meroogal. I really appreciated the selected works that discuss the dark history of colonialism in NSW and its impact on the First Nations people and their land. The judging panel were standout. It’s been a privilege to be a part of it all.

How will the Bundanon residency help you develop your practice?

I am immensely excited for the Bundanon residency next year, to be able to immerse myself at Bundanon for two weeks in its expansive natural environment and unique architectural features. I plan to experiment with a larger scale concept I have been eager to explore. I am humbled and eager to embrace the opportunity to work alongside dedicated and dynamic artists in such a supportive and respected creative community. As a mother of two, one of whom has a disability, life is extremely busy. The opportunity to immerse myself for such long stretches simply doesn’t come up often and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

The finalists’ works are displayed throughout the house alongside the existing furnishings and objects accumulated over four generations. They add an extra dimension and compelling contemporary commentary to the stories of Meroogal. Visitors are invited to nominate an artwork for the People’s Choice Award, which will be announced when the exhibition closes in May 2025. The winning artist will win $500 and a one-year Museums of History NSW membership.

Other prize winners

Second prize: Flower boy by Sassy Park
Highly commended: Deep longings settled by Mariana del Castillo