Grace Herrman, Andrew Kimberley and Rachel Kimberley

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2026 - Finalist

_{Image courtesy of artist.}

Grace Herrman, Andrew Kimberley and Rachel Kimberley
QLD

Careful creature
2024
Digital video, duration 1:37

Careful Creature was created by Caloundra artist Grace Herrmann and Brisbane-based brother-sister duo Rachel nd Andrew Kimberley, known as Ancient Monkey. The work combines Herrmann’s handmade paper carvings with Ancient Monkey’s photography, compositing, and animation practice to form a looping digital video work.

The narrative follows a seemingly fragile creature moving across an increasingly volatile ocean, ultimately entering a maelstrom and an uncertain fate before returning to the beginning in a cyclical, Sisyphean loop. While the journey is universal in feel, from an artist’s perspective it reflects the ongoing nature of creative practice itself — each project requiring renewed risk, persistence, and emotional and financial uncertainty, despite awareness of its fragility.

In contrast to an era of rapidly generated digital imagery, Careful Creature embraces a slower, materially grounded process. Handcrafted paper forms are built, photographed, and then transformed through digital animation, bringing together physical labour and digital construction in a collaborative workflow. The result is a meditation on fragility, repetition, and the endurance required to continue making work.