Congratulations to Sydney-based Silke Raetze, winner of the 2025 Hornsby Art Prize for her painting Green Tea with Alex, a portrait of her friend and fellow artist.
“To build the image of Alex, I used paper from every aspect of life – packaging paper for the hair, cardboard pieces for the cup, brown paper from supermarket shopping bags, simple black card and then beautiful handmade papers all collaged together.
“I then stitched, painted and sanded the surface, repeating this process until nuances revealed themselves through the layers. In this way I feel a dialogue with the work emerges. This is the part of my process I enjoy the most,” said Raetze.
Winner of the 2025 Hornsby Art Prize: Silke Raetze, Green Tea with Alex, acrylic paint, ink, collaged papers, and stitched thread on canvas
Raetze’s artwork was selected as the winner from a pool of seventy-one finalists, drawn from an incredible 415 artworks submitted from Hornsby Shire and across Australia. Entries to the categories of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture competed for a total prize pool valued at $23,000, with the major prize worth $10,000. This year’s judging panel included Director of Gosford Regional Gallery, Tim Braham, and artist Stephen Hall.
The Hornsby Shire Local Artist Award was presented to Roslyn Kean from Galston for her print Trapped Beneath the Surface, a hand-carved and hand-printed woodblock on paper. “Taking the time to view what is at the edge or hidden just beneath the surface, the reflections at ground level, and the foundations of what now pushes the skyline into greater heights. Without the ground line we lose our reference and how to care for our environment,” said Kean.
The Hornsby Shire Local Artist Award winner: Roslyn Kean, Trapped Beneath the Surface, hand carved and hand printed woodblocks on paper
Other award recipients include:
Photography Award | Tamara Dean, Realms, photographic print
Sculpture Award | Rachel Lucas, The Survivor, stoneware ceramic, glaze and copper wire
Drawing Award | Claire Tozer, Flow, ink pen and pencil on paper
Printmaking Award | Anne Starling, Home Comforts, linocut and woodblock on paper
Painting Award | Katherine Edney, I Want to Lie in the Clouds With You, oil on birch panel
The 2025 Hornsby Art Prize finalist exhibition is showing at the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby NSW 2077, from 12 to 28 September 2025.
