Congratulations to Bruce Reynolds, winner of the 2022 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize.
The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is Australia’s pre-eminent prize for small sculpture and the first national acquisitive prize for an original sculpture of up to 80cm, presented by Woollahra Council.
Reynolds has been awarded the $25,000 award for his work Animal Kraters, which will be acquired for the Council’s permanent public collection, joining previous winners Tim Silver, Robert Owen, Yvonne Kendall, Rhonda Sharpe and Mikala Dwyer.

Bruce Reynolds Animal Kraters, cast hydrocal and pigment, 72 x 72 x 52cm. Winner 2022 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize
“It is gratifying and validating to win this highly competitive award,” said Reynolds. “It is a form of recognition representing the other side of studio practice, where labour is invested on faith, well away from the art world. This is especially so for artists working without representation or searching for a new model of relationship with their audience. Financially, it enables me to continue in the studio with increased resolve and ambition, keeping the distraction of costs at bay a while longer. My sincere thanks to all involved.”
Nabilah Nordin received the Special Commendation Award of $2,000 for Glut Cherry, while Peter Tilley was selected for the Mayor’s Award, winning $1,000 for The Next Voyage.
This year’s judging panel comprised Sydney-based artist Joan Ross, Gallery Director and Curator José Da Silva, and the editor of Artist Profile magazine, Kon Gouriotis OAM, who commented on their selection of the winning work:
“The work left a strong impression on the judges, who found the piece exceedingly fascinating and resolutely well-made. The form makes exquisite use of cast relief elements that capture the imprint of various surfaces. The collaged parts fuse to create a vessel that feels effortless and suggestive of different eras and uses. It is evocative of archaic pottery and the materiality of 3D printing and could be interpreted as a vessel and a nest, ornamental and practical, sculpture and painting.”
The winning sculptures were chosen from a finalist group of forty-nine works by artists including Ara Dolatian, Amala Groom, Franky Howell, Antoinette O’Brien, Leonie Rhodes, Lynda Draper, Mai Nguyen-Long, Michael Cusack, Pippin Drysdale and Vipoo Srivilasa, to name but a few.
Exploring an eclectic mix of themes, including loss of identity, decolonisation, the reimagining of ancient stories and artefacts and gender identity, the 2022 finalists’ works will be on display at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf in Sydney from 13 October to 20 November 2022. All sculptures are on sale to the public.