Hornsby Art Prize winners announced

The 2022 Hornsby Art Prize winners have been announced, with Solomon Karmel-Shann from Canberra taking home the top prize for his depiction of a troubled young man walking away from a red flag that towers in the distance on top of the hill.

The judges described the winning work, A Whispering Flag, as evoking “a sense of mystique and an underlying story. The viewer is drawn into a narrative that is both sensitive and deeply emotional.”

Karmel-Shann adds that it “is a very personal painting, exploring change, difficult decisions, contemplation. It’s a tense moment of indecision. A story that’s just out of reach of a conclusion.”

Solomon Karmel-Shann, A Whispering Flag

For Karmel-Shann: “Winning the Hornsby Art Prize was a very surreal experience, one that still feels a bit like a dream. I worked really hard on my painting, alone in the studio with my own thoughts and doubts. It’s so encouraging to be given an award like this. Thrilling actually.”

Hosted in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society, the Hornsby Art Prize is an annual, national art competition and exhibition promoting and celebrating outstanding original works of art. This year, the competition had a total prize pool valued at $23,000, with the major prize worth $10,000.

Special effort is made to highlight the work of local artists. The Wallarobba Outstanding Local Award was awarded to Maide Anne Welch from Hornsby for her work Sweet Temptation  fittingly described as a “sweet piece” by the judges. “It elevates the reality of an everyday object to a surreal style.”

Local emerging latent is also recognised through the Hornsby Shire Emerging Artist Award which was won by Amelia Ruggiero from Hornsby for her work Farm: Seated. The judges described it as a “small but engaging work of beautiful making and gestures”.

Other winners include:

Category Winner – Printmaking
Cleo Wilkinson

Category Winner – Drawing
Linda Lunnon

Category Winner – 3D Works
Jody Graham

Category Winner – Digital Skills
Garth Henderson

Category Winner – Painting
Sally West

The prize winners and the finalists will be on exhibition at Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre and Hornsby Central Library in northern Sydney, New South Wales until 30 October 2022. 

hornsby.nsw.gov.au/artprize

HELP DESK:
subscribe@artistprofile.com.au | PH: +612 8227 6486