New South Wales-based James Rogers has been announced the winner of the $70,000 Aqualand Sculpture Award in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, which celebrates its twenty-seventh edition. Rogers won the award with Siren’s Song, having previously exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi twenty times, including in its first exhibition in 1997.
James Rogers (Australia), ‘Siren’s Song’, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2025. Photograph: Dan Varrica
“I’m delighted to be this year’s recipient of the Aqualand Sculpture Award,” Rogers said. “Having worked with the Sculpture by the Sea team for many years now it really means a lot to me to be recognised in this way.”
Transforming the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi is the world’s largest free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition. It features over ninety sculptures by artists from thirteen different countries, including Denmark, China, Japan and India. There are sixty-four Australian artists in the exhibition this year, with thirty-six exhibiting for the first time.
Other highlights include Western Australia-based artist Jina Lee, who received the $10,000 Waverley Council Mayor’s Award for i, along with Tim Storrier AM – joining the exhibition for the first time with Splotcher – and Lucy Barker and Jane Gillings with a large kaleidoscope, Ways of Seeing – joint recipients of the Deepal Australia Artist Award, Barker and Gillings have both exhibited individually at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi over ten times.
Among the other highlights are Helen Lempriere Scholarship recipients, Angela Valamanesh ($35,000; SA), Ayako Saito ($30,000; NSW), and Nicholas Burridge ($25,000; VIC), and Transfield Australian Invited Artists Rosalind Lemoh (NSW) and Ron Robertson Swann OAM (NSW), who receive $15,000 each. Additionally, as Clitheroe Foundation Emerging Sculptor Mentor Program recipients, Kasane Low from NSW and Sophie Dumaresq from ACT both receive $15,000.
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi runs until 3 November 2025.
