First Prize: $1,000 No. 75 "Ceramic Knit" by Valerie Colvin
Second Prize: $500 No. 113 "Phantom Falls - Blue Mountains World Heritage Area" by Phillip Johnson
Third Prize: $250 No. 70 "The native bees nest" by Charlie Wells
Highly Commended: "Rocking Chair" by Hedar Abadi
Judges Comment: "Ceramic Knit is masterfully constructed and aesthetically and conceptually resolved, reflecting (from the judge’s perspectives) our lockdown experiences of 2020. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, art and craft have kept us immersed and self-sufficient in isolation: at our best, we have learnt how to use time purposefully. Small objects, small things — small moments and activities ‘for one’ — have been writ large in our lives."
Judges Comment: "Expressing the scale and sublime beauty of nature, Phantom Falls is a dramatic digital photograph with black and white chiaroscuro effects reminiscent of Rembrandt’s biblical and landscape etchings. The photograph can be located within the traditions of 19th century Romanticism and evokes the impressionist seascapes of Joseph Mallord William Turner; it is a poetic antidote to industry and urbanity."
Judges Comment: "The Native Bee’s Nest is an engaging composition, supporting Clement Greenberg’s dictum that painting should acknowledge its surface. There is a strong decorative flattening and interweaving of non-projective elements, with semi-figurative hints of trees, grasses, rocks, perhaps a park bench, and of course, a nest of escaping bees. Layered shapes, lines, scumbled marks, sgraffito, and a palette of glowing oranges, lemons, yellows, and greys express a degree of whimsy, and a joyfulness in nature.."
