exhibition photos: Jessica King2025 Winner
Sophie Cape
Thunder shifts the shivering sands
Rust, charcoal, soil, pigment and binder on canvas
148 cm x 160 cm
Judges' Comments
A strong embodied, site-responsive, and honest record of environmental upheaval, of land torn by flood and landslide. It portrays the Australian landscape not by illustration, but rather direct material presence made in collaboration with the elements with the artist working directly within the aftermath of natural events. Combining the gathering of raw and found materials from the environment with the expressive force of the artist’s body, it exults in this confluence, melding matter, natural marks and a perceptible, visceral relationship between human presence in the non-human world. The artist brings an almost primal energy to the work, but with instinct and finesse, produces a compelling work of balance and refinement.
2025 Residency Prize Winner
Denise (De) Lamby
Memory of the Land
Recycled tea bags, canvas
90 cm x 90 cm
Judges' Comments
An extremely delicate work, evocative of a moth’s wings or the rising haze over an arid land, this work is pleasing in its material qualities, and carries with it the accumulation of a thousand possible conversations shared over cups of tea; an historic overlay particularly pertinent to the Australian landscape. As an artist committed to sustainable, process-driven artmaking, we are interested in what new materials De may find in Hobart, and how she may share her material storytelling with the local community.
Honourable Mentions
Sara Maher's Lost field is one of the most affecting works in the exhibition. Maher has created a window into another world with the subtlest of techniques. In a work that evokes an intimate sublime, a piece of lace appears to hover in space, the air electrically blue. Perhaps it is the method used – where the image is rendered over weeks by exposure to the sun – that imparts it with a kind of vibration, seeming to oscillate between the present and past. The artist possesses a unique set of skills which conjure a kind of metaphysical space that is powerfully felt in the body.
Philip Wolfhagen’s unquestionable skill is in fusing his adept handling of paint with his intimate knowledge of the landscape that he inhabits, something that can only come with years of experience and quiet observation. Capturing the moments of fading light as the land turns toward night is represented here so vividly and skillfully you can almost smell the cooling evening air as it turns to mist.
A complex and multi-layered work, Valerie Sparks' The Long View summons connections across history and disciplines. The allusions to coastlines and ice shelves seems timely and evocative, but it is in the understanding of the process that Sparks uses that intrigues: using highly specialised medical equipment to scan common garden rocks renders them as seemingly monumental, playing very cleverly with perceptions of scale and importance.
One of the most subtle works in the exhibition, Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarray's painting captures a sense of the quiet movement of energy across a vast landscape. It is a reminder that the power of the land can be held in an essence that is not about grand vistas or remarkable landmarks, but in something that is more about presence, connection and intimate observation over time.
2025 Finalists
To purchase an artwork contact Assistant Curator Skye Targett on contact@hadleysartprize.com.au ph 0408 131 801
RAYMOND ARNOLD The 'blue, yellow' Red Gum, digital print, 85 cm x 111 cm, $8,500
HARRISON BOWE, Of Peaks and Tides, oil, enamel and beeswax on linen, 155 cm x 99 cm, SOLD
JULZ BERESFORD, A Stillness at the Water’s Edge, oil on canvas, 93 cm x 93 cm, SOLD
MICHAYE BOULTER, Atmospheres, oil on linen, 102 cm x 153 cm, $18,500
ALEX BRAY, landscape and memory: coast, porcelain, glaze, lustre, 70 cm x 50 cm, $4,500
SOPHIE CAPE, Thunder shifts the shivering sands, rust, charcoal, soil, pigment and binder on canvas, 148 cm x 160 cm, WINNER
GEORGE COOLEY, Breakaways, acrylic on linen, 124 cm x 116 cm, $16,00
KEN DONE, Mauve reef, 2024, oil and acrylic on linen, 150 cm x 120 cm, $40,000
CALLUM FRANCIS, Sparkes Hill, oil on canvas, 78 cm x 53 cm, $2,200
PETER GRIFFEN, Small Rocks and Wild Grass, mixed media on canvas, 91 cm x 122 cm, $5,00
YOSHIKO GUNNING, Grass Tree Composition #2, inkjet print on paper, 60 cm x 60 cm, $2,200
NEIL HADDON, A View of Water, acrylic, oil and lacquer on aluminium, 140 cm x 130 cm, $12,500
MELISSA KENIHAN, Living Memory, oil on linen, 55 cm x 155 cm, $5,900
RICHARD KLEKOCIUK, Ancient Light, coloured pencil and ink, 108 cm x 83 cm, $5,200
ELIZABETH, KUNOTH KNGWARRAY, Yam Seeds, synthetic polymer on linen, 150 cm x 120 cm, $10,000 HONOURABLE MENTION
DENISE LAMBY, Memory of the Land, recycled tea bags, canvas, 90 cm x 90 cm, $3,200 RESIDENCY PRIZE WINNER
SARA MAHER, Lost Field, a digitally altered photograph of an ephemeral artwork that was made in collaboration with the elemental forces of air and light in Nipaluna (Hobart), 160 cm x 112 cm, $7,500
MELANIE MCCOLLIN- WALKER, Quiet Refuge, acrylic on linen, 156 cm x 156 cm, $25,00
PAMELA PAULINE, Once Was, unique 1/1 photographic collage on etching rag, 95 cm x 125 cm, SOLD
VICTORIAN PEEL, The Road Less Travelled, oil on canvas, 61 cm x 46 cm, SOLD
SANDRA PUMANI, Ngayuku Ngura My Home, acrylic on linen, 153 cm x 122 cm, $3,00
ANDREW PYE, Galahs at a high altitude, billabong eating seed pods, oil on canvas, 85 cm x 85 cm, $11,000
LEON RUSSELL BLACK, Bush Holiday Dreaming, natural ochre on stringy bark, 91 cm x 80 cm, $8,500
TONY SCOTT, Driving up the Calder - 80 Views of Home, collage, oil, glaze, crayon on mount board, 118 cm x 96 cm, $7,500
VALERIE SPARKS, The Long View, pigment inkjet print on paper, 110 cm x 75 cm, $5,700 HONOURABLE MENTION
SUSAN STEVENSON, Memory, acrylic on stretched linen, 90 cm x 90 cm, $4,600
BELINDA STREET, Newcastle Harbour, oil on canvas, 90 cm x 90 cm, $5,200
MARY TONKIN, Where ferns frolic, Kalorama, oil on linen, 69 cm x 62 cm, $17,00
PHILIP WOLFHAGEN, Evening Calm, oil and beeswax on linen, 96 cm x 128 cm, $44,000 HONOURABLE MENTION