Judges: Sarah Wallace, Judith Ryan AM, Abdul Abdullah
Photos: Jessica KingOpening Night
Thank you to everyone who came and joined in our opening celebrations on Friday, 31st July.
Special thanks to Jansz Tasmania and Cascade Brewery.
Photos: Richard Jupe
Thank you to Matt Woodham at Treat Lightly for capturing our opening celebrations.
2026 Winner
Robert Fielding
Landscape
synthetic polymer on linen
122 cm x 152 cm
Judges' Comments
An impressive and unexpected landscape which show us the landscape as the artist experiences it. Using the dot tradition from men’s body painting for inma, Fielding depicts wrecked cars which entail long journeys through Country. They encapsulate memory and loss, revealing a landscape which is lived and still sacred.
Honourable Mentions
Kim Leutwyler, Sunlit from within A landscape made with rich impasto, gestural brushstrokes. Whimsical trees contrast with the bold texture of the paint, while finely rendered clumps of foliage add subtle detail and depth. The strong contrasts in colour and texture create a compelling balance between expressive vitality and quiet refinement.
Brenda Croft, Weereewa (Lake George) Tree I (for Dorothy + Brenda) An arresting composition with a surprising surface harbouring history and memory in the darkness. With melancholic tones, it presents the untold mystery of what’s happened on Country.
Betty Muffler, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country) This is a masterful work with an ancient visual language that Betty Muffler has made her own. Muffler experienced Country decimated by an atomic bomb at Maralinga. She is a survivor and a healer, a Ngangkari.
Natasha Bieniek, Trill Small inner-city gardens are how many people living in urban environments experience nature. This work shows us that art can be very intimate, with extraordinary technique that creates an impact far greater than its scale—something that needs to be seen to be believed.
2026 Mercury People's Choice Award Winner
Harrison Bowe
A Humbling Insignificance
oil and beeswax on linen
155 cm x 99 cm
About the Artwork
Upon rocks forged when life was in its most primitive form, I observe dawn from shadows which retain the night’s chill. In the presence of such ancient formations, I am met with a humbling insignificance; personal tribulations recede against the vastness of deep time. A Humbling Insignificance explores a unity between the landscape’s physical form and my perception of place, shaped through embodied engagement; traversing terrain, enduring conditions, and reflecting on geological and anthropic histories. Expressive yet composed marks render the landscape’s rugged poetics, while an interplay of mediums distinguishes solid and atmospheric forms, allowing each its own resonance.
2026 Residency Prize Winner
Kelsey Ash
Bunuru Nocture, Derbal Yerrigan (High-Summer Night, Swan River)
unique state wax reduction screen print with botanical inks: indigofera tintura, chlorophyll from mulberry leaves, turmeric, musou ink, and photoluminescent pigments: europium, dysprosium, strontium aluminate
160 cm x 140 cm
Judges' Comments
This work captures a romantic nocturnal atmosphere through compelling light effects that create an otherworldly sense of wonder. An innovative reductive screen-printing process is enhanced by the magical use of photoluminescent pigments, allowing the image to transform with changing light. The result is a captivating artwork that lingers between the familiar and the extraordinary. We were impressed with the experimentation and innovation in this work and look forward to seeing what Kelsey creates during the residency.
Packing Room Prize Winner
Presented by Wagner Framemakers
Alice Mannheim
Log it!
oil paint on canvas
84 cm x 112 cm
Volunteer Comments
Unpacking this artwork was a joy. It’s full of life and its unique perspective—looking through a river teeming with aquatic plants—sets it apart from a traditional landscape.
IAS Art Handlers’ Award
Kelsey Ash
Bunuru Nocture, Derbal Yerrigan (High-Summer Night, Swan River)
unique state wax reduction screen print with botanical inks: indigofera tintura, chlorophyll from mulberry leaves, turmeric, musou ink, and photoluminescent pigments: europium, dysprosium, strontium aluminate
160 cm x 140 cm
Comments from Andy Lynch, National Manager, IAS Fine Art Logistics
This is a striking depiction of a moonlit coastal scene that contains within it multitudes for the viewer to revel. This artwork through its complex depth of field and high contrast is immediately arresting but also holds a depth and weight that requires further investigation to truly appreciate. There is a meeting of worlds within this landscape, where traditional romanticism gives way to contemporary processes and artistic ingenuity resulting in an incredibly special piece of art.
2026 Finalists
Agnes Rubuntja, Bush Medicine, acrylic on canvas, 111 cm x 111 cm SOLD
Alice Mannheim, Log it!, oil paint on canvas, 84 × 112 cm - PACKING ROOM PRIZE WINNER. $15,000
Kumantjayi Lane, Pirrnpirrnga – Desert Bore, acrylic paint on Belgian linen, 76 x 121 cm
Betty Campbell, Minymaku Inma, synthetic polymer on linen, 152 × 122 cm, $5,900
Betty Muffler, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), acrylic on linen, 152 × 122 cm - HONOURABLE MENTION. $29,000
Brenda Croft, Weereewa (Lake George) Tree I (for Dorothy + Brenda), Chromalux print, scanned from original tintype, 105 × 78 cm - HONOURABLE MENTION. $27,500
Bronte Leighton-Dore, The treetops rustle; it is carried down the escarpment and dissipates in the lower fields, oil on board, 100 × 140 cm, $8,400
Bugai Whyoulter, Parnngurr, acrylic on linen, 152 × 152 cm, $12,500
George Kennedy, Before The Rain, oil on canvas, 122 × 92 cm, $4,450
Grace Gladdish, Entanglement, watercolour and collaged linoprints on paper, 73 × 152 cm, $4,800
Todd Simpson, Where Light Settles, airbrushed acrylic on aluminium, 105 × 105 cm SOLD
Harrison Bowe, A Humbling Insignificance, oil and beeswax on linen, 155 x 99 cm - MERCURY PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER - SOLD
Imants Tillers, PIKILYI, synthetic polymer paint, gouache on 16 canvas board panels, 102 × 142 cm $32,000
Joe Blundell, Tormented land, oil and sand on linen, 153 × 153cm $12,000
Julian Meagher, First light over Cuttagee #2, oil on linen, 153 × 122 cm $17,000
Kelsey Ashe, Bunuru Nocture, Derbal Yerrigan (High-Summer Night, Swan River), unique state wax reduction screen print with botanical inks: indigofera tintura, chlorophyll from mulberry leaves, turmeric, musou ink, and photoluminescent pigments: europium, dysprosium, strontium aluminate, 160 × 140 cm - RESIDENCY PRIZE WINNER | IAS ART HANDLERS' AWARD WINNER, SOLD
Ken Done, Emerald coral, oil and acrylic on linen, 59 × 69 cm $12,000
Kim Leutwyler, Sunlit from within, oil on canvas, 76 × 102 cm - HONOURABLE MENTION $7,500
Linda Greedy, Misty Morning, Overland Track, oil on linen, 45 × 34 cm SOLD
Melissa Kenihan, The Nature of Time and Place, charcoal, wax and oil on linen, 104× 109 cm SOLD
Mia Boe, That Which Persists, oil and acrylic on linen, 152 × 102 cm, $20,200
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni, Ngiya Murrakupupuni (My Country), locally sourced earth pigments on linen, 150 × 120 cm, $9,800
Miranda Hampson, Not Everything Caught is Meant to be Kept, acrylic and ink on cotton canvas, 101.7 × 91.5 cm, SOLD
Natasha Bieniek, Trill, oil on wood panel, 8 × 6 cm - HONOURABLE MENTION, $16,500
Philip Wolfhagen, Late Summer Nocturne, oil and beeswax on linen, 120 × 96 cm, $42,000
Robert Fielding, Landscape, synthetic polymer on linen, 122 × 152 cm - WINNER
Luke Wagner, Steady Air, oil on linen, 137 × 76 cm SOLD