The winners of the 2023 Hornsby Art Prize have been announced, with Ryan Daffurn from Brisbane, taking home the top prize for his painting, Proposition 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! — an oil on linen depiction of a young musician described by judge James Powditch as "an accomplished painting with a subdued yet resonating power".
Daffurn's artwork was selected as the winner from a pool of 84 finalists, drawn from a record-breaking 610 artworks submitted from seven Australian states and territories. Entries to the categories of Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Digital Art-Stills and Sculpture competed for a total prize pool valued at $23,000, with the major prize worth $10,000. This year's judges were artists James Powditch, Nicole Mather, and Chris Langlois.
"I feel amazing. It's incredible. Winning a prize like this can really change an artist's direction and it's a really positive thing," said 2023 Hornsby Art Prize winner, Ryan Daffurn.
"The prize is fantastic, the building is beautiful, the standard is very high and I was interested in the judges as well; they're painters and they're artists."
Hosted by Hornsby Shire Council in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society, the Hornsby Art Prize is an annual national art competition and exhibition promoting and celebrating outstanding Australian contemporary art. The winners were presented their awards by Hornsby Shire Mayor The Hon Philip Ruddock AO at a special ceremony at the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre on Friday evening.
"The standard of entries this year was incredibly high," said Mayor Ruddock.
"Congratulations to the winners and I commend all the artists who took the time to enter the competition and share their wonderful artwork. It's fantastic to be able to celebrate local and national talent through the Hornsby Art Prize."
The Hornsby Shire Local Artist Award went to Libby Moore from Beecroft for her painting, Just put your feet up for a while.
"I'm so excited and I'm very honoured to be the recipient of the Local Artist Award. This kind of recognition is very exciting and affirming," said Ms Moore.
Other winners include:
- Digital Stills Award
Joseph De La Hoyde, Still Life I-II
- Sculpture Award
Lauri Smith, Night Flower
- Drawing Award
Yvette Tziallas, Guide to grow a kidney
- Printmaking Award
Dean Brown, Australia Day
- Painting Award
John Mangila, Unknown in floral shirt
Hornsby Art Society President Chris Beard expressed his delight at the overwhelming response to the Prize, stating that the Society was "blown away with the number of entries this year and beautiful artworks received".
