Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prize 2026.: Art Gallery of New South Wales

Blending childhood nostalgia with long-standing East Asian ceramic traditions, Chen applies his imagery to hand-thrown plates and vases, which are then fused with geometric patterns from traditional sources. The result is a cultural pastiche, and a dynamic conversation between traditional craft and contemporary perspective.

Casey’s recent work draws upon imagery and motifs from the archetypal tales of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Water Margin and Dream of the Red Chamber. His resulting works are both a self-exploration and an homage to the rich and enduring history of Chinese porcelain craft and Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Chen graduated from the National Art School in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in ceramics, and was the recipient of the annual Harvey Galleries National Art School Exhibition award. Casey has been a finalist in numerous awards, and won the Muswellbrook Art Prize 2023.

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Working as a collaborative duo since 2001, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro’s practice reflects a preoccupation with the dynamics of global mobility, fallout of consumer society, and contemporary notion of home.

Combining playful humour with art historical references, the duo transform prefabricated structures and readymade materials, from Lego and IKEA furniture to car parts and architectural fragments, into ambitious sculptures and installations defined by deconstruction and reinvention.

Winners of the Sulman Prize in 2022, Claire & Sean have exhibited widely in Australia and internationally. Their installation Life Span featured in Australia’s presentation at the 53rd Venice Biennale, and they have participated in major exhibitions including the Auckland Triennial, the Australian Biennial of Art, and the Oku-Noto Triennale, Japan. Their work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions across leading institutions in Australia, Europe, and the United States.

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With a bold humanist style, Ross’ cross-disciplinary practice is driven by a desire to examine Australia’s shadowed colonial histories. Fluoro and furious, she reimagines colonial imagery, layering each work with cultural references that reflect shared eras – critiquing the ongoing effects of greed, globalisation and colonisation, all while leaving you with a smile.

Joan Ross recently presented a major career survey at the National Portrait Gallery, Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams, selecting portraits from the collection to show alongside her own works – extending her long-standing exploration of collecting and collections.

Her practice spans roles as educator, mentor and judge, with works held and presented by leading institutions. In recent years, Ross has expanded into virtual reality, presenting Did you ask the river? at ACMI, followed by Collector’s Paradise for the National Gallery of Australia and I give you a mountain, projected onto the façade of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

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Louise Zhang is an Australian multidisciplinary artist working across painting, sculpture, and installation. Her practice investigates the interplay of aesthetics and cultural identity, often embracing contrasts to evoke a sense of otherness. Drawing inspiration from mythology and botany, Zhang weaves together symbols and motifs into compositions that balance harmony with dissonance.

Materially, her practice is highly considered, paying great attention to her choices in paint, she utilises the historical and instinctive associations of colour to create visual dichotomies from her subjects. In the sweeping visual landscapes of her work, the textural consideration of her paint creates windows into another world, some elements of her works are within our grasp and others remain deeper within. As a deconstruction of the world around her, she weaves together symbols from reality and memory, transforming them into something more lucid and surreal, documenting identity in the process of its own making.

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