Tom Bass Prize for Figurative Sculpture winners announced

Women artists dominate in 2022 edition of prize celebrating the human form.

Words: Charlotte Middleton

Congratulations to the 2022 winners of the Tom Bass Prize for Figurative Sculpture, announced 10 March and sharing in a total prize pool of $26,000.

The top prize, worth $18,000, was jointly awarded this year to NSW artist Jess MacNeil, and Victorian artist Maudie Brady, each taking home $9,000. MacNeil’s work Threshold was judged to embody the intense fragility and immense power and vigour of life force, while Brady’s sculpture Muninn’s Fate riffs on the Old Norse myth of Odin to explore the idea of internal conflict.

​The $5,000 Highly Commended Prize went to Victorian artist Fiona J Schoer for her work Finding Comfort in the Body, while NSW artist Stevie Fieldsend took out the $2,000 Curator’s Choice Prize with Song of Songs. The $1,000 People’s Choice prize is still to be announced at a later date.

The biennial prize attracted close to 300 entries this year, the 2022 finalists were Chris Atichian (NSW), Kate Baker (NSW), Maudie Brady (VIC), Penny Byrne (VIC), Rey Colley (NSW), Carol Lehrer Crawford (NSW), Gary Deirmendjian (NSW), Lynda Draper (NSW), Helen Earl (NSW), Stevie Fieldsend (NSW), Kym Frame (QLD), Jenny Green (NSW), Georgia Harvey (VIC), Stephen King (NSW), Sophie Lampert (NSW), Damien Lucas (NSW), John Lynch (NSW), Jess MacNeil (NSW), Kerry Mahony (NSW), Georgina Mills (SA), James Ngwarraye Bonney (NT), Clare Nicholson (NSW), Gray Nicol (VIC), Sonia Payes (VIC), Sadhana Peterson (NSW), Bill Burton (NSW), Fiona Schoer (VIC), Tatsiana Shevarenkova (NSW), Ann Snell (NSW), Bronte Stolz (VIC), Jonathan Thompson (VIC), Brendan Toole (NSW), Paul Trefry (NSW), Johannes van Nunen (NSW), Willemina Villari (NSW), Martin Williams (NSW) and Elke Wohlfahrt (NSW).

The prize was judged by art advisor and gallerist Sally Dan-Cuthbert, artist Lea Ferris, and Sydney Contemporary Director Barry Keldoulis. ​The 2022 Finalists’ Exhibition, showcasing 37 of this year’s best submissions and curated by Wendy Black, is on show at Juniper Hall, Paddington NSW, until 27 March.

For more information, visit http://www.tombassprize.com.

This article was posted 11 March 2022.

Image: Jess MacNeil, Threshold, acrylic sheet and oil paint, 25.5 x 23 x 29cm (left); and Maudie Brady, ‘Muninn’s Fate’. Hydro resin, 82 x 50 x 35cm (right). Courtesy: the artists.

Fiona J Schoer, ‘Finding Comfort in the Body’. Timber door, metal springs, calico, timber chair arms, wax, oil paint, metal fixings, 97 x 54 x 35 cm.

Stevie Fieldsend, ‘Song of Songs’. Mirrored glass, steel, curtain fringe, 300 x 1500 x 60cm.

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