HORNSBY HAPPENINGS
Silke Raetze wins prestigious 2025 Hornsby Art Prize
The winner of the 2025 Hornsby Art Prize has been announced, with Silke Raetze from Sydney taking out the top honour for her striking portrait Green Tea with Alex- a layered collage of her friend and fellow artist.
The judges praised Raetze’ s contemporary use of materials, describing the winning work as“ a piece that
The Hornsby Shire Local Artist Award winner, Roslyn Kean, Trapped Beneath the Surface, hand carved and hand printed woodblock on paper. embodies many elements of art making.”“ To build the image of Alex, I used paper from every aspect of life – packaging paper for the hair, cardboard pieces for the cup, brown paper from supermarket bags, simple black card, and beautiful handmade papers, all collaged together,” Raetze explained.
“ I then stitched, painted and sanded the surface, repeating this process until nuances revealed themselves through the layers. In this way, a dialogue with the work emerges – this is the part of my process I enjoy most.”
Raetze’ s piece was selected from an impressive field of 415 entries, with 71 finalists competing across the categories of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture. The prize pool totalled $ 23,000, with Raetze’ s win securing the $ 10,000 major prize.
This year’ s judging panel included Tim Braham, director of Gosford Regional Gallery, and artist Stephen Hall.
The Hornsby Art Prize, hosted by Hornsby Shire Council in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society, is a national prize that celebrates outstanding contemporary art.
At a special awards ceremony at the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby Shire Councillor Janelle McIntosh presented the prizes, with Mayor Philip Ruddock congratulating the artists:
“ Thank you to all the artists who entered the Hornsby Art Prize and to the judges who had the difficult job of selecting the winners. Congratulations to our winner, award recipients and finalists.
Winner of the 2025 Hornsby Art Prize, Silke Raetze, Green Tea with Alex, acrylic paint, ink, collapsed papers and stitched thread on canvas.
Hornsby Shire Council is committed to supporting arts and culture, and it is fantastic to come together and celebrate both local and Australia-wide talent.”
- Local Artist Award – Roslyn Kean( Galston) for Trapped Beneath the Surface, a hand-carved and handprinted woodblock on paper.
- Photography Award – Tamara Dean, Realms( photographic print).
- Sculpture Award – Rachel Lucas, The Survivor( stoneware ceramic, glaze and copper wire).
- Drawing Award – Claire Tozer, Flow( ink pen and pencil on paper).
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- Printmaking Award – Anne Starling, Home Comforts( linocut and woodblock on paper).
- Painting Award – Katherine Edney, I Want to Lie in the Clouds With You( oil on birch panel).
Last year’ s Local Artist Award winner, David Collins, will return to Wallarobba for a joint exhibition with fellow artist Sally Stokes. Sightlines will showcase paintings and drawings of the Shire’ s waterways and bushland, running from 17 October to 2 November 2025.
More information: www. hornsby. nsw. gov. au / sightlines-exhibition.
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12 ISSUE 124 // OCTOBER 2025 theindependentmagazine. com. au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT