M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2023 - Co-Sponsored by The Cogito Group

Gallery 1: Sunday 26 November – Sunday 10 December

Opening Saturday 25 November 6-8pm

We are thrilled to announce the eagerly anticipated M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2023, generously co-sponsored by The Cogito Group. As a staple in our exhibition calendar since 2006, this prestigious competition attracts hundreds of entries from across Australia and internationally.

About 

The M16 Artspace Drawing Prize invites submissions in both traditional drawing media and techniques, as well as innovative non-traditional works that extend the understanding of what drawing may be within contemporary art practice. 

Introducing two new exciting prize categories!

1. The Digital Drawing Prize

Sponsored by 'The Factor,' with a prize of $2,500
Eligible artworks for this category must integrate digital technology as an essential component of their creation, utilizing devices such as tablets, computers, or smartphones. Submissions can be either 2 or 3-dimensional.

2. The First Nations Drawing Prize

The prize of $1,000 is open exclusively to First Nations artists. Generously sponsored by Kishwar Rahman, the Chair of M16 Artspace board.

M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2023 Winners

WINNER

$10,000 co-sponsored by The Cogito Group and M16 Inc.

Alexander Sarsfield
Me, When I, 2022.
Iron transfer decal and enamel on recycled mid-fire ceramic, dimensions variable. 

Image courtesy of Fiona Little

RUNNER UP

$1,000 sponsored by Delta Cleaning.

Jenny Herbert- Smith
Through the quarries with a hop, skip and jump, 2022.
Steel, dimensions variable.

Image courtesy of the artist.

Digital Drawing Prize

$2,500 sponsored by The Factor.

Todd Fuller
No use crying over ripped lace, 2023.
Digital video: chalk, charcoal and acrylic animation on paper, 02:43 min, edition 3/8. 

Image still courtesy of the artist.

Represented by .M Contemporary

First Nations Drawing Prize

$1,000 sponsored by Kishwar Rahman.

Virginia Keft
The Morning After, 2023.
Raffia, paper, wire, paint pen, eucalyptus wood found on Dharawal Country, string, 81 x 62 x 22 cm. 

Local Artist Award

$500 Braddon Framing Store voucher and $390 Megalo Print Studio Class voucher in kind sponsors.

Alexander Sarsfield
Me, When I, 2022.
Iron transfer decal and enamel on recycled mid-fire ceramic, dimensions variable. 

Image courtesy of Fiona Little

Peoples Choice Award

$500 sponsored by M16 Inc

Todd Fuller
Twilight Bark, 2023.
Digital video: chalk, charcoal and ink animation on paper, 03:31 min, edition 3/9. 

Image still courtesy of the artist.

Represented by .M Contemporary

M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2023 Finalists

• Alexander Sarsfield

• Anastasia Parmson

• Annika Romeyn

• Catherine O'Donnell

• Damon Kowarsky

• Emma Fielden

• Emma Pattenden

• Emma Thorp

• Fiona Cotton

• Francis Kenna

• Hannah Robinson

• Harry Schwarzrock

• Jennifer Andrews

• Jenny Herbert-Smith

• Joanna Gambotto

• Julia Higgs

• Kate Vassallo

• Kim Anderson

• Leanne Pope

• Margaret Ambridge

• Melanie Cobham

• Melinda Hunt

• Paul Summerfield

• Robbie Karmel

• Ross Potter

• Simone Doherty

• Tia Madden

• Todd Fuller

• Virginia Keft

Meet the judges

Samantha Faulkner

Samantha is a Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal woman, from Badu and Moa Islands in the Torres Strait and the Yadhaigana and Wuthathi peoples of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. She is the proud author of Life Blong Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait, (Aboriginal Studies Press, July 2007) and editor of Pamle: Torres Strait Islanders in Canberra (2018).

Her poetry and short stories are published nationally and internationally. She is a member of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Network and MARION (ACT Writers). She is Treasurer, First Nations Australia Writers Network and Us Mob Writing Group.

She was the Torres Strait Islander curator for the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival and is Editor of Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia edition, Black Inc due in early 2024.
Image: Samantha Faulkner, 2022. Courtesy of Brenton McGeachie

Hannah Quinlivan

Hannah Quinlivan graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2013. Her art practice has been recognised for its skilful exploration of ideas around human movement, emotional cognition and time’s flowing passage. Through various methods of exploring line and form – via traditional drawing techniques and weaving methodologies using wire, adhesive tape or LED lighting – Quinlivan challenges the way we expect line to operate and be presented. Her work is experiential not only in its physicality but also through a range of conceptual connections, using repetition, ephemerality and the interplay of light and shadow to open up discussions around pressing contemporary topics. Quinlivan’s constantly evolving practice gives her work an organic, living quality that creates an immersive experience for the viewer.

Quinlivan has participated in many international solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Italy, France, the United States, Hong Kong, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia. Her public artworks are on permanent display in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. Quinlivan is represented by Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne. Image courtesy of Hannah Quinlivan.

Bree Pickering

Bree Pickering is the Director of the National Portrait Gallery and a highly regarded arts leader with experience in both the public and private gallery sectors. Bree was formerly Director of the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), a position she has held since 2016. At MAMA, Bree designed and implemented the strategic and creative vision for the newly refurbished museum, establishing it as a nationally-recognised destination whilst also deepening its collaboration with and impact on the local community. Prior to this, she was Executive Director of Vox Populi, a not-for-profit contemporary art space in Philadelphia and Cultural Program Manager for the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. Bree is also an experienced curator with a distinguished catalogue of past exhibitions and programs behind her, and a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of artists and arts workers.
Image: Bree Pickering, 2023. Courtesy of Mark Mohell.

Supported by

Principal Sponsor

Runner Up Sponsor

Delta Cleaning

Digital Drawing Prize Sponsor

First Nation Drawing Prize Sponsor

Kishwar Rahman

Local Artist Award Sponsor

Event Sponsors