Alexander Sarsfield, Me, When I, 2022.

Iron transfer decal and enamel on recycled mid-fire ceramic, dimensions variable. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

Me, when I presents six playful snapshots of the artist’s life and everyday habits. Meticulously recording his behavioural tendencies over a period of seven days last September, Alexander Sarsfield noted daily how many times he laughed; how many people he spoke to; how many cups of tea he drank; how many messages he sent; how many hours he slept; and how he scored on the Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21).

Presenting this visual and numeric data, Sarsfield offers an incomplete diary encouraging the viewer to form a narrative and judgement of his character through these snippets of information.

Viewers of the work are welcome to physically engage with the pieces by turning over the pieces to interpret the descriptions on the back.

Anastasia Parmson, Untitled (1/2 Chair 1.0), 2022.

Acrylic and paint marker on panel, antique chair, 88 x 53 x 29 cm. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

Anastasia Parmson turns simple line drawing into sculptural pieces and installations of domestic interiors. She is passionate about expanding drawing as a medium beyond its conventionally two-dimensional format.

In her work, everything comes down to the line — the most basic form of any drawing. Parmson uses paint markers on pure white panels and various found objects to trace wobbly lines along the edges; to outline the shapes and the borders between shadow and light.

Anastasia Parmson’s work playfully challenges our perception and questions the limits between two- and three-dimensional pieces. We are not always sure what we are looking at, what is “real” and how it is created. Is this a real chair or is it a drawing of a chair? Is it an artwork of a functional piece of furniture?

Anastasia’s work is filled with personal stories and intricate details, but she prefers to blank out more than she reveals, to remove pre-conceived notions and thus leave space for the viewer to read their own stories between the lines.

Annika Romeyn, River Red Gum (Mutawintji), 2023.

Pencil and watercolour monotype on paper, 112 x 152 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

Centred on the experience of entering Old Mutawintji Gorge, River Red Gum (Mutawintji) recalls focused time in Mutawintji National Park on Barkindji and Malyangapa Country, as part of the 2022 Broken Hill City Art Gallery’s Open Cut Commission. As a first-time visitor to the area, Annika was grateful for the opportunity to walk with and learn from Wiimpatja, Traditional Owners and Custodians, whose deep knowledge and connection to Country enriched her appreciation for the significance and power of the place. Annika witnessed the scarcity and value of water in the environment, listened to stories of dramatic changes over years and seasons, and observed traces of past floods along the dry creek-beds leading into each Gorge.

Carefully rendered in carbon pencil, this River Red Gum and flood debris are layered over a dusty pink watercolour monotype, which by chance, captured haphazard beading effects and traces of finger marks – Annika’s own and others who may have handled the plastic printmaking plate before her. Usually a routine process of ‘degreasing’ would aim to remove these marks before painting on the plate, but, in this case, Annika decided to work with the beading, which was evocative of the initial beading of rain on dry earth. Likewise, the subtle vertical finger marks in the top right section reminded Annika vaguely of tree trunks, as well as the long human presence and history intrinsic to the landscape of Mutawintji.

Represented by Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Catherine O’Donnell, City Living, 2022.

Charcoal and pencil on paper, 65 x 24 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

O’Donnell’s suburban-focused practice captures the essence of urban aesthetics that shape our daily lives. Through her drawings, she uncovers the humanity, history, and politics of these familiar places by highlighting architectural details often overlooked. By isolating and representing the structure of modest buildings with minimalism, O’Donnell explores their compositional potential and underlying symmetry. Her aim is to offer a fresh perspective on these landscapes, inviting viewers to see beyond the ordinary and discover the aesthetic poetry embedded within these familiar spaces. This encourages imaginative revisiting and appreciation of these suburban landscapes.

Represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery

Emma Pattenden, Textures of Time: Grampians #1, 2023.

Watercolour and pen on paper, 50 x 100 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

Textures of Time: Grampians #1 uses a combination of watercolour and pen to capture the interplay of light and form, and to reveal the subtle shifts, textures, and layers of time in the landscape. The act of drawing allows the subtle movements and details in the landscape to reveal themselves, creating a matrix that invites the audience to explore. It offers a point of contemplation of their own memories and connection with the landscape. The artwork not only captures the present moment but also bridges temporal scales, connecting the contemporary with the deep past, fusing artistic expression with geological exploration. It’s a unique exploration of the intersection of art and nature, inviting viewers to explore their personal relationship with the landscape.

Emma Thorp, Experimental Dog Version 1, 2023.

Archival pigment print, 59 x 84 cm. Image courtesty the artist.

This is a drawing of Emma Thorp’s first attempt to sculpt her constant companion, Penny.

She was created from reclaimed wire, newspaper, masking tape and expired bandages for a local ‘Waste to Art’ exhibition.

Thorp’s artistic practice exists in the space in between school runs and pickups, between breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Between loads of laundry and dishes.

Penny, her dog, is often a subject of her work and is symbolic of the personal time that walking her provides. When Thorp first got her dog, her children were quite young and life was completely consumed by looking after them. Having a dog that required walking and training gave her the opportunity to be alone with her thoughts which she attributes to making her a happier and better parent.

Finding the time to create has also proved difficult and this is where digital art has become invaluable. Drawing on her iPad has meant that Thorp can draw in the lounge, while waiting for her children in the car and whilst dinner is cooking. No clean-up, no frustration born from the inability to invest full days painting and drawing.

Experimental Dog Version 1 combines her love of her dog and her enjoyment of digital drawing to create a celebration of both.

Fiona Cotton, Possession, 2023.

Charcoal on Arches hot press paper, 58 x 76 cm. Image courtesy Andrew Sikorski.

On a beach on the outskirts of Nipaluna/Hobart stands this ancient pine. Its twisted roots clinging onto the sandy bank seem symbolic of the way in which early Europeans settled in a land which did not belong to them. Poignantly, the tree grows over the shell middens of First Nations people.

Francis Kenna, Surface for reflected light (pink + green), 2022.

Lithograph, 47 x 34 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

This net is an exploration of a dimensional surface, almost like the porous topology of a woven fabric. By weaving strands together, a two-dimensional fabric is created from an essentially one-dimensional line so that the surface of the fabric is at the same time also a structure. This idea is carried through the ambiguous mass of a green net, which is itself riddled with voids of red. The dimensionality of the structure however breaks down upon itself and the colours shift out of phase.

Beginning with a complete net based on a digital isometric hexagonal pattern, small voids were then removed as though unpicking the weave of the digital surface. The virtual drawing was then transferred onto the physical surface of the lithographic stone before printing with ink, exploring the idea of surface across a virtual space and physical interactions of matter, so that the net pulses between optical illusion and the flatness of the paper. At its most basic the net is a way to map a digital space onto matter that has its own logic, an interaction between light, matter, colour and void.

Hannah Robinson, Afternoon Sun, 2023.

Digital drawing, 53 x 39 cm.

This large half arch window, one of the prime attractions to the flat when it was purchased, is this cat’s favourite place in the world. He spends most sunny days here, sleeping and basking in the sunshine.

Afternoon Sun is an exploration of the elements that make up the view out of our favourite windows, and more broadly, the view from the modern home. As younger generations move away from the 3 or 4 bedroom homes with gardens that were within reach of our parents, but not us, our views shift. We no longer expect a view outside of a fence and a hills hoist, maybe the roof of our neighbour’s house, but instead we see the plants lining our windows that make up the indoor garden, looking out at our neighbouring apartment blocks.

Digitally drawn, with over 15 layers of coloured pencil brushes, this work is designed to invoke nostalgia for the colouring in we did as children, softened and blurry at the edges, just like the memories of the favourite corners of our homes.

Jennifer Andrews, The Woven Edge, 2023.

Mixed media on Arches paper, 70 x 52 cm.

This work is sourced from images from the littoral zone inner urban banks of the Brisbane River. The artist describes the littoral zone as where land and water embrace. Here can be found mangroves sending out breathing roots to access oxygen when the tides come in. The visual rhythms of woven mangrove roots and the fluctuations of movement within the water encapsulate consistently changing elemental interactions.

Julia Higgs, I like it gentle, 2023

Brick, wood, tape, charcoal, plastic, paper, feathers, wire, screws, mechanical device, 50 x 70 x 75 cm. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

This work combines elements of the ephemeral and the machine to create a drawing; as the motor turns, a feather rotates, pushing charcoal across paper. The feather (fallen from a bird) and charcoal (a product produced by burning organic matter) are combined with a mechanical device that can continuously run. This work explores ways marks can be made and the ways in which the ephemeral and the mechanical can collaborate, manifested out of a sculptural and drawing art practice.

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

Steel, 96 x 100 x 100 cm. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

Herbert-Smith’s fascination with discarded steel and her ability to find beauty in its twisted and bent forms led to a unique and spontaneous art practice. As she gathered these steel pieces during her walk around the deserted quarry in rural NSW, she could not help but feel a sense of connection with each piece. Back in her residency studio, she placed them against the wall or on the floor, allowing them to take on their own energy within the space.

Working spontaneously has always been a hallmark of Herbert-Smith’s art practice. Whether she is welding steel or drawing on paper, she allows each connection to inform the next, creating a fluid and dynamic process. She often describes this process as a ‘dance with materials, shape and form,’ where her physical body movement plays a crucial role. As she expands and contracts the arrangement of parts, a sense of rhythm and static movement evolves, reminiscent of her deep-rooted love for music.

Herbert-Smith draws parallels between her sculptural process and the improvisation of jazz musicians. She believes that just as jazz musicians create music through their spontaneous and intuitive playing, she also similarly creates her art. In the same way that jazz musicians blend sound and rhythms to create a unique experience, Herbert-Smith blends material and forms to create a visual symphony that resonates with the viewer.

Kate Vassallo, 564 lines with 100 coloured pencils, 2023.

Coloured pencil on paper, 150 x 100 cm.

This artwork was made by drawing ruled lines on paper. Using 100 different coloured pencils, the pencils were ordered in a sequence and repeated in a loop until the drawing was complete. The triangle composition of the work was decided by chance, rather than control. Before starting this drawing, each pencil was sharpened to a fine point and then not resharpened throughout the making process. While working from left to right, the pencils became progressively blunt, becoming difficult to control and leaving thicker lines with blurred edges. These small material qualities become central to the way the artwork operates when viewing in person.

When making artworks, Kate Vassallo’s focus is setting the scene for something to happen in the studio. Using rules and parameters, she develops fully fleshed out “systems” of materially focused steps. Usually highly repetitious, these processes slowly unfold over time. Operating with discipline and concentration in the studio, this structured approach is visually echoed in the formal geometric shapes and straight lines of her artworks. While much of this working methodology is preplanned and formulated, Vassallo always leaves space for agency, intuition and chance to enter the fold.

Represented by Artereal Gallery

Kim Anderson, Rupture, Rapture, 2022.

Ink, charcoal and graphite on paper, 100 x 50 cm.

Kim Anderson is fascinated by the physical manifestation of a psyche in turmoil, and the ever-shifting relationship between our inner and outer worlds. Much of her work involves a deeply personal psychological scrutiny in order to confront the more difficult aspects of human experience.

Two years ago, Anderson ruptured a tendon in her drawing hand, which resulted in surgery to perform a tendon graft, six weeks in a splint, and many months of rehabilitation. This forced hiatus from drawing – essentially her lifeline – had a profound impact upon her mental health. Intensified by the anxious, tumultuous times we live in, it felt like the bottom had dropped out of her existence, leaving her adrift.

While she was healing physically, Anderson felt as though she had experienced a mental rupture, far less visible and impossible to explain to others. Her recovery was a time of deep introspection – and interrogation – into her practice, a time of tearing herself apart and putting herself back together. Rupture, Rapture was made as Anderson was slowly finding her way back into drawing and trying to regain her confidence. Originally a whole figure, frustration with the result led to it being cut in half, giving the image a power it had not had previously. Throughout this process, Anderson began to see a rupture as an opening, a space for something new to emerge.

Represented by Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Leanne Pope, Ranges of Solitude, 2022.

Watercolour pencil, 59 x 84 cm.

Leanne Pope is a Wiradjuri/Tubba-Gah woman who was born on Ngarigo Country and has lived on Ngunnawal Country for the past 13 years. As a local landscape artist of this region, she has appreciated many car trips along the Monaro Highway passing by the Tinderry Range and the Clear Range on the opposite side. As a local southside resident of Canberra, Leanne would often drive along the Naas Road and Bobeyan Road to Adaminaby to visit her grandmother. The old dirt roads were always a favourite as they offered solitude with Snowy Gums and views of giant mountains ranges.

This artwork expands in two parts, as the view of Tinderry Range stretches over Leanne’s drawing pad in the bushland. The Clear Range hides from view the busy Monaro highway and the watercolours pull you into a secluded and peaceful space in the highlands.

Damon Kowarsky, At the Bab Jadid, 2023.

Ink, watercolour and colour pencil on BFK Rives, 50 x 120 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

At the Bab Jadid came out of drawings made during a six week residency in the historical Al Balad District of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in 2022. Both Al Balad and Jeddah are in a state of constant change, with construction, demolition, and restoration happening at prodigious scale. Almost overnight buildings would appear or disappear, and the architecture of the city, usually regarded as fixed and unchanging, was instead mutable and transitory. At the Bab Jadid sought to capture something of that sense of transition, as well as the heat and colour of the city, colours made more distinctive by enormous quantities of dust released by the wholesale demolition of square kilometres of apartment blocks and buildings.

Ross Potter, Whale Bone, 2023.

Mixed media on paper, 200 x 150 cm. Image courtesy the artist.

In Whale Bone Ross Potter aims to highlight the idea of shock over what ‘other’ cultures eat. Animals that we deem forbidden and would never dream of eating, when food sources vary so much around the world and we are often quick to judge these differences.

While not wanting to see that whale be hunted to extinction, Potter also feels our very lifestyles are having a similar effect, leading to the destruction of habitat for other animals… eventually leading to their extinction all the same. Is this hypocritical to be concerned about someone eating whale, when in our own backyard there are animal species on the brink of life today, that our future Grandchildren may never see?

This series was created with an extreme dark graphite pencil to portray an intensity to the subject and they are all garnished with a Saffron ink spray. Using this very rare ink, the artist wanted to add a splash of colour to make this gritty subject more palatable.

Margaret Ambridge, How do we care, 2023.

Charcoal on paper, 60 x 115 cm.

Threatened
Rock holes Perennial springs Episodic lakes Artesian lakes Ground water
Extractive industry Intensive food production Coal seam gas Cotton Deforestation
Pervasive Exploited Diminishing
Flash droughts ‘Thirsty air’
For severe dehydration, start IV fluids immediately.

Melinda Hunt, Enmore, 2023.

Blackboard paint, acrylic, charcoal, pastel on canvas, 90 x 200 cm.

This large drawing was made in the artist’s studio after time spent walking and drawing. Melinda Hunt’s performative drawing practice involves walking through landscapes of personal significance while drawing. She uses a harness to support a large board so both hands are free to draw, usually working at night to avoid unwanted attention. Melinda also documents her walks using a backward-facing video camera that captures where she has been. These recordings are also drawings.

Melinda’s walking drawings are a kind of kinaesthetic seismograph, documenting not just what is seen and heard, but what is sensed and felt, and the action of her body moving through space. While walking and drawing she is exploring her connections to the places where she walks, wandering without a pre-planned route through the visible landscape and the invisible landscape of memory. When the visible and invisible combine, an ‘atmosphere’ is generated and recorded. In this case, the artist has walked through Sydney’s Inner West. The drawing reflects the atmosphere of Enmore Road at night, a ‘felt-landscape’, a map-like record of associated sentiments.

Paul Summerfield, Oceanic Metropolis, 2023.

Archival giclee print, edition 2/9, 140 x 190 cm.

This work, Oceanic Metropolis, is a combination of ideas about a vibrant futuristic aquatic city. It is pure escapism in every sense of the word. The genre, Solarpunk, can be applied to this extremely detailed work, with visions of humans, animals, and botanicals all living together in one place. It invites the viewer to dive into depths of detail and abstraction and to look really closely and discover hidden narratives.

Oceanic Metropolis depicts a huge variety of things to discover. Woven from botanical flying whales, thousands of fish, flying machines, and interesting structures, the world seamlessly ties together, elements ebbing and flowing in a sky ocean.

Paul works primarily on laptops, phones, and tablets to make his digital works. Oceanic Metropolis is a vector artwork that was created in Adobe Illustrator using the pencil tool and several layers. Being able to draw directly on the laptop screen and pinch-zooming into small areas to work on details, Paul is able to create super fine detailed areas while still being able to view the work as a whole. This work took over 2000 hours to finish and became a daily ritual which was often a meditative experience.

Robbie Karmel, Head Bowl I, 2023.

Coloured pencil on Victorian ash, 30 x 30 x 30 cm. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

Head Bowl 1 is a turned wood bowl that is worn on the head and drawn on by the wearer. It provides a meditative space to observe, consider, and respond to perceptual experience — the shape and senses of the body, the weight of the bowl, and the tangled activity of drawing.

Both the making of Head Bowl 1 and the activity of drawing with the bowl are therapeutic responses to trauma, as attentive and behaviourally activating tasks that can facilitate a flow state and produce a work that celebrates the process of its creation and is an opportunity and talisman for revelry and enjoyment.

Head Bowl 1 is the first of a series of bowls that are worn collectively and drawn on together in participatory performances and workshops. This is an invitation for social production of drawings that are ambiguous in their subject, object, author, and viewer. This social, collective activity aims to be a panacea to alienation and isolation.

As the first bowl turned, Head Bowl 1 is rough in construction, its surface is coarse and the tool marks are evident, while later bowls are smooth and polished. Likewise, as the first bowl, it is an inflection point, representing the distillation into concrete form of Karmel’s ongoing investigation into embodiment, participatory or collaborative activity, and tool use as they produce and are indexed by drawing.

Tia Madden, Adversaria, 2022.

String, dimensions variable. Image courtesy Fiona Little.

Ruminating on the ambiguous space between a mark and its meaning, Adversaria engages an expanded drawing practice to operate between the image and the word. The project is motivated by the shifting opacities of meaning at the intersection of drawing and language, working to activate, engage, and destabilise processes of meaning-making. Adversaria consists of two-hundred and forty-seven string figures hung individually in a grid, reminiscent of text on a page. The relationship between line, language, and legibility emerges through processes of deconstruction and repetition, questioning if peripheral knowledge of language systems can dictate the legibility of abstract forms.

Todd Fuller, No use crying over ripped lace, 2023.

Digital video: chalk, charcoal and acrylic animation on paper, 02:43 min, edition 3/8.

In 2017, a post-performance kebab for three Sydney drag stars (Ivy League, Coco Jumbo and Vybe), ended in an altercation as the queens intervened in a gay-bashing. Drag Queens often take on the role of protectors for the LGBTQIA+ community, but in this case, they saved the life of Ivan Flinn. Told through the eyes of Coco Jumbo, this body of work marks another moment in history when Drag Queens led the way.

Commissioned by the State Library of New South Wales, with thanks to Coco Jumbo, Ivy League, Vybe and Ivan Flinn.

Composition: Paul Smith

Clarinet: Ian Sykes

Joanna Gambotto, Common Thread, 2022.

Digital video: stop motion animation (pencil on paper), 02:38 min.

There is a common thread that runs through all life on our planet. Its origins date back to the beginning of time, assembled over millennia from elements forged in the fiery furnaces of stars: a DNA molecule. The similarities in DNA across all species speak of our common ancestry and reveal the oneness of the universe and equality of all species, all playing a crucial role in the cosmic clockwork.

The red thread that weaves through this animation represents a DNA molecule and symbolises life on Earth in all its diversity. The sound of a heartbeat signifies the relentless force of life and its power to prevail. The ill-treatment of our home, however, poses danger to life on our planet – a common threat.

Melanie Cobham, Water, 2023.

Digital video: stop motion animation of digital drawings.

Melanie Cobham is a Uruguayan-born, Melbourne-based Artist, working across disciplines to examine the inextricable connection between identity and place. Her work, diverse in medium and format, permeates the familiar to pose questions on language, colonisation, migration, and identity.

Cobham has studied Design, Fine Arts, Filmmaking, Communication and Silversmithing. Her vastly interdisciplinary practice manifests in the form of drawings, etchings, installations, photographs and weavings. She has recently completed a Master of Contemporary Art at Victorian College of the Arts, and actively participates in talks and exhibitions both nationally and internationally.

Emma Fielden, Andromeda and the Milky Way, 2021.

Single channel video, 273 min.

Emma Fielden’s Andromeda and the Milky Way delves into the poetic dance of two galaxies destined to merge. This performance drawing manifests the cosmic interplay between magnitude and intimacy, sketching a celestial narrative where the grandeur of galaxies is contrasted by the intimacy of human connection.

With two performers dressed in ink-black against a luminous white paper background, this work translates a timeless choreography of celestial bodies into a visual narrative. Each orbit, rendered in charcoal, tells a story of attraction, longing, and the uncertainty of union. Just as galaxies move with grace, magnitude, and an unfathomable sense of purpose, these performers traverse the paper, their motions drawing out tales of desires and near-misses, connection and divergence.

This work is as much a reflection on human nature as it is an ode to the cosmos. The paradox of these two galaxies’ imminent convergence, without a single star or planet collision, mirrors our own human experiences – the yearning to connect, the orbits of relationships, and the often elusive nature of genuine connection.

As a moving image, this piece is a dynamic exploration of drawing itself, challenging our perceptions of scale from the grandeur of galaxies to the intimacy of a charcoal line, showcasing drawing as both a medium and a performance.

Andromeda and the Milky Way beckons its viewers to contemplate their cosmic significance, to revel in the splendour of the ephemeral, and to discern the profound harmonies that emanate from every transient encounter.

Performers: Emma Fielden and Lizzie Thomson.
Videographer: Dara Gill.

Represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery.

First Nations Drawing Prize Winner: Virginia Keft, The morning after, 2023.

Raffia, paper, wire, paint pen, eucalyptus wood found on Dharawal Country, string, 81 x 62 x 22 cm.

The morning after.
Australia spoke;
A resounding NO
echoes across Aboriginal Land.
No to Voice.
No to recognition.
They used theirs, the familiar one
Status quo stands - Colony in this Land
Shock, blame, and ‘yes’ to shame.
Friends, allies, now we rally.
Truth, strength, power. Survival.
Always was, Always will be.

The central motif of the Flying Fox, celebrates connection to place and community. Incorporating weaving techniques learnt from Elders on Country, Dr Keft, a Muruwarri woman, has created 3D woven forms that reference her connection to Culture through shared knowledge and challenge the viewers’ definition of the boundaries of drawing practice. Bending and weaving the line of raffia, the sculptural forms of the flying foxes create a tactile and immersive experience that envelopes the audience in Country and invites connection.

Utilising natural tannins and pigments from Eucalyptus leaves, seeds, and barks to draw onto paper, Dr Keft takes the material (paper) used by Australians to decide the fate of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and turns it into Country. The artist’s process involves collecting fallen leaves and then encasing them in rolled paper and exposing them to heat. Drawing into the hues and patterns that emerge on the paper - from clear, perfect imprints with sharp definition showing every line and leaf-vein, to abstract shadows and suggestions - the artist creates paper leaves that stand in as place holders of Country.

Harry Schwarzrock , em/brace en/twine, 2023.

Flame worked borosilicate glass, electrodes, ionised inert gas,
electrical current, nylon thread, dimensions variable.

These meandering tendrils of neon light are contained within laboratory glass tubing. Schwarzrock generates transparent filaments that appear to have grown in a circulatory system. The aurora-like glow of the neon pulses with the viewer’s proximity. These paired forms reference circularity, circulation, and interconnectivity, with the luminous interior of the tangled lines brightening as the viewer comes into their field.

Represented by Suki & Hugh

M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2025 /August 29, 2025 by Lucy Chetcuti

Entries are now open for the M16 Artspace Drawing Prize 2025, generously sponsored by Culture Collab.

Click here for more information and to apply.

Applications close 11:59pm Sunday October 12.

2023 Finalists