I’m pleased to announce that my painting The Keystone has been selected as a finalist in the Calleen Art Award 2026 at Cowra Regional Art Gallery.
Established in 1977 by Mrs Patricia Fagan OAM, the Calleen Art Award is an annual national acquisitive painting prize recognising contemporary Australian painting across all styles, subjects and approaches. This year’s major prize is $30,000, with the winning work entering the Calleen Collection at Cowra Regional Art Gallery.
The Keystone takes the Roman aqueduct at Segovia as its starting point, using its architecture to consider the hidden dependencies that allow larger structures and systems to endure.
In an arch, the keystone is the point at which opposing forces are transformed into stability. The same principle appears in nature, where a keystone species can exert an influence on an ecosystem far greater than its size might suggest.
The painting considers these often unnoticed dependencies: the apparently minor elements upon which much larger systems rely, and the vulnerability that becomes apparent when one of them is compromised.
It asks what happens when the thing carrying the greatest burden is also the most fragile.
The Keystone
Oil on Italian linen 130 × 130 cm 2025
The Calleen Art Award 2026 is on at Cowra Regional Art Gallery
77 Darling Street, Cowra NSW 2794
Exhibition dates: 06/09 to 18/10/2026