Hunter Emerging Art Prize
Finalists and Winners
YEAR:
2026
Category:
Ceramics
Artist Name:
Chloe Clare Leith
Title:
Amongst the Magic Tree

Materials:
ceramic, wool, paper
Dimensions:
50cm - 25cm
Price
$400
About the artwork:
This work evokes the realm of the inner child — a quiet sanctuary where innocence, wonder, and adventure still reside. Growing up in the bushlands of Tasmania, the landscape became both playground and storyteller. Days were spent beneath towering trees, inventing worlds filled with monsters, fairies, and unseen magic until dusk called us home. In those moments, there was no separation between imagination and reality; the land itself felt alive with possibility.
As we grow older, life often becomes shaped by expectation and responsibility, and the instinct to play and imagine is often dismissed as something naïve, rather than something profound. This work reflects on the importance of reconnecting with that sense of wonder.
The piece returns to a state where imagination and reality blur, where the ordinary becomes enchanted.
