Hunter Emerging Art Prize
Finalists and Winners
YEAR:
2026
Category:
Ceramics
Artist Name:
PENNY LEE
Title:
Drip

Materials:
Mid fire clay & glaze
Dimensions:
80cm (w) x 20cm (D)
Price
690
About the artwork:
In exploring the transformative potential of clay, this earth derived material is pushed beyond its traditional form. In this work, clay becomes droplets, tears, oil slicks, and traces of liquid matter, blurring distinctions between the natural and the industrial. Their reflective surfaces capture and mirror the viewer, implicating them within the work and its environmental narrative.
For millennia, ceramics have embodied human ingenuity: the ability to shape the earth into objects of beauty and function. Yet this same ingenuity carries responsibility. Installed partly on the floor, the work occupies a vulnerable space where it may be noticed, ignored, stepped over, or broken. This precarious presence reflects the fragility of the environments we inhabit and often overlook. The work considers art’s capacity to draw attention to ecological concerns while acknowledging that awareness alone is not enough; environmental issues surround us, whether we choose to see them or not.
