Janet Laurence has claimed the $35,000 Professional Artist Prize at the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize with a powerful work addressing climate change through fragile Antarctic imagery and gestural paint.
Words: Robert Buratti
Janet Laurence‘s Moss Water Ice Temperature Rising has won the Professional Artist Prize at Australia’s highest-value art prize for women artists, the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize. The $35,000 winning work combines translucent paint with a delicate photographic image of ancient moss growing in Antarctica.
Patron and judge Jade Oakley praised Laurence’s winning piece for presenting “a powerful message about climate change, addressing notions of care and healing for our natural world.” The work’s translucent paint and printed photographic imagery speak to nature’s fragility, while gestural, poured paint demonstrates human impact on the landscape—a reminder of melting, dissolving, and hoped-for rehydration and nurturing.
“Moss Water Ice Temperature Rising”, by Janet Laurence.
The Emerging Artist Prize, supported by the Reed Family Foundation, went to Lilli Strömland for her oil on linen and stoneware work Ode to Peaches and Cleaning. Judges described the piece as “a joyful and closely observed celebration of incidental objects that explore contemporary Australian domesticity.”
“Ode to Peaches and Cleaning”, by Lilli Strömland
South Australian artist Fiona Pompey claimed the Indigenous Emerging Artist Prize, supported by Guardian and Scarborough Foundation, for her acrylic on Belgian linen work Tali Nguru. The judges praised the work as “intriguing and exciting as forms are disguised and revealed through a veil of rhythmic pattern.”
“Tali Nguru”, by Fiona Pompey.
The 2025 prize drew remarkable engagement with 1,934 entrants—more than double the entries received by the Archibald Prize. From this field, 99 finalists were selected, comprising 50 Professional Artists, 36 Emerging Artists, and a record 13 Indigenous Emerging Artists following the highest number of Indigenous Emerging entrants to date.
“Our vision and mission for the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize is to empower women artists, both professional and emerging, by providing a significant platform to showcase their works,” said Dr Anne Johnstone, Principal of Ravenswood School for Girls. Since 2017, the prize has attracted over 13,100 entries, establishing its vital role in supporting women artists across Australia.
Beyond the major category winners, the 2025 prize introduced six new Highly Commended Awards of $1,000 each (supported by Community Bank Lindfield), alongside the People’s Choice Award of $2,000 plus a Derivan art pack valued at $500.
The prize is proudly supported by partners including Trippas White Group, The Marshall Group, R.M. Williams Outback, Active Networks, The Australian, Guardian and Scarborough Foundation, The Reed Family Foundation, Clarke Murphy Print, Community Bank Lindfield, Ku-ring-gai Council, Kelvin Hall Floral Design, EPM Projects, Derivan, The Art Scene, and Edwina Palmer.
The 2025 Exhibition of Finalists runs through 6 July at Ravenswood School for Girls (Gate 3, 10 Henry Street, Gordon NSW), open Thursday to Sunday, 10am-4pm. Entry is free, and artworks are available for purchase throughout the exhibition period.
A virtual exhibition tour is also available at ravenswoodartprize.com.au for those unable to visit in person.
This article was posted 22 June 2025.
Images courtesy Ravenswood Australian Women Art Prize.