Exploring Australia’s Hidden Beauty: Fiona Ho’s submission for the Wynne Prize 2025

Each year, the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes captivate the Australian art world, celebrating exceptional creativity and diverse artistic voices. Presented annually by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, these prestigious awards are a cornerstone of Australia’s cultural landscape. Among them, the Wynne Prize stands as a tribute to the natural beauty of Australia, recognising excellence in landscape painting and figurative sculpture.

In 2025, our Co-Founder Fiona Ho submitted her work, Floral Coral, to the Wynne Prize. Fiona’s piece is a vibrant exploration of Australia’s underwater world, inspired by her personal diving experiences across the country’s spectacular coastlines. While the Wynne Prize has traditionally focused on landscapes that capture the sweeping beauty of Australia’s mountains, deserts, and forests, Fiona’s submission draws attention to an equally breathtaking yet often unseen part of our national environment—the seascape beneath the waves.

Floral Coral is more than a celebration of aesthetic beauty. It is a deeply personal work that reflects Fiona’s love for marine life and the delicate ecosystems that thrive beneath the ocean’s surface. Through her diving journeys, Fiona has encountered an extraordinary world teeming with colour, texture, and life—vivid coral gardens, intricate sea plants, and the ever-changing movement of aquatic creatures. Her painting captures this richness in a way that is both immersive and reflective, inviting the viewer to pause and appreciate the fragile splendour that lies just beyond our everyday view.

The artwork itself bursts with energy and colour, using layered brushstrokes and vibrant hues to recreate the dynamic, almost rhythmic quality of underwater life. Fiona’s expressive and flowing brushstrokes brings a sense of movement and vitality to the canvas. It’s a piece that not only depicts the underwater world but embodies the sensation of being submerged within it.

Participating in the Wynne Prize has been a significant milestone in Fiona’s creative journey. The opportunity to engage with a national platform that champions Australian landscapes—whether on land or beneath the sea—has allowed her to merge her love of art, nature, and storytelling. Fiona’s work contributes a unique perspective to this year’s prize, offering a reminder that landscapes are not confined to what we see above ground but also include the rich, thriving worlds below.