Mandorla Art Award 2026
Responding to the 2026 Mandorla Art Award theme ‘What is Truth?’ ‘I was afraid, because I was naked: and I hid myself’ - Genesis 3:10, the winning entry by Uncle Glenn Loughrey of Victoria, entitled ‘I Was Naked, You Was Afraid, So you Hid Me - Genocide 17:88’. It is a work which juxtaposes the hiding and nakedness found in Genesis 3:10 with contemporary issues, and displays the Mandorla belief that Hebrew and Christian Scriptures speak to the heart of what it means to be human.
The judging panel commented, ‘Glenn Loughrey’s work hits with the impact of undeniable, brutal truth. Painted in languages of spirituality, it refuses ambiguity and demands acknowledgement’. This major prize of $30,000, which is an acquisitive one, is sponsored by St John of God Health Care. Uncle Glenn Loughrey, as well as being an artist and writer, is an Anglican priest.
The winning work by Glenn Loughrey Genocide 17:88 with the Hon Kerry Sanderson AO CVO and Tara Peters, Chief Mission Integration Officer for St John of God Healthcare
Other winners announced were two Highly Commended prizes.
The Revd John Ward Memorial Prize sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Perth, announced by Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy, was awarded to local artist, Jo Darbyshire for ‘Two Truths’. The Catholic Archdiocese of Perth Prize was awarded to Tasmanian painter Grant Hill for ‘The Disagreement.’
An Emerging Artist Prize, sponsored by the University of Notre Dame Australia, was awarded to local artist Melissa Clements with her work, ‘Sprawling on a pin’. Melissa is a former student of both Guildford Grammar School and Perth College who studied Philosophy and Fine Art at the University of Western Australia. The Mandorla Artist Residency Prize was awarded to Aaron Moore of the Northern Territory who exhibited ‘The truth is lacking’.
In her opening remarks to a large audience of artists, judges, supporters and committee, Dr Angela McCarthy, Chair of the Mandorla Art Award Committee, reflected upon the meaning of the terms religious art, sacred art, liturgical art and Christian art, observing that all the art in the exhibition was Christian art in that it responded to a Christian scriptural text from Genesis 3:10, ‘I was afraid, because I was naked: and I hid myself’ - Genesis 3:10.
Dr McCarthy noted that as Christians we seek meaning. We seek the truth that we know has a divine origin. What we ask artists through the Mandorla Art Award, she said, is to seek the meaning of our sacred texts and challenge us with their interpretation and then art and faith come together. As she continued ‘Each of the works here tonight have come from a very personal point of view from our artists and they are without doubt, challenging. We are grateful to our artists for your excellence and your courage in taking on such a challenging theme’.
This year there were 253 entries eclipsing any previous total. Of the entries 41 became finalists. Particular thanks were offered for the work of the Curator, Erin Coates, the social media team of Mandy-lynn Van Der Schyff, Rebecca Hepworth and Joel Gibson, and designer Leanda Chia.
The task of judging was undertaken by a panel of three - Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, a visual artist, a Muslim Australian of mixed ethnicity, who lives and works on Bindjareb Nyungar country, in the Peel region of Western Australia; Anna Davis, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, whose research focuses on evolving relationships between art, living systems and nonhuman intelligence, and Associate Professor Glenn Morrison, theologian and writer, whose research interests at the University of Notre Dame (Fremantle) include theology and phenomenology, the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, interfaith relations, ecclesiology, spirituality, pastoral theology and Catholic universities.
At the conclusion of the ceremonies, The Hon Kerry Sanderson AO CVO announced the theme for the 2028 Mandorla Art Award: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it’ (John 1:5 New Living Translation).