Southern Ocean Art Prize - Finalist

“Surrender”, 2026, Stoneware.

Surrender explores the ocean’s ability to overwhelm and recalibrate us. Inspire by a freezing June day in Robe, when my best friend and I decided to learn to surf. I remember the biting cold and relentless waves, yet both of us unwilling to leave the water. Out there, the elements demand your entirety; the world beyond the next wave disappears.

There’s a strange relief in being so completely present, and in that moment, we are reminded of our smallness within something so vast. This vessel’s form and decoration represents the shifting surfaces of the ocean and the loving memory of this day.