Dave Snook is a 32-year-old artist based in the western suburbs of Sydney. He’s been creating art for as long as he can remember, he tells ArtsHub. “I have always found solace in drawing, but didn’t pick up a brush until about 2015, and I haven’t been able to put it down since.
“I actually first heard about the Hornsby Art Prize through ArtsHub, as I keep a tab of your Awards and Prizes page open on my phone and decided two years ago that I would enter as many shows as I was able to see what I could accomplish with my art.”
It was a good thing he did, for Snook won the Prize last year for his offering, Labour, Plein Air. It was drawn from a pool of 63 finalists out of an overall 565 artworks submitted across Australia.
“It was painted with the intention of bringing focus to the everyday Australian working physical labour jobs outdoors, often in the sun, and how that work affects the skin. I wanted to focus on the weathering of the skin, the almost leather-like texture of sun-damaged flesh, and the pride of a hard day’s work,” he says.
And the particular subject of his work? “When I’m not painting, I work in my partner’s family horticultural business. So, the portrait is of one of the self-employed labourers who harvest the native seeds that we then process. I worked from photos I had taken of the sitter. It took close to a month to complete.”
Of the winning portrait – an oil on board of a bare-chested man staring directly at the viewer with tan lines visible – judge Sebastian Goldspink said it demonstrated “a deft hand, alongside courage and vulnerability”.
Established in 2009, the Hornsby Art Prize is organised and sponsored by Hornsby Shire Council and delivered in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society. This non-acquisitive prize celebrates Australian contemporary art and is open to all Australian residents aged 18 years and over. Categories span painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture.
The overall prize pool of the Hornsby Art Prize is $23,000, with the major prize worth $10,000 and the Local Artist Award $5000.
“Winning the Hornsby Art Prize has changed my life in respect to the confidence it has given me in my own ability as an artist,” says Snook. “As somebody who wholeheartedly believes in small businesses, the first thing I did with the prize money was to head down to Levers, an amazing family-run fine art store in Wollongong that I recommend to absolutely everybody. I spent way too much! It felt good though.”
What advice would he offer to artists thinking about entering the Hornsby Art Prize? Snook keeps it simple: “My advice to you is to ‘go for it’. What’s the worst that can happen? Rejection is commonplace within the art world and should not be feared, but my tip to you is that if you put yourself into your work and create something that speaks of who you are and where your passions lie, you can’t go wrong.”
The Hornsby Art Prize will accept submissions from 2 June to 7 August 2025. The winner will be announced 12 September, with the exhibition to run from 12-28 September.
