Hand-cut by the Newcastle artist, it's the third consecutive time he's entered the Wynne Prize and the first time he has been a finalist.

The Wynne Prize is one of Australia's oldest art prizes, older than the Archibald, and this year celebrates its 124th year. Established following a bequest to the Art Gallery of NSW by Richard Wynne, it commenced in 1897 to honour the official opening of the gallery at its present site.

Although it is also a prize for best figurative sculpture, it has become synonymous with displaying the best Australian landscape art.

"I'd just missed out on the Glover Prize and sometimes you get depressed and despondent if you don't get in but I just thought I'd do a giant one," Wilson says.

"I felt the landscape needed to be giant anyway, because it is Cradle Mountain. I felt I wanted to do a grand landscape. I didn't make it to enter the Wynne."

That came later, he says, after the positive response he received from his studio colleagues.

Wilson studied printmaking at the University of Newcastle and it was during his final project in 1994 that he started to exhibit the actual woodcut instead of the print that he would usually make. He is also a trained stonemason, having carved the Anne Von Bertouch head on Newcastle's Laman Street.

"I carve the wood as if I'm going to print it but instead I exhibit the wood because I like the look of the wood," he explains.

"For the Wynne - Dove Lake Dawn I painted it first, used chalk to get the general position of things and then I just carved away."

Wilson has been following this technique for the past two decades and uses a variety of Japanese woodcutting tools and chisels.

"I was trying to emulate old wood engraving to get that sort of feeling, so I knew the bigger size would allow me to put more details in the mountains and the clouds."

The Wynne Prize winner for 2021 is Nyapanyapa Yunupingu for her painting Garak - Night Sky.

For Wilson, seeing his work on the wall was an experience in itself.

"It just blew me away; I hadn't seen it on a wall before, I'd only seen it leaning against a wall in the studio," he says.

"It seemed bigger than I remembered. An older lady told my son that she came round the corner and saw it and it made her legs tremble and she had to sit down [laughs]."

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman works are at the Art Gallery of NSW until September 26.

Collaborative works by Nicco "Hyperventilating Eyes" and Lucille are coming up at The Owens Collective. This is the first time the pair have exhibited together. "It's pretty daunting as it's not something I've worked with before - the collages - but we're pretty excited about it. We wanted an exhibition that was light-hearted and a little quirky," Lucille says. The exhibition Puff n' Things is influenced by Nicco's travels interspersed with Lucille's joyful watercolour drawings and opens Friday, June 25, at 101 Maitland Road, Islington.

Unnatural Selection is on now at Art Systems Wickham and explores natural, preternatural and supernatural themes. By Sharon and Louise Salmi, Lisa Stratigos and Danny Giles, it includes painting and mixed media on canvas and sculpture. 40 Annie Street, Wickham.

Blackstone Gallery has extended the exhibition THROUGH THE LOUPE by James Rhodes and Aidan Gageler until June 26. 470 Hunter Street, Newcastle.

Curve Gallery has new opening hours: Thursday and Friday, noon to 6pm, and Saturday 10am to 2pm. The latest exhibition presents paintings by Joseph Johnson and continues to feature the live wall drawing by Margot Broug. 61 Hunter Street, Newcastle.

Newcastle Printmakers and Hunter Sculptors will exhibit Unfurl at the Hunter Wetlands Centre from June 26. Curated by Gina McDonald.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: