Lucy CULLITON | The 2025 Wynne Prize Regional Tour

The landscape along Cambalong Creek in Gunningrah, a property in the Monaro region of NSW, has been a recurring subject in Lucy Culliton’s paintings over the past ten years. The property belongs to her friend Charlie Maslin, a regenerative farmer who was also the subject of an Archibald Prize entry by Culliton in 2020.

Of the property, she says, ‘Livestock are rotated in cell paddocks so the grass has long breaks from the wear and tear of animals. Charlie has built leaky weirs on the creek so large ponds hold water longer in dry times. Grasses and reeds grow along the edges of the banks so erosion isn’t an issue. All good farming practices, in my mind.’

A nine-time Wynne Prize finalist, Culliton takes an expansive view of the undulating landscape but also dwells in detail on blades of grass and dimpled clouds. Based on a smaller study painted en plein air (outdoors), the full-scale painting is electrified by blue sky, reflected on the surface of Cambalong Creek.