AWFU is pleased to present the Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Wood Fired Award for best wood fired ceramic art again in 2025, as part of the Siliceous award for excellence in ceramic arts.  The Siliceous award is sponsored by Ceramic Arts Queensland and is one of Australia’s leading ceramic art prizes.

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The wood fired award honors renowned ceramic artist and wood firer, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (1935 – 2013). We are pleased to honor Gwyn, an internationally recognised ceramic artist, and one of Australia’s most significant visual artists in this way. You can learn more about Gwyn here.

This year's Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Wood Fired Award for best wood fired ceramic art was won by Ben Richardson of Tasmania. By happy coincidence, Ben, a long term potter and wood firer, met Gwyn early in his career. He says:

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"Gwyn was a significant influence on my making when I started my journey over 40 years ago. She was living and making in Tasmania at that time and my first woodfiring experience was at a workshop with her. Many of the local materials I have used over the years were collected, tested, analysed and developed into clay bodies and glazes in her relatively short time here. I think of her time in Tasmania as similar to the time Michael Cardew, one of her mentors, spent in Nigeria.
It’s an honour to receive this award dedicated to her and I would like to thank Ceramic Arts Queensland, Australian Wood Firers United,  donors, organisers and everyone involved in putting on this exhibition. Congratulations to other award recipients and all the finalists."

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You can see Ben's winning piece, the 2025 finalists and that of 2023 winner, Ray Cavill (also an associate of Gwyn's, in another stroke of synchronicity) below. 

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