Troy Emery + COX Named Finalists in Tapestry Design Prize 2025
COX and Melbourne artist Troy Emery are thrilled that our collaborative design, ‘Longing (Camilla), has been named a finalist in the Tapestry Design Prize 2025.
The Troy Emery + COX work joins four other finalists whose designs will be woven into tapestry and exhibited for viewing at Boyd House II / Walsh Street from 14-16 November 2025.
Making the announcement, the Australian Tapestry Workshop, revealed that there was a highly competitive field of over 150 submissions.
Congratulations to the other finalists: Jack MacRae, Wilson Architects; Mouriya Senthilkumar + Ian Tsui; N’arwee’t Professor Carolyn Briggs AM + Greenshoot Design; and Yvette Coppersmith + Anouska Milstein, A.mi.
And thank you to the organisers and prize partners: Australian Tapestry Workshop, Metal Manufacturers Limited, The Robin Boyd Foundation, Nexus Designs, Architecture Media and Envelope Group.
About the Design: Longing (Camilla)
As a home for the Boyd Family, Walsh Street House resonates with the echoes of family life. Geoffrey Serle notes in his biography‚ ‘Robin Boyd: A Life’, that the Boyd’s had always had domestic pets, a dog and a cat towards whom Robin was very affectionate. In particular, Georgie and Sally were the two dachshunds and the cat, Camilla.
Reintroducing the loving creatures that co-habited with the Boyd’s, the design broadens the emotional setting of the Family home to include the otherness of contemporary mystical creatures.
Longing (Camilla) is a two-dimensional interpretation of Troy’s 2024 sculpture Lupa, an amorphous animal like companion.
The excess tendrils of yarn extended and embellished, dripping down out of the plane of the woven surface towards the floor, stretching the silhouette of the animal figure, bringing it into the space.
The tapestry figure sits between the hearth and window, facing the external courtyard and bridging the gap between interior and exterior spaces.
The figure’s gaze draws the eye towards the external spaces and the bedrooms beyond, linking the public, communal and private aspects of the home.
More on Troy Emery
Troy works primarily with textiles in a sculptural practice to produce figurative forms and imagery. His work examines the discourse surrounding our positioning within the natural world and he’s interested in the boundaries between fine art, museums, natural history, craft, and the domestic space.
In 2025, he unveiled his first major public art commission, Guardian Lion, illuminating Melbourne Square. Featuring bright colours and a distinctive silhouette, the large-scale LED piece is a reflection on the Grampians Big Cat myth.