Phansakdi Chakkaphak wins Shirley Sherwood Award for Botanical Art

Thai artist Phansakdi Chakkaphak wins 2026 Shirley Sherwood Award for Botanical Art
Prestigious award given in recognition of contribution to contemporary botanical art
Works to be displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens from 9 May Gallery entry included in Kew Gardens general admission; £1 Universal Credit ticket and £10 young person's ticket available

The winner of the 2026 Shirley Sherwood Award for Botanical Art has been announced as Phansakdi Chakkaphak. The acclaimed Thai artist joins previous winners Vicki Thomas (2025), Carol Woodin (2024), Beverly Allen (2023) and Mieko Ishikawa (2022). Presented annually, the award recognises a notable contribution to the field of contemporary botanical art, with a prize of £10,000 and a year-long display of work in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens, London.

Born in Chonburi, Thailand in 1949, Phansakdi Chakkaphak studied at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He has worked prolifically as a designer and illustrator of publications on botanical art, with work being displayed in Bangkok, London, Singapore, San Francisco and New York. In 2009, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre hosted a solo exhibition of his work titled Beauty in Bloom. He has worked as a freelance botanical artist since 1999, and over 40 of his works are now part of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

From 9 May 2026, his works Water Firework, Japanese Pine Cone, and Cacao Flower and Young Pod will be on display in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. Alongside this, visitors will also be able to enjoy a new exhibition of botanical artworks, Monumental Botanical Art. This exhibition, linked to Kew’s forthcoming landmark presentation of works by Henry Moore, focuses on monumental depictions of plants, from giant waterlilies to the magnified details of spectacular trees, altering scale and perspective to encourage visitors to see elements of the natural world in new ways.

Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE says: “I am delighted to present the 2026 award to Phansakdi Chakkaphak. His prolific and distinguished work has made a significant contribution to contemporary botanical art in Thailand and internationally. It has been a great pleasure to collect his paintings over the years; they now form an important part of my Collection. His work combines scientific rigour with artistic sensitivity in a most compelling way, and I very much look forward to visitors to Kew Gardens in the coming year discovering and enjoying his remarkable paintings for themselves.”

Maria Devaney, Galleries and Exhibition Leader at RBG Kew adds: “Botanical art is having a huge resurgence around the world at the moment, so it’s wonderful to be able to recognise Phansakdi’s contribution to the artform with this special award. We’re delighted to be hosting a selection of his works in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery this year, alongside the Monumental Botanical Art presentation, and the forthcoming display of works by Henry Moore, which opens on 9 May and promises to be a very special experience for our visitors.”

ENDS

Admission to the exhibition is included in a ticket to Kew Gardens. Pre-booking online offers the best value visit.

For more information or images, please contact the Press Office at pr@kew.org.

Image credit: Water Firework, Waterlily ‘Phansakdi Chakkaphak’, Nymphea ‘Phansakdi Chakkaphak’, watercolour on paper

Notes to Editors

About the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) is a world-renowned charity and global centre for plant and fungal science, education, conservation, and horticulture. We work to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change through innovative research, our living collections and influential partnerships.

We welcome more than 2.5 million visitors each year to Kew Gardens, London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Wakehurst, our wild botanic garden in Sussex, home to the Millennium Seed Bank. Our year-round programme of exhibitions, festivals, learning experiences and events brings our work to life, inspiring visitors of all ages to connect with and care for the natural world.

Funded through a mix of philanthropy, commercial activity, and government support, we are committed to widening access to nature and creating a thriving planet for all, powered by plants and fungi

Become a member. Book tickets. Donate. Explore more.

About the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

Located at Kew Gardens in London, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is the world’s first display space dedicated solely to this genre. Since it was opened in 2008 by Sir David Attenborough, the gallery has held over 50 exhibitions, welcomed more than a million visitors, and become the hub of the worldwide renaissance of botanical art. Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE studied botany at Oxford University before starting the Shirley Sherwood

Collection in 1990. Thirty years on, the Collection includes over 1,000 paintings and drawings, representing the work of over 300 contemporary botanical artists from 36 countries around the world. The collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has been a huge success, with the gallery showcasing a huge diversity of botanical art, raising the profile of the genre and the plants it portrays. Its walls have seen paintings by renowned artists such as Margaret Mee and Rory McEwen, and collections from Brazil, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and the USA. As well as displaying pieces from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the gallery hosts a roster of genre-pushing exhibitions by independent artists. Recent examples include the intricate graphite drawings of the UK’s oldest oak trees by Mark Frith, an immersive installation by British artist Rebecca Louise Law, and sculptures by Dale Chihuly and David Nash. Recent artists on display in the gallery have included Pip & Pop, Anila Quayyum Agha, Mat Collishaw, Marc Quinn, Felicity Aylieff and The Singh Twins.