2026 marks the first Desenio Art Awards, a new global initiative for discovering and supporting creativity. Artists are invited to submit their work to six categories for the opportunity to join the Desenio creative universe.
Winner in Painter of the Year
Julia Humbla
Sweden
Julia Humbla paints figurative, emotionally driven works centered on intimacy and human connection. With a soft, muted palette and delicate sense of movement, she captures moving moments that resonate deeply. The jury highlights her ability to transform everyday relationships into timeless, poetic scenes where vulnerability and strength coexist.
Winner in Mixed Media & Urban Artist of the Year
Samuel Centrella
United States of America
Samuel Centrella creates raw, expressive artworks driven by gesture and intuition. Through layered marks and mixed media, he channels emotion and explores the human condition. The jury recognizes his uncompromising approach, where spontaneity and vulnerability merge into powerful compositions that feel immediate, honest, and personal.
Winner in Illustrator of the Year
Joeyline Tannous
Germany
Joeyline Tannous creates intimate, joyful scenes inspired by everyday rituals. Working with expressive color and loose, painterly forms, she captures scenes with food that invite pause and connection. The jury recognizes her ability to transform the ordinary into warm, personal narratives - where spontaneity and imperfection bring a sense of lightness and lived experience.
Winner in Graphic Artist of the Year
Joel Mellström
Sweden
Graphic designer Joel Mellström creates surreal, minimalist collages that blur the line between reality and imagination. Guided by intuition, his dreamlike compositions unfold with quiet precision. The jury highlights his ability to create open, immersive spaces, where familiar elements shift and dissolve, inviting reflections on identity, perception, and the fragile tension of the present moment.
Winner in Emerging Talent of the Year
Marine Aimée
Canada
Painter Marine Aimée creates intimate, figurative works that navigate grief, healing, and emotional transformation. Blending realism with soft abstraction, her paintings unfold as quiet, psychological spaces shaped by memory and lived experience. The jury highlights her sensitive, introspective approach - where vulnerability becomes strength, and each image traces a path from fragmentation toward self-understanding and renewal.
Winner in Photographer of the Year
Hanna Göransson
Sweden
Hanna Göransson works primarily with photography, shaped by a lifelong instinct to create. In her work, she stages bold collisions between beauty and discomfort. The jury highlights her sharp, playful gaze, where glossy surfaces meet friction, turning everyday objects into striking, unsettling compositions that linger.
Award Timeline
Award Timeline
2026 Jury
Our jury brings together creative leaders from across Desenio, with expertise in art direction, photography, PR, and brand vision. With a shared passion for creativity and a trained eye for originality, craftsmanship, and visual impact, they will select the artworks that truly stand out.
Eric Flink
CEO, Desenio
As CEO of Desenio, Eric brings a sharp commercial mind and a genuine appreciation for creativity and visual culture. When he’s not steering the company’s global growth, you’ll likely find him behind a camera. An avid photographer with a keen eye for composition, light and storytelling, Eric is especially passionate about space and photography; both on their own and where they meet.
Annica Wallin
Chief Creative Officer, Desenio
Annica leads the creative vision behind Desenio’s art offering, shaping collections, concepts and storytelling with a strong instinct for aesthetics, relevance and what people want to live with on their walls. She has played a central role in defining the brand’s artistic direction and has a sharp eye for visual trends, creative expression and emerging talent. With her experience in curation and brand-building through art, Annica brings a thoughtful perspective and a discerning eye to the jury.
Sofie Andersson
Head of Art Atelier, Desenio
Sofie brings art experience and an uncanny knack for spotting trends before they hit the mainstream. She’s worked closely with every artist in the Desenio Collective, helping shape their vision and bring it to life. As Head of Desenio’s Art Atelier, she oversees artistic development and the creation of original works, always judging with an eye for craftsmanship, originality, and art that makes a real impact on the wall.
Anna Sylvan
Head of PR & Concepts, Desenio
With years of PR experience and a flair for crafting show-stopping concepts, Anna knows how to get art both seen and talked about. As Head of PR & Concept at Desenio, she turns launches, collaborations, and stories into momentum, connecting art with the audiences that matter, while creating buzz that resonates globally.
David Jerner
Photographer, Desenio
David isn’t just a photographer, he’s a full-blooded creative force. Beyond his talent behind the lens, he’s a stylist, an artist, and a visionary who sees far beyond limits. At Desenio, he brings stories to life through mood, detail, and composition, with a trained eye for imagery that’s strong, current, and timeless.
Award Categories
Emerging Talent of the Year
For emerging artists across all creative disciplines. This category celebrates new voices with a distinctive style, fresh perspective, and strong creative potential.
Illustrator of the Year
For illustrators working with hand-drawn or digital techniques, from character-based work and storytelling to editorial and conceptual illustration.
Photographer of the Year
For photographers creating original images with strong composition and visual storytelling, including portrait, landscape, architecture, documentary, and conceptual photography.
Graphic Artist of the Year
For graphic artists exploring bold composition, typography and visual communication, from poster-style graphics to modern, minimal or experimental expressions.
Mixed Media & Urban Artist of the Year
For artists combining multiple materials, techniques or influences to create layered, experimental or non-traditional work. This includes mixed media practices as well as art inspired by street and urban culture, such as graffiti, mural-based work, stencil art and contemporary urban aesthetics.
Painter of the year
For artists working primarily with paint, including acrylic, oil, watercolor or similar mediums. This category celebrates excellence across all painting styles, from abstract and figurative to impressionistic and contemporary, with a focus on technique, originality and visual impact.
About the Desenio Art Awards
The Vision Behind The Award
We believe great art should be seen, supported and shared.
The Desenio Art Awards was created to spotlight original talent and open doors for artists worldwide. By connecting creativity with a global audience, we make sure inspiring art reaches homes, public spaces and audiences everywhere.
How The Art Awards Works
- Free and open to artists, photographers and creatives worldwide.
- Submissions for 2026 are now closed.
- The Desenio Jury is in the process of selecting six nominees in each category.
- Nominees are announced by the jury on 28 Apr 2026.
- Final winners will be selected by a combination of the Jury's vote and a public vote, which opens here on 28 Apr 2026.
- Final winners are chosen through a combination of jury decision and public vote.
- The award culminates in a celebratory gala evening in Stockholm.