Every year one person is appointed to sift through the hundreds of entries for the contest. In 2008 it was the internationally-renowned artist Laura Ford who has represented Wales in the Venice Biennale.

Together with a member of the gallery and an external observer, she considered the hundreds of artworks submitted, before refining it down to the 92 now exhibited in Room One and deciding on the three to be awarded prizes.

Each artist may submit a maximum of up to two works in the form of painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, DVDs, videos and photographs.

For many of the participants the biggest thrill is the thought that the object of their artistic labours might just be one of those chosen to be displayed in the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.

Certainly that's the view of Welsh-born Mike Hill, who won third prize for his work 'Thin Chair No. 1".

"It was a big surprise," he said, reflecting on the day when the prizewinner's envelope dropped onto his doormat, "but I was just pleased to have something exhibited."

Mike is a freelance illustrator and designer, who studied wildlife illustration at Carmarthen Art College, but sculpture and green issues have been his growing passions for some time now.

And although many of the Swansea Open exhibits are for sale, the hardwood chair is not. In fact he's thinking about making it part of a series - with perhaps another chair made of a material like feathers and a further one intriguingly characterised by holes.

For Margaret Agnew it is perceptions of change in the landscape that inspire her work. A former art historian, she has always sketched, but only started painting again after a long gap.

Originally from the South West coast of Scotland, she now lives in Mumbles, and her work focuses on the changing nature of landscape, though she prefers to leave any interpretation up to the individuals looking at her paintings. And like the overall winner, she acknowledges that there is an ambiguous nature to her work.

For Tom Pope, who won the first prize, it was a childhood fantasy of flight that evolved into his prizewinning exhibit.

A photographic artist in residence at Swansea Metropolitan University, he recently completed a degree in photography in the arts.

'Willsbridge', the winning entry, was actually part of a series called 'Over the Edge', which involved him taking some 700 photographs.

"It began with my research into how photography is unable to document performance," said Tom.

"What you have is a split second from the moment which produces an ambiguous image."

And so it's the combination of his performance and the photograph that leads to the finished work.

The exhibition will run until Saturday 6 September 2008 and the gallery is open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am until 5pm. Admission is free.

Swansea Open 2008: first prize Tom Pope for 'Willsbridge', second prize Margaret Agnew for 'Bristol Channel: Storm' and third prize Mike Hill for 'Thin Chair No. 1'.