In April of this year, The Evening Standard brought back popular art competition, titled ‘A portrait of you’, – receiving over 300 entries.
The winning entry ‘3049 Calls, 19,401 Minutes’ by student Iman Sidonie-Samuels is made from 81 phone bills collected from her grandmother’s house in St Lucia.
The student, currently specialising in sculpture at Central Saint Martins, explained how the piece documented the “personal relationship” between her grandmother, who lived on the Caribbean island, and her in London. She said winning the competition felt like “an out-of-body experience”.
This year’s competition invited artists working in the fields of sculpture, textiles, ceramics, glassware, jewellery and wood carving to submit images of their work, that celebrated self-expression, individuality, and personality via art form.
12 shortlisted finalists got the opportunity to display their works of art at an exclusive winner’s event on 6th September at Cromwell Place. These included origami boats constructed using metal plates from the Cutty Sark, a smashed open traditional Korean moon jar and a woven piece depicting a part-human, part hermit-crab chimera on the seabed.
The competition provides an invaluable opportunity for artistic talent across the country to get their work in front of an impressive judging panel and catch the eye of important industry figures. This year’s expert panel was chaired by Nancy Durrant, Evening Standard’s Culture Editor; Ben Cobb, Evening Standard Magazine Editor; perfume icon and brand founder Frédéric Malle; and artists Aowen Jin and Bisila Noha.
This year’s winner received £5,000, along with a bespoke fragrance experience, courtesy of sponsor – respected perfume brand Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.
An exhibition of the 12 works of art will run from 7th – 10th September, at Cromwell Place.
Nancy Durrant, Culture Editor, Evening Standard, who hosted the winner’s event at Cromwell Place, commented: “I’m so glad the Art Prize is back because it matters more now than ever. Artists are supported to make their work and make sense of the world whether that’s the world in their head or the world around us, and it’s massively important to the Evening Standard to be able to do this”.
