Out of 2,000 entries from 1,000 artists living across 42 countries, 144 works by 117 artists were shortlisted for the Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes 2022 exhibition.
The shortlist and award winners were chosen by a selection panel comprising: Rebecca Salter RA, President of the Royal Academy, Morfudd Bevan, curator of the National Collection, The National Library of Wales and Jill Piercy, curator and writer.
As the Wales Contemporary exhibition opened at the Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven, the selectors announced the names of the award-winning artists, who received £12,000 in total:
Two-Dimensional Prizes, sponsored by the Port of Milford Haven:
- First Prize, £3,000: Ainsley Hillard, Anemone, Blodyn y Gwynt,
- Second Prize, £1,500: Ellie Yannas, Deadly Co-ordinates, Aleppo,
- Third Prize, £750: Edit Toaso, Yellow Orchids,
- Fourth Prize, £500: Adam de Ville, Barmouth 85,
- Fifth Prize, £250: Elaine Brown, Yellow Clouds.
Three-Dimensional Prizes, sponsored by Valero, “Proud to support the arts in Pembrokeshire”:
- First Prize, £3,000: Hamish Young, Nest,
- Second Prize, £1,500: Vivian Ge, Garden Vase ll,
- Third Prize, £750: Gail Altschuler, Zoom Meeting,
- Fourth Prize, £500: Esther Neslen, Dependent Forms 12,
- Fifth Prize, £250: Sara Dodd, Monochrome Maquette.
All award-winning and shortlisted artworks are now available to see in the Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes exhibition at the Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven, until Saturday 12 November 2022.
The exhibition will then tour to gallery@OXO, London, from Tuesday 29 November to Sunday 4 December 2022.
The two-dimensional First Prize, worth £3,000, was awarded to Ainsley Hillard, for her tapestry Anemone, Blodyn y Gwynt. Based in Llandeilo, Wales, Ainsley Hillard works between traditional and new technologies to explore the construction of cloth and its relationship to body, memory and space.
“Ainsley Hillard’s work appealed to us straight away” say the selectors. “The fact that her work is in tapestry, a medium that has been overlooked in art history, is significant. We’re really glad to award Ainsley Hillard First Prize in the competition.”
The selection panel awarded the Three-Dimensional First Prize, worth £3,000, to Hamish Young for Nest, a small-scale sculpture made out of pencil leads.
“This work appealed to us immediately, when we first saw the images of the artworks” the selectors explained. “It’s an intricate use of a material you wouldn’t normally imagine as part of a sculpture. The artist has used what is straight material, a piece of lead you’d find as part of a propelling pencil, which he has managed to form what is in fact a nest. There’s a delicacy, a solidity and a presence to it.”
In the artist’s own words, “Nest (constructed from pencil leads) sits at the boundary of both Sculpture and Drawing, at once apart from and a part of each genre. Empty, it waits for an occupant to arrive or return, reflecting my experience as an adoptee.”
Two-Dimensional Prizes:
The two-dimensional Second Prize, worth £1,500, went to Istanbul-born and London-based artist Ellie Yannas, for her painting Deadly Co-ordinates, Aleppo.
“Syria is not front-page news anymore. The world’s attention moved on. But the destruction remains” explains the artist. “The coordinates in this painting serve as a reminder. The cityscape is viewed through a grid of blue lines. Broken shutters? Or a ‘distancing device?”
Edit Toaso received the two-dimensional Third Prize, worth £750, for her painting, Yellow Orchids.
Edit Toaso is a fine artist who works in painting and drawing. Now based in the UK, she completed her Masters in Fine Arts at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Adam de Ville receives the two-dimensional Fourth Prize of £500 for his painting Barmouth, ’85, Matching Cardigans, Sausage Rolls.
“At the mouth of the Afon Mawddach is where my heart lies, mountains, sea, harbour, and all the Welsh weather!” says the artist. “The start of a wonderful adventure from childhood into adulthood, and the maker of treasured memories.”
The two-dimensional Fifth Prize of £250 was awarded to London-based artist Elaine Brown for her oil painting Yellow Clouds.
“My experience of the relationship of people to things and their particular locations, far away and close to home, continue to inform my research, broadly, the pursuit of Spirit of Place” the artist explains.
London-based artist Vivian Ge received the Three-Dimensional Second Prize of £1,500 for her textile work Garden Vase ll.
“Inspired by gardens, The Garden Vase collection preserves the tranquillity, abundance, florescence, and beauty of gardens via textiles” explains the artist. “Natural material qualities and geometric forms are interwoven in the work, which evokes a joy of life and a tenderness of healing.”
The Three-Dimensional Third Prize, worth £750, went to Gail Altschuler for her hand painted ceramic plate, Zoom Meeting.
Gail Altschuler works both in ceramic and painting, using clay as canvas. In her series of Zoom porcelains, the artist documents the change in how people met and connected throughout the Covid pandemic.
Esther Neslen won the Three-Dimensional Fourth Prize of £500 for her sculpture Dependent Forms 12.
Esther Neslen works in ceramic to create abstracted vessel forms, developing into an exploration of interdependencies in human relationships. The organic texture and form add a tactile dimension to the sense of precariousness in the work.
The Three-Dimensional Fifth Prize of £250 went to Sara Dodd for her ceramic piece, Monochrome Maquette.
Sara Dodd works in porcelain, seeing beauty in the fragility and delicacy of the material whilst utilising its strength. Using slip, she paints to create her wafer-thin pieces of ceramic. Then using repetition, she creates pieces constructed of these individual units that build up to form sculptures and wall-based installations which question what ceramics is and its possibilities.
All award-winning and shortlisted artworks will be available to see in the Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes exhibition at the Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven, until Saturday 12 November 2022. The exhibition will then tour to the gallery@OXO, central London, in November 2022.
Visitors to the exhibition can vote for their favourite artwork for the People’s Choice Award worth £2,000, generously sponsored by Rob Thompson and Tessa Pryor-Thompson.
The exhibition will tour to gallery@OXO, London, from Tuesday 29 November to Sunday 4 December 2022.
David Randell, Curator and Director at the Waterfront Gallery said:
“The Waterfront Gallery is immensely proud to be bringing this prestigious competition to Milford Waterfront again, and of our partnership with the Port of Milford Haven. We particularly appreciate them being our lead sponsor for the Wales Contemporary international fine art competition and subsequent exhibition.”
Tom Sawyer, CEO for the Port of Milford Haven commented:
“We are delighted to be supporting the Wales Contemporary art competition. The Waterfront Gallery is an important cultural asset to Milford Waterfront, and one we are very proud to collaborate with.”#
Feature image: The Wales Contemporary selectors, Rebecca Salter RA, Morfudd Bevan, and Jill Piercy, with the Two-dimensional First Prize winner, Ainsley Hillard, Anemone, Blodyn y Gwynt
