Alice Kelway-Bamber sculpture winner Signature Art Prize 2013/14
Over the next week FAD will be featuring Q&A’s with all the winners of The Signature Art Prize first up is Alice Kelway-Bamber.
1.If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
I would be a teacher, which I already am alongside being an artist! If not a teacher, I think I would like to work as a ski instructor…
2. Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
I try to simultaneously highlight and blur the boundary between drawing and sculpture: my work is always resting somewhere in between. The piece that won the Signature art prize started life as a drawing on MDF, which was then hand-cut and turned into a sculpture that still is, essentially, a drawing. The work is meant to contrast spontaneous gestural mark-making with painstaking mechanical process by interrupting the drawing with a grid (or interrupting a grid with a drawing). I also see the work as a screen between the artist and viewer, that both facilitates and prevents communication; the patterns I use are derived from those found in jali screens in Indian palaces, through which royal women caught their only glimpses of the outside world, as well as spectacles and concerts outside the palace. I feel like the artwork is a screen through which artist and viewer catch glimpses of one another, but never fully see or speak to each other.
3. How do you start the process of making work?
Usually I will think about the space first, because I like my work to engage with the space and to use it fully. The features and feel of the space will always affect the end result.
4. Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
Yes I do, I am always thinking about the viewer because as I said I am interested in the artist’s relationship with the viewer and the communication that happens between the two. I really like hearing the reactions of the viewer once the work is finished as well, because they are so interesting and very often bring up ideas that I hadn’t even thought of in relation to the work.
5. Name 3 artists that have inspired your work?
Sinta Werner, Vanessa Jackson, D Simpson.
6. Is The Signature Art prize the first art prize you have won?
Yes
7. What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I am currently artist in residence at King Edward’s School Witley until June, so I intend to make the most of the opportunity and make some more work there. In August I will be organising and showing in an Exhibition at Brixton East, and will be starting teacher training in September for one year.
8. Final question, if you had $49,000 to spend on an artist who would it be?
Robert Rauschenberg – he has been my favourite artist since I was around 15.
About The Signature Art Prize
The Signature Art Prize is the only award of its kind that draws attention to emerging artist’s unique perspective, championing their signature themes and aesthetic – and as such the prize is only open to current students and artist who graduated within the last 3 years.
Founded in 2007, the celebrated Signature Art Prize presents a fresh and exciting award for the most promising emerging artists of today. The competition invites artists worldwide to apply for a chance to win one of four £1,000.00 cash prizes, representation with DegreeArt, future exhibition opportunities and artistic support, as well as gifts from the prize sponsors.
Following the huge success of the awards in 2011, the Signature Art Prize returned in 2012 with the added attraction of cash prizes as well as an opening gala held within a pop-up gallery space in Spitalfield’s Market, and we are now returning again for the 7th year to host the Signature Art Prize 2013/14.
All entries are reviewed by an esteemed panel of industry judges, and shortlisted artists exhibit at the awards night, followed by an extended one-month exhibition at DegreeArt’s Execution Room in the cultural hub of Vyner St, East London
The Signature Art Prize is administered by DegreeArt.com, the UK leader in graduate art representation, showcasing emerging art online, providing collectors with access to original art and supporting recently graduated artists all over the world.
