Craft Prize 2018

The annual prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 to showcase
and celebrate excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship.
This year, the finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from close to 1,900
submissions by artisans representing 86 countries.
The award, which was conceived by creative director Jonathan Anderson, aims
to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and recognise working
artisans whose talent, vision and will to innovate will set a standard for the future.
The incentive for the prize goes back to LOEWE’s beginnings as a collective craft
workshop in 1846.

Jennifer Lee, winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize in his studio.

Paul Adie
Searching for solid ground
The piece is a metaphor for the fluctuating physical and emotional forces that affect us all.

Gunilla Maria Åkesson
Container
A smooth-surfaced vessel infused with serenity that embraces the potency of empty space.

ARKO
Third Time Rainfall
A stitched rice straw artwork that re-forges fading bonds with Japanese traditions.

Yeonsoon Chang
Matrix III Time, Space, Human, -1,2,3
This wall-mounted textile piece tells the multi-dimensional story of female Korean labourers.

Min Chen
Hangzhou Stool
Stratified bamboo stool that channels the relaxed rhythms of the artist’s home city Hangzhou.

Hae Cho Chung
Five Color Vessels 0831
Built up from multiple layers of lacquer, the dark colour of these multi-hued vessels seems to glow deep from within.

Steffen Dam
New Medicine
This collection of encased marine specimens comments on the ephemeral nature of healing.

Sam Tho Duong
Frozen/se[e/a]/Look
The pearl, coral and shell-like shapes are contemporary jewels that speak to the otherworldly expressions of mother nature.

Sara Gackowska
Craquelure
Each oval is fractured, creating a condensed picture of sublime ruin and human frailty.

Ann Van Hoey
Object from "The Earthenware Ferrari" series
Inspired by the geometry and precision of Japanese origami yet glazed with Ferrari
red paint.

Joe Hogan
Homage to the Tree
Wood from a storm-felled beech tree serves as the core and guides the uneven lines of wicker.

Marie Janssen
Shrouded Furnace 5
It retains its function as a hearth, whilst embodying superstitions and mysterious customs.

Joonyong Kim
Tears in the Sunset
The fragility of this gleaming bowl reveals Kim’s imaginings about excavation and exposure.

Christofer Kurtz
Singularity
Constellation of hand-carved, gravity-defying basswood spears that re-affirms our existence.

Takuro Kuwata, special mention
Tea Bowl
Brimming with the possibilities of chance, it indicates Kuwata’s joyful approach to creation.

Jennifer Lee, winner
Pale, Shadowed Speckled Traces, Fading Elipse, Bronze Specks, Tilted Shelf
Lee captures a sense of frozen time within the vessel’s delicately poised proportions.

Deirdre McLoughlin
Waterwork I
The effect is reminiscent of the late evening light reflections on Amsterdam’s Ij Waterway.

Rishard McVetis
Variations of a Stiched Cube
McVetis weaves together an enquiry into the way time is felt, experienced and constructed.

Simone Pheulpin, special mention
Croissance XL
Emulating crevices of rock and time-worn sediment, it questions the fragility of our existence.

Irina Razumovskaya
Barkskin
Reminiscent of a time-worn tree, the cracked-surface of this ceramic piece captures the essence of Soviet-era relics.

Aneta Regel
Raining Stones
These are monuments to the way material performance reveals the inexorable passage of time.

Ryuhei Sako
Mokume-gane Vase
Scarcity, density, stillness and movement is rhythmically illustrated in one singular vessel.

Rita Soto
Folds of Memory
By interweaving memories with the imaginary, each piece embodies a storied symbol of identity.

Laurenz Stockner
Bowl Made of Copper
Exploring a balance between beauty and utility, it riffs on the impermanence of all forms.

Wycliffe Stutchbury
100 Foot Drain / Annie´s Wood
The undulating shingled surface becomes a paragon for the interplay of light and shadow.

Mercedes Vicente
Scalaria Bifurca
The twisted structure straddles a delicate line between strength and vulnerability.

Julian Watts
Bench
Anatomical contours give an abstract human-like appearance, encouraging visceral inquiry.

Takeshi Yasuda
Qingbai Gold Bowl
This compressed vessel captures both fluidity and permanence in a singular expressive form.

Ashley YK Yeo
Arbitrary Metrics II
Made from exquisitely engraved paper, this small work appears both faint and translucent.

Shohei Yokoyama
Sei Wo Harumu (Filling with Silence)
The embryonic form is a symbol of nascent life, a silent idea that swells in the imagination.

How to apply

All participants must be professional artisans of 18 years or older at the time of the
submission of entries. All nationalities are welcome.

To meet the jury members and read exclusive quotes about craft in our days visit: https://craftprize.loewe.com/

The rules of entry are available in spanish, english, french, japanese and simplified chinese. The english version will prevail upon the others.

The Prize for the winning piece of work is fifty thousand euros (50,000 euros). The winning
entry can be made up of either one single piece of work or one series of works.