Friends of University Art and Music Graduate Art Prize 2022
Discover the freshest artistic talent from the University of Leeds
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery (2022) by Photographer: Mark WebsterOriginal Source: Leeds University Library Galleries
Celebrating its tenth year, the FUAM Graduate Art Prize and Exhibition, supported by the Friends of University Art & Music (FUAM), rewards the artistic excellence of students completing BA studies in Art and Design and Fine Art at the University of Leeds in 2022.
The finalists are selected by an expert panel of judges.
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery People in The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery by Photographer: Mark WebsterOriginal Source: Leeds University Library Galleries
The 2022 finalists are:
Liv Hedges (BA Art and Design)
Sunny Wong (BA Art and Design)
Suman Shams (BA Fine Art)
Astrid Butt (BA Fine Art)
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery People in The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery by Photographer: Mark WebsterOriginal Source: Leeds University Library Galleries
The judges will return to choose the overall winner of the FUAM Graduate Art Prize 2022 later this year. This will be announced alongside the People's Choice winner.
The judging panel comprises Professor Jeff Grabill (Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Education, University of Leeds), Marianna Tsionki (Curator, Leeds Arts University), and Karen Watson (Artistic Director, East Street Arts).
Liv Hedges - 'The Misogynarmoire'
the purpose of adopting this aesthetic is to narrate what it’s like to be female in contemporary society, through lenses of retro fashion, art and language
FUAM 2022 - Liv Hedges The Misogynarmoire, 2022, mixed media installation by Liv HedgesOriginal Source: © Liv Hedges
Revolving around a fictional women’s clothing retailer, The Misogynarmoire is a multidisciplinary installation that marries set building, photography, textiles, and marketing design to form an immersive 1960’s London high-street experience.
FUAM 2022 - Liv Hedges The Misogynarmoire (detail), 2022, mixed media installation by Liv HedgesOriginal Source: © Liv Hedges
Inspired by the 1960’s paper dress craze, the entirety of The Misogynarmoire’s product line is constructed from a polypropylene-paper composite. This medium, whose most recent use has been for disposable COVID-19 face masks, presents a modern alternative to the original Duraweave™ material, that points towards patriarchal restriction and female safety.
FUAM 2022 - Liv Hedges The Misogynarmoire (detail), 2022, mixed media installation by Liv HedgesOriginal Source: © Liv Hedges
The garments are available in a range of colour and pattern preferences, as displayed in the supporting catalogue, each lending themselves to issues surrounding present-day misogyny.
Sunny Wong - 'Bruh... It is what it is...'
using art as a platform for self-therapy, the collection records my contemplations and other coping mechanisms responding to our highly connected world
FUAM 2022 - Sunny Wong Bruh... It is what it is... 2022, installation view by Sunny WongOriginal Source: © Sunny Wong
My practice generally reflects on my relationship with tech and the digital environment, and communicates my perception of the increasingly technological world that we live in.
FUAM 2022 - Sunny Wong Bruh... It is what it is... 2022, installation view by Sunny WongOriginal Source: © Sunny Wong
The cascading arrangement of works can be seen as a painting or a large-scale collage. Audiences are welcome to unveil covered elements by lifting overlapped pieces, mimicking the gesture of swiping to reveal more information in digital interfaces.
FUAM 2022 - Sunny Wong Bruh... It is what it is... (detail), 2022, installation view by Sunny WongOriginal Source: © Sunny Wong
Using analogue methods – painting, drawing, and screen printing, the works oppose digital production and transfer elements from the virtual space into physical artefacts, including thoughts generated from its usage.
Suman Shams - 'But What's in a Name?'
I aim for my practice to be a space for those who also grew up with similar questions of belonging, complex identities and a desire for representation
FUAM 2022 - Suman Shams But What's in a Name?, 2022, installation view by Suman ShamsOriginal Source: © Suman Shams
The concepts from which my work arises are a result of the identities I explore via a research-based approach in my practice; my religious identity as a young Muslim woman, my ethnic identity as a second generation British Pakistani, and my digital identity as a Gen Z navigating the rapidly evolving technological landscape.
FUAM 2022 - Suman Shams But What's in a Name? (detail), 2022, installation view by Suman ShamsOriginal Source: © Suman Shams
As many of us, the works also live as digital beings, designed to be seen through screens, but in the physical world, I play with how they are viewed and interpreted spatially, often via installation works or experimental sculptural forms.
Suman Shams
But What's in a Name?
2022
Duration 02:05
Astrid Butt - 'Bird Diaries'
I have been trying to escape the confines of my own fear and shame surrounding womanhood, through my art
FUAM 2022 - Astrid Butt Bird Diaries (still), 2022, 1:1 digital film with audio and subtitles by Astrid ButtOriginal Source: © Astrid Butt
My work utilises the grotesque and the surreal to express uniquely female anxieties. Particularly, I focus on generational trauma and the terrors of the body.
FUAM 2022 - Astrid Butt Bird Diaries (still), 2022, 1:1 digital film with audio and subtitles by Astrid ButtOriginal Source: © Astrid Butt
My art is a product of all the women in my life, to whom the trauma of being a woman has left them feeling out of control over their own bodies.
Astrid Butt
Bird Diaries
2022
Duration 09:57
Artist statements and artworks by:
Liv Hedges
Sunny Wong
Astrid Butt
Suman Shams
