Friends of University Art and Music Graduate Art Prize 2021

In its 9th year, the Friends of University Art & Music (FUAM) Graduate Art Prize rewards the artistic excellence of students completing undergraduate studies in the School of Design and in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds. The finalists were selected by an expert panel of judges. The Prize was set up to celebrate the excellence of art students at the University of Leeds and share their work with the wider public. 

The judges will return to choose the overall winner of the FUAM Graduate Art Prize 2021. This will be announced alongside the People's Choice winner. The Prize is supported by the Friends of University Art & Music (FUAM). 

Many thanks to this year’s judges: Masud Khokhar, Holly Grange and Professor Ann Sumner.

The nature of this condition is that of rubbing, flaking, itching, scratching, peeling, and excrescence. My practice embodies these actions to create results that reflect the ever-changing nature of my skin and its rough thickening.

Playing on the grotesque, I challenge the stigma associated with bacteria and skin conditions aiming to show the inherent beauty within these entities.

By re-appropriating the structure and concept of the totem pole, I propose a contemporary review of ancient indigenous beliefs that included non-human beings in their kinship system. 

At the same time, Co-Existence alludes to the sustainable behaviours of Native American cultures of the past as a way to reconsider our current fragile relationship with the natural world, calling for a more-than-human-centred future. The interconnected relationship between animal and plant beings and a need for a stronger co-existence with our natural environment is further suggested by the hybridity of both the sculptures and scrolls.

Put together, the sculptures and scrolls create a unique installation that intends to encourage the viewer to consider their own relationship with other species and the environment around them.

Although I work with heavily loaded personal histories, my priority is not to inform audiences about the background story. More so, I aim for people to get a sense of the theme and the tone through nuanced elements. In other words, feeling the artwork’s concept rather than a complete comprehension.

The recent discovery of my grandfather’s remains from the 1974 war in Cyprus led to an exploration of love and loss - especially that of my grandparents’ - told through archival objects. Working and thinking with objects left of him provided a way into reflecting and mourning. 

Many economies worldwide have deteriorated during the past 2 years as a consequence of the pandemic, yet an industry which has profited from COVID-19 has been pornography.  Consequently, the normalisation of this type of explicit imagery has become more commonly accepted in society. The following work seeks to explore the aestheticization of the female body by physically intervening with this type of imagery as a way of reclaiming the female form.

Flesh Dress is a wearable sculpture, devised from a weaving technique. Weaving and pornography are two industries which have historically thrived from the exploitation of women. Now, we see a shift in the latter, as women regenerate the porn industry by working for nobody but themselves. 

The material process gives an illusionary pixelated effect to the work, inviting the viewer to decipher the contents at their own effort. By raising the question “whose skin am I actually looking at?”, the uncertainty of conventional porn is declared.  Applying this back onto the body seeks to transfer power to the individual, exploring how we can re-wear the female form in an empowered manner.