Graduates in glass net £2000 of prizes at New Designers 2013
It’s a tough world today for new graduates, but again and again they show themselves to be up for the challenge. No less so than at this year’s New Designers where 1000’s of graduates showcased their work to an eager public.
The Contemporary Glass Society is particularly keen to encourage and support graduates working with glass as they start out on their career, and this is the fourth year that CGS have presented a number of highly coveted prizes for exceptional glasswork.
For 2013, the first prize goes to Juli Bolaños-Durman from Edinburgh College of Art, with runner up Laura Anne Reed, also from Edinburgh, hot on her heels. Olga Redondo from Glyndwr, Paul Baxter and Joanna Lloyd from UCA Farnham and Elliot Walker from Wolverhampton University received commendations for the excellence of their work. The judges also awarded a commendation to the Swansea School of Glass for the excellence of their stand.
A new prize this year - the CGS Glass Prize for commitment to skill 2013 sponsored by acclaimed glassblower Simon Moore, went to Erin Barr from Sunderland. This will be especially significant this year as it forms part of the Contemporary Glass Society’s Glass Skills 2013 – 12 months of exhibitions, events and workshops that explore the fusion of art and technique.
The first prize includes £250 in cash, a £100 Warm Glass voucher, a professional photo session with Simon Bruntnell worth £750, a supply of books donated by Dan Klein Associates and a promotional and marketing package worth £400, including two years’ CGS membership. Craft&Design will also be providing a year's subscription to their magazine and space in the Makers Gallery pages, together worth £180. The runner up will receive vouchers from Creative Glass UK, books from Dan Klein Associates and a promotional package worth £100, including a year’s CGS membership. Those commended will also gain valuable exposure in Glass Network, the CGS magazine.
This year’s new addition – a prize for commitment to skill – offered £250 in cash and four one-to-one masterclasses with the prize’s sponsor, Simon Moore, at his London workshop.
The judges this year were acclaimed glass artists Katharine Coleman, Amanda Simmons, Peter Layton and, representing the CGS, Karen Murphy, with Simon Moore judging the skills prize.
Karen Murphy said “As always, New Designers is a wonderful opportunity to see the breadth and depth of new glasswork emerging from our universities. This year there was a notable shift in techniques with less kiln formed work and a higher proportion of hot worked and blown work. Congratulations to all of the students and we look forward to seeing how their work develops”.
The prize makes a big difference of students as they start their careers.
“Since winning the CGS prize last year, I’ve been a part of some amazing exhibitions, such as BLAST! 2012 at ZeST Gallery, London, Shooting Star CHASE at the Royal College of Art, London, and Glasshaus VII at Parndon Mill, Harlow,” says last year’s winner, Emma Hollins from Sunderland University. “I’ve been experimenting in mixing media such as painting and glass engraving and I am in the beginning stages of some collaborative works. The prize really helped me in getting my work recognised and I’ve also been able to set up my own mini studio. The photography part of the prize will be a great help for my new website, emmahollins.co.uk.”
New Designers is held every June/July at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Around 3,500 newly graduated designers come together from the top 200 design courses across the nation to meet industry employers, the media, trend predictors and a design-hungry public. There are nine design zones, covering everything from animation to architecture, graphics to glass and fashion to furniture.
For more information
cgschair@gmail.com
The Contemporary Glass Society is the UK’s foremost organisation for supporting established artists and up-and-coming makers. The Society promotes contemporary glass in the wider art world through a programme of exhibitions, conferences and events, as well as through the www.cgs.org.uk website.
