LONDON.- The ACS Studio Prize of £6,000 is again being offered to one student or recent graduate to help secure a studio space in a UK city of their choice. Five finalists have been chosen from a national open competition which attracted almost 300 submissions. This year the judges were founder of the Artists’ Collecting Society Harriet Bridgeman CBE, renowned artist Cathie Pilkington RA, and Director & Curator of the Ingram Collection Jo Baring who deliberated over an initial shortlist of 26 artists from throughout the UK and Europe. The winner of the prize will be announced mid-September.

The Finalists

Araminta Blue Wieloch – A painter who draws on memories to explore human nature in imagined scenes. Graduated from Chelsea College of Art (2009), the Ruskin School of Art (2012) and the Slade School of Fine Art (2019).

● “I paint with a push and pull of control, leaving some areas exposed and vulnerable on the bare canvas, and other areas attempting to hide under translucent skin or shell-like layers. The paintings collide contradictions of human nature within the same image; protection is confused with control, exploration with destruction, nurture with the parasite. I am interested in the imagined space as both a means of explanation or language to explore reality, as well as an internal need to escape or protect yourself from reality.”

Benjamin Jones – A photographer who uses traditional processes to create experimental imagery. Graduated from Bath School of Art and Design (2016).

● “Inspiration for my work is broad, encompassing both everyday experiences, observations and research. I don’t work project to project in a specific sense and have multiple strands of work drawing from a broad range of ideas and experiences. I’m most fascinated by scientific knowledge around the biological, planetary and cosmological sciences as well as religious and philosophical systems. I’m interested in these as frameworks of knowledge that govern the way in which we interact with the world, as with memory, which is always working to define our experience of the moment.”

Christopher Mayer – A sculptor who explores narratives inspired by historic and societal changes. Graduated from Wimbledon College of Art (2011) and the Royal College of Art (2019).

● “The latest work has taken the form of dioramas, both floor and wall mounted. These ‘Fens’ are sites of sinking, of entangled time, suspended and held in stasis. Time becomes a collapsed multilayered prospect. Water seemingly malleable is held in place by the exacting physical reality of the resin that defies its assumption as porous receptacle or indeed the rules of gravity. Language has been suspended into these swamps, a floating cadaver upon which we understand ourselves.”

Grzegorz Stefanski – A filmmaker and choreographer who examines the psychology of introspection and external observations. Graduated from the University of Arts in Poznan, Poland (2013), Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Poland (2016), and the Slade School of Fine Art (2018).

● “My work focuses on painting and drawing the figure. This derives out of a deep fascination with the nature of being from a psychological, spiritual and philosophical standing. I want to be able to access the authentic experience of how it feels to be human. I believe that individuals are increasingly becoming detached from their essence, especially with the rise of social media and virtual reality. All around me I observe how identity is presented rather than experienced and embodied.”

Mohammed Sami – A painter who explores the effects of conflict through reflections on domestic scenes. Graduated from the Baghdad College of Fine Arts (2005), Belfast School of Art (2015), and Goldsmiths, University of London (2018).

● “My autobiographical paintings underline the psychological impact of trauma on memory since I immigrated to Sweden in 2007 from Iraq. The process of embracing the effect of trauma on memory is muted in my works and creates a state of instability in their composition, evident in the distorted perspectives and dissolving sources of light. As a result, the paintings often appear to be about something other than the source of the trauma, which allows the subject matter to be transmitted as opposed to being didactic.”