Arts / Tom Waugh
Bristol sculptor wins prestigious prize
Bristol-based sculptor Tom Waugh has been crowned winner of a new art prize, beating 16,000 artists from around the world to win the People’s Choice Award (voted for entirely by the public) in the Rise Art Prize. Tom also scooped the category award for Sculpture, chosen by an expert judging panel including Richard Wilson, Harland Miller, Ben Eine, Gavin Turk and Fiona Banner based on his creative excellence, original ideas and technical skill.
Tom (pictured above right with Gavin Turk) creates hyper-realistic sculptures of waste and rubbish carved from stone and marble off-cuts. Objects are squashed, wrinkled and crushed – yet his pieces also echo the veiled and draped figures of classical statuary. His depiction of a petrol can carved in ironstone helped him scoop the coveted prize, in addition to the Sculpture category award.
Tom’s award-winning ‘Petrol Can’
Tom won the two categories in the Rise Art Prize, launched by online art gallery Rise Art to unearth the most exciting contemporary artists from around the world and provide a platform for artists to gain industry recognition and boost their career.
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In its debut year, the Rise Art Prize reviewed over 16,000 artists with 2,300 entries whittled down to just 25 finalists from the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Australasia.
Lebohang Kganye, from Johannesburg, South Africa, won the Global Artist of the Year Award for her complex exploration of family history depicted through silhouette-style photography, dubbed “a poetic manipulation” by the judges. Meanwhile, the UK Young Artist of the Year prize was awarded to Eleanor Denton, aged 16, for a “technically impressive and emotionally moving” self-portrait.
All successful finalists will feature in a public exhibition on display at House of Vans, London, until February 25 2018, and will have their work available for sale through Rise Art.
Artist and judge Gavin Turk comments: “I know how difficult it can be to make a career in the art world – it’s a highly competitive industry, with constant cuts to arts funding. The Rise Art Prize is a much-needed platform for raising the profile of artists and art within the media.”
To view the full list of winners and to find out more, visit www.riseart.com
To see more of Tom’s work, visit www.tomwaugh.com
Read more: Photographer Niall McDiarmid on his Bristol scenes
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