It is a real pleasure to announce the winners of the 2022 Christ’s College Art Prize. This year’s subject was gratitude and it gave rise to a bumper crop of brilliant entries.
The winner is Avani Tandon Vieira, who is a PhD candidate in English, and whose Spring triptych (linocut and poetry) captivated the judges with its site-specific mix of art and text. Avani explains: ‘Spring is a mixed media narrative triptych, consisting of three handmade linocut panels and an original poem. Each panel is based on a photograph captured at college – the first of bluebells in the fellow’s garden, the second of the wisteria in first court, and the last of tulips outside the Yusuf Hamied centre. When I first visited Christ’s, the natural beauty of the college was a source of delight. With time, it has brought more - steadiness and solace and gratitude, even in the darkest of times. This piece is a reminder of the things, however small, we can still do to reclaim hope from our circumstances, and a token of thanks for the spaces that give us the opportunity to do so’.
The runner’s up prize is split between Jodie Coates, who is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education, and Junjun (Jansen) Tan, who is doing a Masters in Engineering. Jodie’s work is a captivating, paper-engineered perspective box of the College, affording glimpses of everything from the gardens and library to Darwin's bust and the college cat alumna, Rocket. Jansen’s entry, Not Like the Movies, is a dance piece that brings students together to find joy in dancing so as not to let negativity encompass the memory of Covid, but rather to experience gratitude. Jansen’s choreography can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsI7rRleGoA (Medium: Video –1280 x 720 (16:9)).
Thanks to everyone who contributed, to the members of the College’s Visual Arts Committee who did the judging, and to Martin Johnson for the generous donation that makes this annual prize possible.
Caroline Vout (Chair of the Visual Arts Committee)
June 2022