Ibrahim Ince and Sidonie Knight shortlisted for the 2021 FUAM Graduate Art Prize
Two of this year’s BA Fine Art graduates, Ibrahim Ince and Sidonie Knight, are amongst the four artists at the University of Leeds to have been shortlisted for this year’s FUAM Graduate Art Prize.
In its ninth year, the prize and exhibition, supported by the Friends of University Art & Music (FUAM), rewards the artistic excellence of students completing BA studies in Art and Design and Fine Art at the University of Leeds.
To showcase the work of this year’s finalists, The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery is hosting a virtual exhibition, via Google Arts & Culture, which launched on Tuesday 10 August 2021.
The finalists were selected by an expert panel of judges following submissions from recent graduates of the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, and School of Design at the University of Leeds.
The judging panel comprises Masud Khokhar (University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection), Holly Grange (Exhibitions Curator, Leeds Art Gallery) and Professor Ann Sumner (freelance art historian).
The four artists selected this year are: Ibrahim Ince and Sidonie Knight (BA Fine Art); Michelle Muratori and Natasha Evans (BA Art and Design).
Work by all four artists is showcased in the FUAM Graduate Art Prize virtual exhibition. Themes explored by the finalists include; re-appropriating the structure and concept of the totem pole; reclaiming the female form; artistic representation and resolution of deposited traumas; and an exploration of the relationship between skin and touch.
Sidonie Knight, Shedding Tension, 2021. A wet bio-film made of a Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, stretched over timber, Wax Glass, silicon, dried Kombucha ‘skin’. 31.2 × 13.6 × 14.4 cm.
Ibrahim and Sidonie were amongst 84 artists from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies who showcased their work via an in-person Degree Show earlier this summer, hosted in the building of the School and in the spaces outside.
Independently curated and created by our final year BA Fine Art students, Fickle Spaces welcomed the exciting return of a Degree Show in the physical realm which allowed the graduating artists to situate their work as close to reality as possible. Such was the excitement around the rare opportunity to visit Fickle Spaces in person, over 300 bookings were made within an hour of the free tickets being released in June.
A collection of objects which were 3D scanned for the making of Ibrahim Ince's all that is left of you (laid out on a table) virtual project
The judges will return in October 2021 to choose the overall winner of the FUAM Graduate Art Prize 2021, which will be announced alongside the People's Choice Vote winner.
The 'Best in Show' graduating student artist of the year will receive £250. Each of the runners-up will receive £100 to aid them in their developing career as artists. The prizes will be awarded by FUAM in an online awards ceremony in October.
Previous FUAM Graduate Art Prize winners from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies include artists Emii Alrai, Zoë Carlon and Hannah Marsh.
Chris Taylor, Professor in Fine Art Practice in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, said:
“Ibrahim and Sidonie deal with issues that are at the same time personal and universal – loss and memory, and health and wellbeing respectively.
“Through forensic archaeology and digital presentation Ibrahim brings to light the hidden traumas of territorial conflict, whilst Sidonie employs scientific technologies to magnify chronic disruptions and trauma of the body.
“Both artists exemplify the wide-ranging topics and issues that underpin the creative and challenging work of our fine art students at undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels.”
Further details about this year’s FUAM Graduate Art Prize exhibition can be found on The Stanley & Audrey Burton website.
Visit the exhibition and vote for your favourite artist in the People’s Choice award.
Feature images
From left:
Ibrahim Ince, all that is left of you (laid out on a table), 2021. Virtual reality space shown as HD video, displayed through a projector onto a table (90x60xm).
Sidonie Knight, A Trace of Touch: Psoriasis, 2021. Scanning Electron Microscope image of a trace of my psoriatic touch. 5000× magnification. Digital image. 1800 × 1200 px.
