ANN-MARIE WILLIAMSON

Ann-Marie Williamson is a London based artist. Her practice crosses between painting and textiles to create works that explore themes of identity, memory, and human conditions. Working predominantly with domestic textiles and waste fabrics, the works are directed by process. She received her Bdes (Hons) in Constructed Textile Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, won a scholarship award from UEL to undertake an MA in Fine Art, and was recently nominated for the New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize.

Instagram: @a_m_williamson

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“A textile practice is the hardest to navigate and develop. For a young artist I think that Ann-Marie has an excellent eye and technique - and eye for colour. Really lovely work.” - Cassandra Ellis

“The very soft and tactile nature of Ann-Marie’s pieces are very appealing. I am obviously always drawn to textiles and I love the nods to repair, utility and reuse, while being beautiful pieces to live with.” - Jessie Cutts

BETHANY HOLMES

Bethany graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BA in Textile Design. She has gallery representation throughout the UK and has had two solo shows, with work in many private collections worldwide. The shifting light, changes in temperature, and the ways colours interact give Bethany inspiration. Colour is a path to be followed, and Holmes has a hyperawareness of the nuances, vibrations, and implications of a given palette.

Instagram: @bethanyholmesart

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“These too speak to me of joy, but equally of peace - and I love Bethany’s use of colour.  The canvases are so inviting as to feel immersive.” - Fiona McKenzie Johnston

CLAIRE SHAKESPEARE

Claire Shakespeare lives and works in London having graduated from Fine Art Painting (BA Hons) at the University of Brighton in 2022. Their practice captures the everyday experience through an investigation of improvisation and chance within painting. Shakespeare has had two solo shows including Wobbly Knee with Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne in 2023 and Frontal Dancer at the Fitzrovia Gallery, London in 2022.

Instagram: @claireshakespeare

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“I love the dynamic use of texture, colour and composition in Claire’s works. They make me question what is chance and what is deliberate and I think I would discover something new in her work every time I look at it.” - Georgia Spray

EUAN EVANS

Cornish-born artist Euan Evans (b. 1996) studied Jazz at Leeds Conservatoire before joining The Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School in 2022. He later completed an MA in Printmaking at The Royal College of Art, where he was awarded the Printmaker’s Council Sheila Sloss Award in 2023. His background in music shapes his exploration of improvisation, texture, and composition within image making. Evan’s work finds agency through the interplay of varying substrates as well as the specific use of colour.

Instagram: @euan_evans_

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“Euan’s work is totally unique and filled with thought as well as being really well executed. I’ve not seen work like this before and I’m so interested to see what he creates on-going.” - Cassandra Ellis

KATARINA LALIC

Katarina Lalic is a painter (b.1998) born in London. Katarina completed a BA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. She cites Joan Mitchell, Édouard Vuillard, and Andrew Cranston as her influences. She currently works in her studio in Hackney, predominantly in oil. Her paintings emerge gradually as she grapples with each layer of paint to produce multi-layered stories of abstraction.

Instagram: @katarinalalic_

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“I am particularly drawn to Katarina’s colour combinations. Her work has incredible texture. I can imagine incorporating her work into our interior projects.” - Lonika Chande

LISA SANDNER

Lisa is a self-taught artist and ceramicist. She is currently based in Münster, Germany, where she slowly and thoughtfully works on hand-made objects. Her pieces are not at all about perfection but about catching the beauty in a trace from the past and imagining a story that could have been. Lisa was brought up in Africa and now travels the world to make new discoveries that inspire her creations.

Instagram: @kabinett_lfs

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“Beautifully executed and crafted. Lisa’s work strikes a really lovely balance of useful and wonderful to look at. Incredibly collectable.” - Cassandra Ellis

“I love the decorative nature of Lisa’s ceramics, the layered history of decorative tradition and stories that they reference, and can imagine living with them.” - Fiona McKenzie Johnston

MAARTEN VAN DEN BOS

Maarten van den Bos is a Dutch artist based in London. In 2012 he graduated from Chelsea College of Art with a MA(Hons) in Fine Art. His expressive works take inspiration from the world around him, especially the organic shapes of nature and the human form. His works have been shown internationally at the Institute of Contemporary Art; Saatchi Gallery, Oriel Davies Gallery, Spike Island, Appels Gallery, amongst others.

Instagram: @maartenvandenbos

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“Maarten’s work creates a world that immediately transports and consumes you. These dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish paintings would add energy and intrigue to any room.” - Georgia Spray

NATHALIE BASOSKI

Nathalie Basoski is a Dutch Macedonian photographer and mixed-media artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her current work spans a range of mediums, including photography, video, and mixed media. Her practice uses techniques like quilt-making in material-guided improvisations to create a visual narrative rooted in photography. Since earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in New York in 2018, her work has been shown internationally.

Instagram: @nathaliebasoski

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“Her photography has such soul and meaning, I am enthralled.” - Lonika Chande

PHONG CHI LAI

Phong Chi Lai is a Vietnamese-Australian designer, maker and textile artist. He specialises in improv patchwork, creating contemporary textile works, quilts and soft sculptures from upcycled and deadstock fabrics and natural dyes.

Instagram: @studiopcl

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“I’m drawn to the tactile-ness of the works, their appealingly irregular symmetry, and, in some instances, their usability - they strike me as joyous.” - Fiona McKenzie Johnston

RICHARD RAINEY

Richard Rainey was born in 1964 in Sussex, England. As a self-taught artist, Rainey’s creative journey started with the recovery of a discarded art catalogue containing abstract and collage works. Instinctively, he was drawn to the blend of shapes and colours used. Rainey’s earliest output was predominantly on paper, crafting collages inspired by the Merz movement. After producing an extensive body of work, his preferred medium switched to paint. Rainey’s painted work draws inspiration from the countryside and folk art.

Instagram: @richardraineyart

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY:

“I can’t help but feel immediately cheered by the colours Richard uses. His naïve folk-art style is so very charming.” - Lonika Chande

“I love the playful nature of Richard’s paintings feel immediately cheered by seeing them. They seem like a little snapshot of a scene, interpreted with fun, lightness and immediacy.” - Jessie Cutts