Guernsey Students Prize 2024

A vibrant portrait of Picasso, that illustrates his vibrant personality and vibrant style.

Studying queens and kings at the time, I focused on my mother. The strive for fame throughout her life, crowned in a card board crown here depicting the way she has built her self, a bittersweet twist on royalty and self made power. She holds her guitar, not playing but clutching, I took detail to her hands, as she is now suffering arthritis creating a constant battle between pain and her art. The lighting is golden hour, an omen of a painting hangs dishelvelled on the wall, the ambiguity as to whether it is sunrise or sunset remains on the viewers interpretation. Despite all this, her glance provokes a kind of strength.

This triptych piece uses photographic edits made by digitally layering images as double exposures.I have used contrasting palettes of colour and tonal variations creating “layers” of images, including the silhouettes of people contrasting with the underwater scenes. I chose a coral pink for the jellyfish because I thought it toned well with the clownfish and the sea anemone. The delicate nature of the jellyfish is successfully captured and its position gives the photographs a surreal quality.

Inspired by the vibrant energy of bold floral paintings, I’ve created this self-portrait. The juxtaposition of my likeness with the lively blooms reflects my personal growth and the blossoming of my artistic journey. The selfie element signifies a moment of self-reflection and a celebration of individuality.

For my final GCSE exam piece, I chose the theme of portraits and decided to initially focus on family and later settle on an image of my Grandma for the final subject. I did at first look at Street Art and decided I wanted a realistic image mixed with some graffiti. I then wrote a poem to illustrate what Grandma means to me. I wanted to link the two generations of Grandma and myself together and thought a traditionally drawn portrait and graffiti would do this.

This is a triptych of pieces under the theme tension, they are all horror based.The illustrations are representations of the afterlife and the symmetry of heaven and hell. The painting is a lovecraftian inspired creature.

A portrait painting of fellow student Flick

This photograph was part of a project on Time. I was interested in trying to convey the passage of time, and for this image I took dozens of images of the Castle Breakwater Lighthouse over a period of hours. I then edited and layered them, experimenting with the composition until I reached this outcome.

This piece represents the exaggeration of beauty. Throughout this piece I have depicted two perspectives, how one person perceives themselves vs how someone else views them. The focal point, an oil painting portrait of a face, is surrounded by flower imagery and symbols which are inspired by the artist Tahlia Stanton. The left side reveals how the sinner in the painting views herself with the colour purple, freesia flowers and symbols to create amethysts. The right side shows how I view her through the colour blue and daisy imagery. Exaggeration is highlighted in the endless patterns shown throughout the piece.

This piece shows the journey through my great grandma’s life, post and pre war. With childhood memories surrounding her older self in the middle.

I created this piece in response to the A Level exam theme ‘Layers’. Initially, the editing process caught my interest. I manipulated my photographs digitally and layered the images to create a visual connection between the landscape and the birds. I wanted to bring meaning to these familiar scenes and allow the viewer to appreciate the natural world. With this composition my intention was to represent our island setting, and the connections made between specific sites and the wildlife that can be found there.

An Orthodox Christain style triptych with a surreal twist. Fitting into the broader theme of ‘The Dinner Table’ I made this triptych with inspiration from Leonardo Da Vincis painting of The Last Supper. This triptych depicts the ‘Saint’ in the middle, eating politly with a cucumber halo around his head with two panels either side depicting the ‘Sinners’, eating with their hands, framed with a pomegrante background which has religious symbolism in itself. I wanted to mix the sense of the Holy with addiction and decay. The juxtaposing two sides of humanity reflected within this triptych. Themes taken from the idea of ‘The Dinner Table’ is apparent throughout with cutlery painted to look bloddy and the border of the triptych being a mosaic made of broken plates and crockery.

My painting depicts two people sharing a calming moment. The silhouette and quote represents how vital caring relationships are, and how important friends are in our lives. Made to make the viewer feel fortunate for the people they have in their lives.

An oil painting that portrays a koi fish swimming in a pond, with the reflection on the water making it look like it’s swimming in the trees. This piece was inspired by the techniques of multiple artists and was part of an investigation into the colour and movement of water.

A collage of screen printed henna on a hand, the fragmented pieces represent an identity which is not as a whole.

This intimate pencil sketch captures the joy and camaraderie of friendship. Through delicate lines and expressive shading, I’ve aimed to convey the genuine happiness and connection shared by these individuals. The warm smiles and relaxed postures reflect the comfort and trust that exist within their bond.

Implexis, meaning intertwined, ties in with my piece as I always feel connected with my anxieties and find it difficult deciphering real life with the life I’ve made in my head. I’ve used a palette knife for my oil painting as a way to make rougher markings and create texture.

This piece is an illustration of the efforts to protest in our society, an act that is often presented in a bad light by most media outlets. I introduced a sort of irony by creating an image of a protester by only using items of the media, in this case a collage of newspapers. This way of creating this piece somewhat reinforces the message. Where despite the media disapproving and attempting to invalidate protests towards a cause, the people will still persist and resist.

This artwork represents a 1950’s housewife gazing longingly into a fridge full of spirits and wines, depicting how prevalent addiction is and how its fuelled by the social expectations of a 1950’s woman.

A portrait of a girl inspired by the artist Shai Daniel. The thought behind my piece ’reflection’ was to not only have the light reflect off of her but to express her reflective feeling through her pose.