BATSFORD PRIZE
We’re delighted to announce The Batsford Prize 2023 shortlist!
The theme of this year’s award is ‘At Peace’. Read on to discover the 28 shortlisted entries – 7 for each of the categories Applied Arts & Textiles, Fine Art, Illustration and Children’s Illustration.
Judges are professionals from across the creative industries: Gemma Doyle, Neil Dunnicliffe, Frida Green, Hattie Grylls, Vaughan Grylls, Anne Kelly and Sam Peet.
The winners of the Batsford Prize 2023 will be announced in May. First prize in all categories is a £300 cash prize and £100 worth of books from Batsford. Plus: An additional £300 cash prize for an overall winner across the categories.
The Shortlist
APPLIED ART & TEXTILES
In Loving Memory
Aimee Mann, BA Fashion, Northumbria University
My project comes from the loss of a loved one to cancer. It explores the emotion of grief and how I have come to the stage of acceptance. Just like how the body releases the soul’s energy to finally be at peace after death.
In the Mountains
Georgia Richardson, BA Textile Design, Norwich University of Arts
Woven textile collection for a ski chalet interior. Inspired by skiing in the Austrian mountains.
Mauritian Landscapes
Georgia Dunn, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth
I chose this theme inspired by a recent trip, stimulated by the amazing, contrasting scenery. My aim was to explore the natural tropical environment looking at both foliage and architectural elements, aiming to combine abstract gestural marks with figurative elements.
Rêverie à Versailles
Charlotte Gouny, Textiles in Practice, Manchester Metropolitan University
My project is based on Versailles, because it is a place of fantasy and calm when it is empty. I produced a collection of mixed media and knitted samples to convey Versailles.
Stillness & Harmony:
A Fashion Trimmings Collection Inspired by Dame Barbara Hepworth
Jeannie Malcolm, BA Textile Design, Falmouth University
Inspired by a visit to her sculpture gardens in St Ives – being ‘At Peace’ is something I overwhelmingly experienced. The collection captures the essence of her artistry while offering a fresh perspective on her iconic work through the combination of hard and soft materials.
The Departing Dress
Katerina Knight, Masters in Textiles, Royal College of Art London
A material memoir. An ode to healing. What is it like to be on the edge of life, to be faced with death and come back again? Perhaps you can not come back again, perhaps you can only move forward. Working with organic elements, home grown, locally foraged or collected over time.
Tranquil Japan
Pia Elliot, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth
A compilation stimulated by the harmony found in traditional Japanese tea houses. The collection features a unique take on every perspective of these historical locations using CAD embroidery, print and laser work to bring a sense of tranquillity into a bespoke, interior space.
FINE ART
Bring Me Back to the Start
Mishel Sherri, BA Illustration, University of Hertfordshire
This hand-cut paper sculpture, painted with watercolour, represents the blissful state of non-existence.
Exposure
Rose Willis, Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts
Exploring emotional intimacy and vulnerability within relationships, particularly intergender relationships. Using nudity as allegory for the feeling of being exposed to another person, capturing a moment within a relationship by using an immediate painting style and raw canvas.
Flatlands
Ava Tribušon Ovsenik, MA Print, Royal College of Art
A collage of images taken of people flocking towards Westminster Palace. Layered stills, each capturing a unique composition of the never-static hypnotised crowd, were printed on top of one another to perpetuate the atmosphere between arbitrary waiting and oblivious excitement.
From the Secret Garden
Xinyi Bi, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
An interactive installation with three levels of space, crafted using pop-up paper art and nylon craftsmanship, and presented in stop-motion animation.
Icarus From Underground
Ziyi Wang, MA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London
Projecting on folded papers, this video installation documents an attempt to fly paper planes in the underground. Planes are made from protest posters, mimic doves fly in a downward system. It echoes individual political feelings in a Covid-time Chinese transmigrant situation.
Mattress
Alivia Hoy, Fine Art, Loughborough University
‘Mattress’ is an acrylic painting on a baby’s cot mattress depicting an older man. This work shows a peaceful record of time, reflecting on the moments interacted with the mattress from birth to old age.
The Starving Artist
Ally Zlatar, DCA – Creative Arts, University of Glasgow / University of Southern Queensland
Auto-ethnographic paintings documenting a 10 year journey with anorexia, highlighting untold struggles & recovery journey towards body acceptance & self-peace. Breaking silence & raising awareness on eating disorders & mental health resources.
ILLUSTRATION
Crusts
Naomi Tipping, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
A sequence about escaping the monotony of every day life, and finding peace in feeding the seagulls.
Dora in Burgess Park
Callum Howat-Tracy, MA Illustration and Sequential Design, Brighton University
As a general focus of my MA, I have been making animated loops of illustrated scenes; this piece was adjacent to my MA work. My partner and I were walking her auntie’s dog in Burgess Park, London, where I felt so at peace and calmly joyful and wanted to capture the moment.
Enjoy Peace in Four Seasons
Yutong Lu, BA Illustration, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh
Peace to me means enjoying life tranquilly. Childhood inspires my peace. For each season, I built a serene recollection. I used digital media and four colour palettes to help audiences feel the changing seasons and find tranquilly in my illustrations.
The Simmer Dim Series
Laura K Sayers, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
A series of 5 miniature illustrations, each delicately hand cut from paper, inspired by traditional Shetlandic words. ‘The Simmer Dim’ refers to midsummer on the island of Shetland, a time of endless daylight where the sun barely sets but rests on the horizon before rising again.
This Quiet Belonging
Victoria Reeves, BA Illustration, Norwich University of the Arts
This Quiet Belonging is a short form booklet, illustrated without words. My project focuses around the experiences of queer people finding peace and security in domestic spaces and the quiet beauty of the every day.
Tiny Town
Becky Steel, BA Illustration, University Of Hertfordshire
Tiny Town is based on my small southern Italian home town Calabritto. Inspired by the picturesque mountainscapes, traditional crafts and family, my vivid memories have been brought to life in a collection of vibrant illustrations and hand made embroideries.
Tribe
Megan Du, Illustration and Visual Media, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
‘Tribe’ is a story dedicated to all women that explores the exploitation of modern women by beauty standards from a patriarchal society.
CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION
How To Catch An Idea
Forest Xiao, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
This is a story about a girl who travels to look for a world-changing idea. On her journey, she met all kinds of people/nature and they talk about ideas/creativity/inspiration. In the end, she did not find the idea but she is at peace with it and her inner world is transformed.
I am Upset
Valerya Milovanova, BA Illustration, University of Hertfordshire
The book I am Upset features a child dealing with a strong emotion represented as a beast. They go through the process of grounding and attuning to five core senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste). The illustrations are made with ink, graphite and coloured digitally.
One Fine Day
Justin Worsley, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
One Fine Day is a fictional picture book about friendship, laughter and forgiveness.
Our Love
Fatima Ordinola Guerra, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
Our Love is a picturebook made in one of the modules I’m studying in the MA Children’s Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University. It’s a story about moments of love and peace that parents and children share in the shape of different animals.
Shut Down
Becky Colvin, BA Illustration, University of the West of England Bristol
Shut Down is a picture book about grief and a boy who won’t take off his robot costume.
The Chair and the Snooze
Carol Law, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
Morris the dog likes to snooze and when a new chair arrives in the family home, he only has one thing on his mind. But when things don’t go to plan, the snooze has to wait. A change of plan can be stressful, so will Morris be at peace with both the change and the final outcome?
The Postman
Katie May, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
The Postman is a wordless graphic novel.