ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

The Ashmolean and the Oxford Times are thrilled to announce the winners of our 2020 Artists in Residence competition.

We received almost 1200 entries, from across the UK. People sent in a huge range of artworks including paintings, drawings and photographs, collage, sculpture, video, mosaics and textiles. Strong themes emerged: gratitude to key workers and the NHS; the importance of friends and family; appreciation of the natural world; and the deep impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The competition was judged by:

  • Lizzie Collins, Director, Zuleika Gallery, Oxford & London
  • Tim Hughes, Audience & Content Editor, The Oxford Times
  • Dr Kamal Mahtani, GP and Associate Professor, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford University
  • Janina Ramirez, cultural historian, broadcaster and Course Director at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education
  • Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean

THE WINNING ENTRIES

Click on the buttons below to see the winners, runners up and shortlist in each category.

18+ 11-17 Under 11

18+

Winner
Woodcut print depicting a man laying on a bed looking at a laptop

Stefan Tiburcio, Stay At Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives, 2020, Woodcut on plywood, © the artist

Forced to stay indoors, live life in a different way, we have become dependent on technology to communicate, to work and to maintain a stable well-being. Or, I can re-watch old TV series back-to-back and indulge in YouTube videos about ants late into the night.

 

 Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image

Runners up
Aizat Kamaruzaman, Waiting for Better Days, 2020, Photograph © the artist

Aizat Kamaruzaman, Waiting for Better Days, 2020, Photograph © the artist

My five year old daughter, Aireen, and I filled our days with activities - including photography. Of all the pictures we took, this one stood out; it is a sunny day outside but we are trapped inside – hoping that the world would be better soon.

Ruth Swain, Essentials, 2020, Oil on board © the artist

Ruth Swain, Essentials, 2020, Oil on board © the artist 

The last bit of toilet paper when supplies were short at the beginning of the pandemic. Part of a series of still life paintings aimed at capturing ‘beauty in the everyday’.   

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Shortlist

 

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11-17

Winner
Ellen Clay (age 14), The Person I Miss the Most, 2020, Pencil and watercolour on paper © the artist

Ellen Clay (age 14), The Person I Miss the Most, 2020, Pencil and watercolour on paper © the artist

This vaguely silhouetted person in like a missing piece in a jigsaw.

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Runners up
Tabitha Budgen (age 12), Angels, 2020, Watercolour on paper © the artist

Tabitha Budgen (age 12), Angels, 2020, Watercolour on paper © the artist

I wanted to recognise and celebrate our amazing doctors and nurses.

Archie Johnston (age 16), Overwhelm, Oil on board 2020 © the artist

Archie Johnston (age 16), Overwhelm, Oil on board 2020 © the artist

A response to the realisation that the world had not stopped turning during quarantine, that a troubling political climate still persisted against a backdrop of having to face up to entirely new challenges of exiting a state of global shutdown. 

 

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Shortlist

 

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Under 11

Winner
Wilkie Metz-Moser (age 8), View from my window, Paint sticks on paper, 2020 © the artist

Wilkie Metz-Moser (age 8), View from my window, Paint sticks on paper, 2020 © the artist

Painted during the very first week of Lockdown – it is the view from my window of the building across the street.

 

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Runners up
Nina Davis (age 6), Garden Treehouse, Pencil and felt tip on paper, 2020 © the artist

Nina Davis (age 6), Garden Treehouse, Pencil and felt tip on paper, 2020 © the artist

 

Isaac Finlay (age 10), I Hate this Lockdown, Pencil on paper, 2020 © the artist

Isaac Finlay (age 10), I Hate this Lockdown, Pencil on paper, 2020 © the artist

“I hate this lockdown, I don’t want to do it, I miss my friends, I miss my school, It is torture, I hate it …”

This is my concrete poem about Lockdown and how it feels like being swallowed up by a black hole.

 

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Shortlist
 
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