Whatever else it may have done, the late, unlamented lockdown gave us a new buzz phrase: working from home. But the concept is as old as the hills.
As old, at least, as Virginia Woolf’s landmark essay A Room of One’s Own, it stresses the need for a designated space in which creativity can flourish. “A woman,” opined the modernist literary pioneer, “must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Or produce good art. Nothing better exemplifies the application of Woolf’s dictum to the visual arts than the splendid array of work on recent view at New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham for the final of Surrey Artist of the Year.
Stemming from Surrey Artists Open Studios, the ever-popular summer event that does precisely what it says on the tin, the work on display represented a selection by the trio of participating artists who had received the most public votes: Lucy Dorothy Nichols, Sue Roche and Sonya Vine.
In company with my three fellow judges, it fell to me to choose the overall winner. I have relished the role of judging art competitions for more than two decades – from local to international, ice sculpture to oils.
Adjudicating this one was as enjoyable as any previous experience, with originality, talent and artistic skill all shining through.
First, the runners-up
Sue Roche is an accomplished travel photographer with a unique way of using juxtapositions, colouring and scale to produce extraordinary images from the ordinary subjects that she finds all over the globe. The garden studio, where she develops the images, is very much a room of her own. And her stated aim of “making the viewer question, smile and take a second look” was amply demonstrated by the works on view.
Sue Roche - Umbrella Sky
Umbrella Sky
Umbrella Sky owes its existence to a visit to Provence, where Sue found a public square with numerous coloured umbrellas grouped for mass shade from the scorching sun. Not content with a simple souvenir photo, she used an angled shot to produce an arresting view of vivid colour and varied scale that makes the umbrellas appear to be rising towards a solid blue sky.
In atmospheric contrast, Battersea Power Station was inspired by a lumière effect on the renowned West London landmark one cold February night. Sue snatched the chance from the opposite bank to produce this magical, mesmerising composition of a reflection on the Thames. Note the horizontal split: a top half of static realism, the bottom suggesting quivering Impressionism.
Sue’s photographs are printed onto white enamel-coated aluminium, but the photos’ white sections are specifically excluded. For those, the white, shiny enamel is exposed so as to catch the light – to dramatic effect in the Battersea image, but with beautiful subtlety amongst the umbrellas.
Sonya Vine, the other runner-up, is a champion of oils. Her ambition is “to capture atmospheric, fleeting moments, especially those involving light and shade” before repairing to her own home studio to complete the work and refine it to an impeccable standard.
In the tradition of the Impressionists, Sonya likes to paint en plein air – and in both her works here, she has captured transitory light effects so well, together with a sense of movement which, in The Wonder, makes for a truly menacing sea. In contrast, Simplicity gives us calmer water, soft focus and a cloudless sky to present a gentle, inviting scene.
Sonya Vine - Simplicity
Key to the success of Simplicity is its vanishing point. By keeping the wading human figure small and undefined and positioning it far left, Sonya attracts our gaze towards it beyond the foreground sand so that we imagine ourselves to be on the edge of a large beach with vast depth.
It was Lucy Dorothy Nichols, however, who emerged triumphant: her innovative scenes involving paper and card sculptures had all the judges enthralled. Physically, her distinctive art begins life as unwanted, discarded items that offer the bonus of being generally cost-free. But it’s in her head, where she creates the storyline and characters, that Lucy’s pictures really take shape.
Drawn, then photographed, they must also pass muster on Instagram, where feedback shows the interest level in Lucy’s current ideas – or her need for fresh ones. Meticulously, Lucy then spends many weeks in her home studio, sculpting her stories. Once they’re done, the clever titles and consummate skill draw viewers in magnetically, before the viewers’ own imaginations develop them further.
The wonderful Rush Hour in the Skies presents groups of birds en route to work via the school dropoff. The enchanting narrative gains extra life by the inclusion of school satchels, baby birds in birdhouses, branches, transported nests and so much more!
Meanwhile, the mood is rather different in The Bird Hotel in the Sky. “It’s a calm haven for birds that get a little tired flying across the Atlantic in quest of sunnier climes,” explains Lucy. Small but perfectly formed, this is art that grabs us visually and emotionally and doesn’t let go.
Worthy indeed of a £1,000 bursary, a solo show at the New Ashgate Gallery, a £100 Loxley voucher and a Winner’s Stand at the Surrey Art Fair: the fruits of victory for the 2023 Surrey Artist of the Year.
Sue and Sonya received a £25 Loxley voucher each. So, here’s to working from home. These beautiful creations sprang to life in home studios, gathered popular acclaim through Surrey Artists Open Studios and achieved prizewinning status in a respected art gallery close to home. Virginia Woolf would be seriously impressed. And so, for that matter, am I.
