The Freelands Painting Prize celebrates outstanding painting practice at undergraduate level.
Each year, we invite every higher education institution offering an undergraduate course in either Fine Art or Painting to nominate a final-year student for the prize and present three works representative of their practice; either paintings or works exploring painting in the expanded field. The prize culminates in an annual exhibition of works by the winning artists.
Exhibiting recipients of the 2024 prize are:
- Ali Cook, Newcastle University
- Iona Gordon, Kingston School of Art, Kingston University
- Bunny Hennessey, City & Guilds of London Art School
- Leila Hussain, University of Suffolk
- Denny Kaulbach, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Anugrah Mishra, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
- Varshga Premarasa, Middlesex University
- Benedict Robinson, Bath School of Art Film and Media, Bath Spa University
- Shannon Ward, University of Wolverhampton
- Parker White, University of Lincoln
- Jack Woolley, The Art Academy
- Unica Yabiku, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London
Ali Cook.
Photo by Hydar Dewachi.
Artist Spotlights
Read our Q&A with the artists to delve deeper into the impact of their respective curriculum on their practice.
- How did studying art in the institution or school you went to, impact the way in which you approach your work? i.e. any teaching approaches, resources or curriculum.
Going to Kingston university, although it is a London university, it is situated on the outskirts where the environment is more at ease. What I mean by this is that I am surrounded by more nature, being in close proximity to Richmond and bushy park, and it is not as physically overcrowded in comparison to if I were to have gone to a more central university. It is easy to tap into the busyness of London but also remove myself and reflect. In terms of what my university had to offer, I was able to freely explore different mediums outside of the fine art department which has made my artistic practice very diverse - as well as painting, I write, take photographs on film and sometimes I video tape. - Iona Gordon
I feel so lucky to have studied at City & Guilds, from the studio spaces to the close group of friends I made there. But above all it was the tutors’ time and care that really pushed me. I feel that they unlocked something and helped me discover why and how I paint. It’s having that mix of encouragement and deep questioning that has helped me beyond anything I could achieve on my own. – Bunny Hennessey
When I arrived at art school I thought art was about the visual representation of my surroundings. This quickly changed as teachers and fellow students exposed me to many different approaches – whether it was experimental mark making workshops, the study of movements like Arte Povera, or the revelation that art can be used to examine socio-political themes. – Jack Woolley
- What theme/s or subject/s are you investigating with your practice?
I try to engage with yin and yang when I'm painting, in the hopes that a wholeness unfolds throughout doing this and that somewhere in between these extremes of being there is peace to be found for each of us. – Ali Cook
The most predominant theme I have been imbedding in all my works (painting, photography and video) is community. – Iona Gordon
When I paint I’m thinking about painting the body as something we inhabit and experience, rather than it being a physical object we look at. I’m interested in embodied sensations and if emotions can be described with colour and liquidity. To me the body is a failed container of how we feel, and I want to challenge the canvas to store this in a more stable way. – Bunny Hennessey
Broadly, I explore themes of wellness, sickness, connection and care. I make connections between humans and the non-human in an effort to interrogate capitalist notions of wellbeing. This means I’m also very interested in themes surrounding labour, rest, addiction and generally how all of these things play out on our bodyminds. – Denny Kaulbach
In my practice, I explore the global refugee crisis through the lens of psychoanalysis, delving into the psychological and emotional dimensions of displacement, trauma, and identity. By examining this crisis from a psychoanalytic perspective, I seek to uncover the deeper, often unseen, impact that forced migration has on individuals and communities. As an artist, I translate these complexities into visual form through my paintings. - Anugrah Mishra
I investigate themes of memory, hidden narratives, and reimagined spaces that reveal a distorted reality. My work often embraces disturbing stories, uncovering the complexities of personal and collective histories, illustrating how memories can be altered over time. Through surreal and nonsensical narratives, I challenge viewers’ perceptions, inviting them to engage with deeper, often hidden meanings in my art. – Varshga Premarasa
Over the last 18 months a lot of my work has been about nostalgia and recreating lost things from my childhood and adolescence. I collate images from games, TV programmes, screen shots and books, to create imagined environments from this time, storylines, and collages of a lost analogue digital world. – Benedict Robinson
The themes I explore is the celebration of Black representation. I am passionate about giving people of colour a chance to see themselves in the galleries and exhibitions. I want to make a difference, it’s important to me to allow someone else to relate to my work, just as much I felt there was a lack in representation when I was growing up. – Shannon Ward
In my practice I investigate the ways one can portray the transmasculine body in the context of art history. I do this through appropriating paintings that are reclaimed by the queer gaze, or paintings that heavily sexualise the female form. - Parker White
I was brought up in a predominantly white community that was in denial about the legacy of British imperialism. The gulf between what I was taught and the reality revealed by artists and writers like Yinka Shonibare and Sathnam Sanghera is shocking. Interrogation of this gulf has become an important part of my practice. – Jack Woolley
- How does your chosen medium best reflect the subjects and/or themes that you choose to focus on?
I paint in oils because I feel it has such a wide spectrum of fluidity that can mirror our psychological and emotional landscape - it can be a free flowing luminous wash or it can be thick, sticky and stagnant. I’m interested in how this liquidity becomes settled and fixed on a canvas, and can live beyond us, storing what we are unable to. Bunny Hennessey
To define my anti-portraits, I use the concepts of body, representation, and materiality. Oil paint enables this because the medium creates a rich sense of texture, resulting in a more visceral and honest representation of the subject. - Leila Hussain
I feel like oil paint is brilliant for recreating flesh, be that the flesh of a person or a vegetable. Also, because it dries so slowly it lends itself to sustained attention and care. It sort of recreates an intimacy and connection, like when you’re so close to someone you can really notice all the marks and different shades on their skin. – Denny Kaulbach
The subject I’ve chosen to explore is rich in complexities and layered with human emotions. I believe painting, as a medium, offers the freedom to convey these intricate emotions through symbolism, style, composition, and colour. As an artist, I find that painting holds the unique potential to reflect any theme, allowing for boundless expression in any form. - Anugrah Mishra
My chosen mediums allow me to create intricate layers that reflect the hidden and often disturbing narratives within my work. These layers illustrate the ever-changing nature of memory and storytelling. By using colour and obscured imagery, I develop a visual language that invites viewers to explore the complexities of memory and history. - Varshga Premarasa
Pencils allow me to convey a certain sensation in my work. This method of mark-making helps me layer and define the features and patterns offered by the paint. I enjoy the contrast between the subtlety and immediacy of the pencil and the materiality and physicality of paint. – Unica Yabiku
- Have you applied any teaching approaches into how you develop ideas or create your work?
I remember a tutor very early on in our introductory life drawing that noticed how I was drawing and suggested that I didn’t have to just draw as I saw the body, that I could abstract the form. It was the first time I felt I had permission to approach my practice in this way, something that feels invaluable now. – Bunny Hennessey
Since my time and conversations at Camberwell, one idea that has stayed with me is the distinction between the surface and the space frame, and how one might creatively navigate the boundaries between the two. Viewing a painting as something that either pushes outward from the surface or pulls inward from the canvas has become a simple yet essential concept in my practice. – Unica Yabiku
- How are you looking to develop your practice after graduation?
After I graduate, I plan to expand my practice by continuing to explore the themes of anti-portraiture, abstraction and cropping within my paintings. I also aim to exhibit in more shows to share my work with a broader audience. Additionally, I am looking for opportunities to find a job in the industry that will allow me to grow and develop my artistic skills further. – Leila Hussain
I am interested in artists residencies where I could expand and experiment further within my practise by using different materials and perhaps venturing into 3D work. – Benedict Robinson
My practice continues to develop every time I pick up my paintbrush. Having a studio gives me the freedom to create an inviting space for myself to create without restrictions. I’m excited to embark on my next art projects which all explore my relationship with my past experiences and reflections upon the future. – Shannon Ward
After graduation I am focusing on the context of my work outside of academia and making work that feels less for interrogation. I don't work in a studio so my canvases are restricted and I'm less likely to rely on the fluidity of oil paints so I'm being more careful now. – Parker White
- What inspires your practice (other artists, thinkers, philosophies, teachings…)
I am inspired by painters Rachel Jones and Christina Quarles. I also find writers such as bell hooks, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison to be very influential. – Iona Gordon
Jess Allen, particularly her show ‘This is Now,’ inspired the way I abstract and fragment my anti-portraits, which helped my paintings engage in a deeper act of looking than they did before, as the abstracted fragments direct the viewer’s gaze more intently. Her idea of her work not being portraits but a ‘suggestion of a presence’ is very intriguing as well. – Leila Hussain
For me, the true inspiration behind my practice lies in the beauty and transformative power of art. I believe that through art, I am empowered to make bold statements on social and political issues, with the potential to evoke empathy and sensitivity towards the struggles of ordinary people. – Anugrah Mishra
People who have inspired me include the video game designers Leslie Benzies and Tim Schafer. Shigeru Miyamoto the creator of Mario. Henry Selick filmmaker and animator and Marc Brown author and illustrator. The artists Alex Da Corte, Philip Guston, Jesse Morsberger, Henri Matisse and Keith Haring. – Benedict Robinson
When I view other very skilled artists’ work. I’m incredibly fascinated by the attention to detail one could capture and the accuracy in terms of likeness. It inspires me to improve on my technique and ambition. A few Black portrait artists that inspire me; Kimathi Donkor, Ikechukwu Nnadi, Barbara Walker and Floyd Strickland. – Shannon Ward
During university I was inspired by Paul B. Preciado, Sin Wai Kin and Salman Toor. Currently I am focusing on what I can do within sexuality and showing more playful depictions of bodies, so I feel I'm still very influenced by Toor. – Parker White
The writing of Carlo Rovelli has been inspiring, particularly his description of subatomic behaviour in which matter only manifests in particle form at points of interaction between electromagnetic fields. I find this idea of hidden reality becoming visible through interaction an interesting strategy for exploring a range of issues. – Jack Woolley
- What places inspire you the most and why?
The city! I grew up feeling connected to the “natural” world, so bugs, trees, animals, and plants. I think that was encouraged in me as a child - to notice and love these things and care for them, especially because they are not so abundant here. I think because of this lack of (obvious) abundance in the city, if you want to connect to these other lives, you have to try. Which means a practice of slowing down and paying attention, and generally going against the culture of incessant work that capitalism and city life lays out for us. I would also say the group therapy room and other spaces where people get vulnerable together. When you watch people’s bodies in these spaces so often we’re tying ourselves up in knots or shrinking ourselves to be as small as possible. It looks physically uncomfortable and in my experience from doing it myself, it is! But it’s also protective and I’m interested in that paradox. – Denny Kaulbach
Sri Lanka is a source of inspiration for my work. Having not visited for 18 years, it has transformed into a mythical and fragmented place in my mind. The blend of distant memories and imagined landscapes shapes my storytelling, allowing me to explore the interplay between reality and distorted narratives, and my reflections on identity. - Varshga Premarasa
When I was young, I was inspired by the Tate in London. I saw work of Henri Matisse’s The Snail, Olafur Eliasson Weather Project and Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei.The world of cartoons from my childhood, like Pokémon and Arthur also inspired me. When I went to New York just before I was five, I visited the World Trade Center before it was destroyed. I found the views of New York were fascinating visual experience that I have never forgotten. – Benedict Robinson
I am very motivated by the cinema and film and spend every chance I get within this world. I can see the way in which film stills and the consideration of the ‘frame’ has influenced my paintings and am constantly seeking out moments to catch a film at Peckhamplex and happily calling it ‘research’. – Unica Yabiku
- What music do you listen to when making?
An album I seem to keep returning to indefinitely is Volume II by Flore Laurentienne, with overwhelming delicacy they capture a stupendously powerful sense of beauty and make 30 minutes feel like an infinity. – Ali Cook
While making artwork, I listen to film scores. My current obsession is the soundtrack of Past Lives (2023). Some of my other favourite soundtracks include Joji (2021), Oldboy (2003), and The Handmaiden (2016). Some of these films also inspired some of my work, contributing to the visuals I create in my art. - Varshga Premarasa
My favourite music genres are R&B, pop, Afrobeats and instrumental trap. I’m quite a spiritual person and often listen to Christian music also. I love making new playlists each year on Spotify and I enjoy listening to whatever I’m in the mood for, with my headphones on. – Shannon Ward
I usually listen to loud music when I'm making art - Machine Girl, Death Grips, JPEG mafia etc, but I'll sometimes fall into softer stuff like Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker and Japanese Breakfast. The louder stuff is usually for when I'm working fast and need to be mindless. – Parker White
- How has your community influenced your practice?
Orbis Community in Gateshead is where my studio space is currently. Community gives me an opportunity to feel like a working organ in the wide world of imagination; all I want in life is to keep making new things to show nice people and I'm incredibly lucky to be somewhere this is possible. – Ali Cook
The community in which I now live is more diverse than the one I was brought up in. People with different experiences have introduced me to new ideas and made me question things I had previously taken for granted. – Jack Woolley
I believe that community provides essential context for my work. It's the relational aspect of painting—whether from a studio environment or within a broader community—that shapes my perspective. The people and cultures around me profoundly influence how I see and think. – Unica Yabiku
- What is the role of art?
To put into feelings the things of existing which have difficulty being communicated through any other means, making the ineffable accessible for people. – Ali Cook
The purpose of art is that it should be accessible to everyone, whether it is having the freedom to create and also for everyone to consume it. This is because, there is still some restrictions, such as the biggest factor in the UK being class division. Artists from low income backgrounds are more at a disadvantage where they may not have easy access/time to work in a studio or exhibitions/courses for the public can be costly to participate in. When I did my gallery placement at Nubuke Foundation, in Ghana, running a poetry workshop with children was very fulfilling in witnessing their creativity and its potential. Not many children are encouraged to pursue art by parents but also it has not been encouraged by recent governments through financial cuts that once again puts people from a lower income background at a disadvantage. Research has shown that in the tv/film industry, only 8% are working class. – Iona Gordon
In my opinion, the role of art is to act as a form of expression that provides not only aesthetic function but also communication and cultural reflection. I believe art should challenge societal norms while also allowing us to understand the world we live in from different perspectives and to connect us with others around us. – Leila Hussain
I believe the role of art in this world is to create a way for humans to express devotion, seek knowledge, and attain self-realization, which contributes to spiritual growth and understanding towards life. – Anugrah Mishra
Freelands Painting Prize 2024 exhibition. Photography by Hydar Dewachi.
Reading List
Discover the texts that inspire the exhibiting artists practice.
A viscerally kinetic expression of our entire existence, a culmination of metaphors that draw our attention to the parts of the world that need more care and affection. – Ali Cook.
In her chapter ‘Women Artists:The creative process’, hooks touches on the how ‘the luxury of time’ should really be the time we take to be still with our thoughts and not rush to produce work for the creative process relies on preparation. My paintings are the act of slowing down and drawing inspiration from my surroundings that put me at ease. In this chapter Hooks also touches on making work as an artist of colour and how there is a demand/pressure to make work that fits what’s ‘hot right now’ that I too lean away from as the commodification of homogeneous work is both shallow and essentially hard to keep up with that only makes finding the time to stay still with your practice a task instead of the way of being. – Iona Gordon.
Maria Lassnig’s writings have been critical to my understanding of how abstraction can relate to the body. In a similar way to her ‘body awareness’ process, I focus on my own physical sensations as my primary reference, using painting as a form of visual diary of the sensorial and emotional world. – Bunny Hennessey.
This book has inspired my artistic practice by delving into unconventional portraiture concepts and analysing how artists challenge traditional norms. It has broadened my perspective of portraiture, influencing how I approach creating portraits that are beyond traditional boundaries. – Leila Hussain.
I picked this book because of the rambling way it weaves together issues of beauty, labour, joy and suffering. It speaks to the power of taking solace, paying attention and “small” pleasures, while not shying away from issues of class and politics, a balance I’m often thinking about in my practice. – Denny Kaulbach.
I strongly recommend this book for its emphasis on transforming ideas into practical approaches within creative work. It pushed me, as an artist, to rethink my approach to my practice and provided valuable insights for overcoming creative blocks. The book’s reflections foster a deeper connection to the true essence of creativity, making it a must-read for artists looking to enhance their practice. – Anugrah Mishra.
I visited this exhibition a couple of years ago and found it very inspirational. The exhibition showed not only Da Corte’s pop art influenced sculpture, film and paintings, but also his collection of plastic toys and objects that he has collected over many years. This collection directly inspires his practice and the book describes his creative process, alongside many photos of the exhibition. Seeing his work and collection gave me the confidence to use my own special interests and joy of collecting in my own practice. – Benedict Robinson.
‘Can the Monster Speak’ by Paul B. Preciado heavily changed my perception of how to depict the transgender body in its physical form. Preciado speaks a lot on mutation as a part of the process but not in a derogatory way - he believes it one of the most joyous things he's ever done. – Parker White.
Rovelli has a gift for explaining complicated scientific ideas in a way that the layman can understand. In this book he takes the reader on a journey from ancient Greece to the present day, linking theories across millennia and revealing the counter-intuitive ethereality of physical matter. – Jack Woolley.
I found this book in the back of a storage cupboard in my first year of uni and it completely shifted my practice. John Mitchell examines the notion that wherever we look we see, reflected at us, images of our own features. I am interested in the way patterns, including those of the human form, face and features manifest themselves within seemingly abstract shapes and marks. The way in which a line is suggestive to the body and communicating the idea of sensation through certain brushstrokes, both intentionally and by chance. – Unica Yabiku.
About Freelands Painting Prize
Established in 2020, this prize seeks to understand and celebrate where distinguished studio practice is taking place across the country, informing the Foundation’s interest in the curriculums and conditions guiding early career artists.
Each year's winning artists are selected anonymously by an independent jury. This year's judging panel includes Michael Archer (writer and art critic), Vanessa Carlos (Founder and Director, Carlos/Ishikawa gallery), Séamus McCormack (curator) and Zadie Xa (artist), chaired by Henry Ward (Director of Freelands Foundation).
You can view the long list of nominations for the 2024 prize here.
Over five iterations of this annual prize we've witnessed the participation of over 70 institutions from across the UK's four nations. For 2024, we received 53 submissions – more than ever before; demonstrating the liveliness and enthusiasm of painting practice fostered across the country, despite the challenges to art education at all levels.
Visit the exhibition
Preview: 1 October, 6.30 – 8.30pm. Everyone welcome, RSVP here.
Visit the exhibition between 2 October – 9 November 2024 by booking an appointment Monday to Friday, 12-6 pm or dropping in on Saturday, 12-6 pm. For more information or to book a visit, email hello@freelandsfoundation.co.uk.
