Study in nostalgia wins award

A Northumbria art student has won a national award for his nostalgic pencil drawing.

Philip Adamson, a final year Fine Art student, is this year’s winner of the annual Hermione Hammond Drawing Award.

The 21-year-old, from Morpeth, impressed judges with his drawing of a seven-year-old boy with an unhappy expression on his face, based on a photograph. The award, established in 2012 and named after the artist Hemione Hammond, annually offers £4000 to a final year undergraduate student who produces the finest representational drawing from submissions from art institutions across the UK.

Philip’s work was selected from a number of submissions from fine art courses across the UK and his winning demonstrates the high standard of art practice at Northumbria University The judging panel was impressed by Philip’s “very moving and powerful, wonderfully executed drawing” which can be seen as part of Northumbria University’s 2013 Visual Arts Degree Show.

Philip’s practice centres around drawing with his Degree Show work comprised of a series of very sensitive and accomplished small pencil drawings.

He said: “Drawing from old found photographs, I create representational drawings in an attempt to form a sense of loss through erasure. Re-creating the photograph as an object is essential in carrying forward the notion of nostalgia, but can we feel sentimentality or nostalgia towards somebody else’s past? For me, it is important to remember that every photograph holds memories, maybe even stories. Whatever that story is, it belongs to someone.

“Winning this competition has been a great delight and has given me the opportunity to pursue graduate schemes at Northumbria University, allowing me to continue developing my artistic practice. It has also given me more confidence in my drawing ability and is an encouragement to pursue similar endeavours.”

The Hermione Hammond Drawing Award is part of the Charity Aid Foundation and the prize money is paid against the winner’s art expenses which can include studio hire, materials, tuition fees and travel. This is the second year the award has been made and, for the first time, the panel of judges has made a discretionary award of £500 to Anca Niculescu from Bucharest in Romania for her drawing, Tribute to my Grandparents.

For more information on fine art at Northumbria University visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/courses. For more information on the Hermione Hammond Drawing Award visit: www.hermionehammonddrawingaward.co.uk

Date posted: July 10, 2013