The winner of the 2015 British Ceramics Biennial AWARD is Sam Bakewell for his installation of a pseudo-shamanic hut, Imagination Dead Imagine. He receives £5000 and a commission for the 2017 British Ceramics Biennial.
Installed in the China Hall at the former Spode factory in Stoke-on-Trent, Bakewell’s clay structure contains a series of objects and hand-carved pieces that he has made over the past 12 years, some taking as long as seven years to complete.
Bakewell said: “I’m really shocked and happy to have won. The project was a personal one, so it means a lot that it seems to have translated to others as well. I’ve loved showing alongside good friends in the one-off context of Spode, and am very humbled by all the help and kind words I’ve received.”
Bakewell’s installation is presented alongside works by 11 peers in the AWARD exhibition, a celebration of contemporary British ceramics. Fellow exhibitors are: Anne Gibbs, Amy Hughes, Bethan Lloyd Worthington, Ingrid Murphy & Jon Pigott, Aneta Regel, James Rigler, Paul Scott, Mella Shaw, Caroline Tattersall and Andrea Walsh. The selection and judging panel features Alun Graves, Clare Twomey, Emily Johnson, Stephen Feeke, Nao Matsunaga and Barney Hare Duke.
“AWARD sought work that was energetic, challenging and current, and that confidently presented itself for critical appraisal,” said Graves, chair of the selection panel and senior curator of ceramics and glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum. “The selected artists have admirably met that brief. The panel of judges were hugely impressed by all 11 presentations, and offer congratulations to each and every one of the artists. We believe it is the best AWARD yet.”
The AWARD exhibition is a centre-piece of the British Ceramics Biennial and runs in the former Spode factory, Stoke-on-Trent until 8 November 2015
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British Ceramics Biennial 2015: a tale of regeneration and loss in the Potteries by Bob Dickinson
