Lisa Traxler was selected for ‘In Search of a New World’ Southampton City Art Gallery’s 2020 Open Exhibition online exhibition winning the Best in Show Prize for her work ‘Time Traveller – Voyager’.
Time Traveller – Voyager
The exhibition title; ‘In Search of A New World’ led me to reference a painting in the Southampton City Art Gallery collection: ‘The Approach to the New World’ by marine artist Norman Wilkinson.
This atmospheric painting depicts new beginnings, voyages to unknown lands. The artist is one I am familiar with as my work explores fractured landscapes through Wilkinson’s dazzle camouflage of the Great War. This form of livery was painted on the sides of sea going vessels.
My response is ‘Time Traveller – Voyage’ a slotted sculpture. Its form eludes to a vehicle of travel, referencing a ship’s silhouette perhaps? Its fractured surface of disrupted geometric apertures, encrypted communication reflecting an analogy of a fractured society.
Judges Comments:
The engagement to the brief and connection to Southampton City Art Gallery’s collection makes this a standout work. The sculpture itself is dynamic and has a strong and commanding presence.
‘The way the shapes interlock makes me feel that my thoughts can rush through and return multiplied having gone on their own exciting voyage!’
This prize has been generously supported by Kuti’s Brasserie, Southampton
In Search of a New World
This exhibition features artwork by residents of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight and forms part of the Mayflower 400 programme.
2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing from Southampton bound for the New World. The journey was a key event in the shaping of world history – with both negative and positive impacts. Locally, Mayflower 400 is an opportunity to celebrate Southampton, a city and a community, built on journeys and migration. Find out more here: mayflower400southampton.co.uk
To mark Southampton’s role in this momentous event, we invited artists to respond to the themes of journey, migration and the sea – all subjects that have helped to build Southampton and put the City at the forefront of many national and world changing moments.
This year saw over 450 entries with painters, sculptors, photographers and film makers interpreting the themes in a variety of original and innovative ways.
The works featured in this digital exhibition were selected by judges:
Clare Mitchell – Curator of Art at Southampton City Art Gallery
Lucy Ash – British Abstract painter whose work ‘Iris 02’ was recently acquired in to Southampton’s permanent collection.
Robert Peters – Mashpee Wampanoag artist, writer and poet.
Commenting on the submissions, the judges said:
“The open exhibition this year has come at a very testing time for us all but thankfully, everything we have been through, has not negatively impacted on peoples desire to create!
We have received a record number of entries this year: all strong and powerful in their own right, thought-provoking and both sensitive and compliant to the theme but also nodding to the ever changing global situation. The judges were very impressed with the quantity and quality this year and hope we have managed to select a broad range of depictions, styles and medium which will allow everyone to find something they like and that resonates with them.”
