Chandelle wins top art show accolade
Homeless homage
An artwork created by a Forth Valley College student has won a prestigious prize.
Chandelle Waugh, from Cowie, picked up the Scottish Artists’ Benevolent Association award at the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture Exhibition being held at the Lower Galleries on the Mound in Edinburgh until July 25.
The 20-year-old HND contemporary art student, who has been accepted to study a degree in sculpture and environmental art at the Glasgow School of Art, said the work was a comment on the plight of the homeless.
“We’ve used a marbled concrete look against the rusted nails to show the distinction between poverty and wealth,” she said.
“The concrete is representative of the grounds that homeless people have no choice but to find comfort in, even though this medium is cold and dull. Whilst the marbling effect suggests elegance and prosperity.
“The overall piece is a representation of a modern cubed bench. The use of an item of furniture is important as I was taking something familiar that provides support, comfort and is inviting and creating a fear provoking sculpture representational of how homeless people may feel.”
Chandelle won £300 with the award, which rounded off a hectic period which included an artistic quest to Epsom to mark an iconic moment in the struggle for equal rights for women.
She produced a symbolic piece of artwork for her end of year exhibition at the FVC Stirling Campus in the shape of a hat complete with chain, padlock and references to the subjugation of women.
As part of her exhibit she also travelled to the Epsom Derby Festival on Ladies Day in June, to commemorate 105 years since Emily Davison paid the ultimate price in trying to raise awareness of her cause, when she walked in front of the King’s Horse in the 1913 Derby. It was a full five years after this tragic event that the 1918 Representation of the People Act was passed which gave the vote to all men and women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications.
Chandelle took photos of her hat at the racetrack to mark the iconic moment and added them to the artwork she exhibited at the End of Year Show, held at the college last month.