We are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s MullenLowe NOVA Awards.
We believe this is the most strong and diverse year of the NOVA Awards. Do I say that every year? Yes I do. Do I mean it every year? Yes I do.” – Jose Miguel Sokoloff
Huge congratulations to Yajing Hu, MA Photography, who has been confirmed as the 2018 winner of the prestigious MullenLowe NOVA Awards. Yajing won the top prize for her part-performance, part-film piece Heartbeat. Created in response to her mother’s death, the work honours the symbolic nature of the heartbeat – something we tend to ignore as we go about our daily lives. “What I’d like to express in my work is that the heart still moves without stimulation; we are alive in the world even if we fail to notice our hearts beating.”
The two runner up prizes were awarded to Paolina Russo, for her six-piece fashion collection which saw her develop a new, computerised illusion-knit technique and Cybi Williams, who uses his painting practice to speak to people with a credible voice, creating artworks that are accessible, transparent and relevant.
This year we also welcomed the Unilever Unstereotype Award. The award, which recognises work that breaks away from outdated, stereotypical gender portrayals and champions inclusive, forward-thinking creative work, was given to Veronika Fabian from BA Jewellery Design. Inspired by her own experiences, Fabian’s collection Chains for an Average Woman explores contemporary female archetypes and the notion of a woman’s relationship with her own self-identity.
Crowned victor by a public vote, Montague Von Richthofen from BA Performance: Design and Practice took home the YourNOVA Award. His two-part immersive video installation piece invites the viewer to experience a lesser known subculture through an exploration of untraditional canvases, graffiti and tattoo art.
From emotive performance art to the development of cutting edge techniques, the winners of this year’s awards reflect the incredible talent and diverse nature of all our graduating students. Jose Miguel Sokoloff and Jeremy Till celebrated the hard work of all the nominees in their opening speeches at the awards ceremony:
Every single student in the room should be incredibly proud of what they have made. The really amazing thing about the work they have produced is the trajectory from a very strong concept to a very strong design process and the outstanding material manifestation. Across all the works, this sense of tracking through from concept to materiality is extremely strong.” – Jeremy Till
Congratulations to everyone involved in this year’s awards!
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Images: Vic Phillips