Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden Awards

Back in March when I heard about the Hannah Peschar Sculpture award I was immediately intrigued by the opportunity and after attending the briefing I decided that I wanted to take part. As a third-year student there was a lot of pressure towards the final months of the degree due to assessments and the degree show work. The Hannah Peschar sculpture award was the first experience I had in the ‘real world ’outside the boundaries of the University, with no guidance and just a brief. The whole application process was so beneficial for me. From following a brief, to preparing and presenting proposals to the curators of the Sculpture Garden. As an artist primarily working with Sculpture, I never had the opportunity to present work outdoors before the award. That was an additional challenge that all of us had to take on. I started researching for a material I can use that is both sustainable (which was the main theme of the brief) and suitable to be outside for a long period of time. After spending some time researching and testing materials, I finally came across Perspex Acrylic. A material that from first glance you don’t necessarily recognise that is sustainable. Often sustainability is just thought of as recycling, or finding natural products, however Perspex Acrylic can be melted, reformed, reused and is also a material that is inert and can last for a long period of time in extreme conditions. While I was installing my sculpture in the garden, I was amazed by all the reflections of the trees and the plants adding an extra texture to the Sculpture. The Award has pushed me in stepping outside of my comfort zone as an artist and in discovering new materials and processes as well as taking into consideration cost, transportation and the instalment of work.

The first time I visited the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden I was in awe. I was amazed by not only the breath-taking scenery of the gardens but also the harmony that each sculpture has with Nature. A key element of my work is the viewers interaction and how each one of them will perceive the work, so that was the main theme for my winning piece ‘Perspective’. The idea was to frame and celebrate nature in a simple way and at the same time challenge the viewers perception by creating an optical illusion when looking through the sculpture. For the 2022 summer exhibition I have installed three new Sculptures using the same materials (Perpsex Acrylic), since I believe is a material that I still must explore and experiment with as I find very interesting. Overall, I believe that the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Award was a unique experience in every aspect that challenged me as an artist in the best way possible