Talking of Elections... The votes are in and the ‘People’s Prize’ has been chosen.

David Wentworth, a practicing artist who teaches art part-time at the Women’s Prison in Send, said he was “Absolutely delighted” to have won. “I came in a few times while the exhibition was on to see if I could eavesdrop on what people had to say, but had no idea that piece was so popular. It was a real honour just to make it into the 60 artists selected for the exhibition and it gives me great pleasure to win the People’s Prize as the standard of the work in the exhibition was very high.” When asked what he will do with the £250 prize money, he said “I think I must put it towards buying some new art materials and definitely some new oils paints for my work”.

As there were only a few votes between the two pieces, for the first time ever The Lightbox decided to present a second prize to the runner up this year. This was awarded to Iain Crafer of Dorking, who’s sculpture “From big acorns, little oaks grow” was a particular favourite with the children visiting this year’s exhibition.

Iain Crafer, who has a studio in Abinger, gave up teaching 6 years ago to follow his passion. When asked about his work and what it felt like to be selected as the runner up he said, “The work was completed specifically for the exhibition and was created to engage with people. I think art that connects with people in a physical sense is important as I’ve always got a real buzz out of visiting galleries and want to pass this on. I am so pleased to be a runner up in this competition and would recommend it to all Surrey artists. It’s a great display space for contemporary artwork.”

Nigel Bolt, Partner at Bessler Hendrie Chartered Accountants, sponsors of the ‘People’s Prize’ said, “The way in which the artwork has been presented within the contemporary gallery space is impressive and we are proud to have been able to support this exhibition. Being part of the Surrey Open Art Competition was particularly appealing to us as it was an opportunity for us to support an artist in a direct way and this was important to us.”

Marilyn Scott, Director of The Lightbox said “We have had such a fantastic variety of work here on display and it has been really interesting to see which piece the public decide as their winner. The votes were very close and in the end there was only a handful of votes between the two artists. Congratulations to David and Iain and to all the Surrey artists who were part of this exhibition, it was extremely well received and we hope it has inspired both artists and visitors alike.”

NOTES TO EDITOR

David Wentworth - Artist’s statement: “My work is concerned with people and situations specifically regarding the subject of human behaviour focusing on the concept of personal space and body language. Reflections and the fragmentation of the image also interests me and my drawings and paintings are taken from general observations.”

Website: www.davidwentworth.co.uk

Iain Crafer - Artist Statement:  “The idea of the form was developed from a series of smaller acorn shaped carvings. This large one is carved from the controversial Leylandii pine. I wanted to explore this form in large scale, but at the same time look for a way of involving drawing into the sculpture. The idea was developed to offer space within the acorn mirroring a mini gallery in which to show its natural beauty.”