Artists’ Profiles 2020
Selecting works for the Aesthetica Art Prize is an inspirational and enlightening experience. There are so many artists worldwide creating pieces that need to be seen. Below is a short synopsis from each 2020 longlisted artist, providing insight into their practice.
Photographic & Digital Art
Andres Orozco
Shortlisted
鈥楻aw鈥 is a photo-based series that suggests we are living in a world of our own creation. Andres Orozco utilises lighting intervention.
Arseniy Neskhodimov
In each of Arseniy Neskhodimov鈥檚 series, a modern man presents a desperate desire to be forever young 鈥 trying out various treatments.
Bill Posters (Barnaby Francis) & Daniel Howe
Shortlisted
鈥楤ig Dada鈥 was inserted into Instagram as a digital intervention in June 2019. The artists wanted to use ML and AI to hack the personas of influencers.
Carina Martins
Tunnels from the electricity industry place viewers at the edge of fantasy. We stare at the images as if the ground has been removed.
Chirag Jindal
‘Into The Underworld’ explores the lava caves in Auckland. The caves are considered w膩hi tapu (sacred) by the local M膩ori people.
Cody Choi
Cody Choi鈥檚 approach to dance photography is not only to follow the movement, but to breathe with the dancers beyond the gesture.
Craig Waddell
Craig Waddell鈥檚 portraits interrogate the contemporary masculine identity, outside of the heteronormative and hegemonic ideal.
Dina Goldstein
鈥楽napshots From The Garden Of Eden鈥 includes modernised scenes from fairytales, folktales, supernatural tales and mystical tales.
Eduardo Loyola
Through carefully selecting buildings, Eduardo Loyola looks for emblematic structures that convey the subtlety and idiosyncrasy of their location.
Emiliano Pinnizzotto
Monoliths can be reinterpreted through photography. These images enhance the idea of the monument through structure.
Emmanuel Monzon
Emmanuel Monzon believes that the expansion of urbanisation and industry in the American natural landscape has defined a new kind of space.
Fern Berresford
鈥楾ime To Reign鈥 comments on the cyclical nature of trends. It celebrates the reprise of 1990s sports fashion, infused with a regal baroque aesthetic.
Francesca Pompei
Cities fascinate Francesca Pompei. The artist captures the context in which urban architecture can influence our everyday life.
Fran莽ois Aubret
Aubret鈥檚 work restores a hidden sense of beauty. Like a graphic designer, he composes architectural, urban elements within vibrant photography.
Frederic Aranda
Aranda was commissioned to take Dina Asher Smith鈥檚 portrait for Harrods Magazine. Dina鈥檚 eyes are set on her sporting goals.
Geoff Titley
Shortlisted
Decomposition is a stage within every organic cycle. It is also the title for Titley鈥檚 series, which explores our evolving view of the world.
Julia Fullerton-Batten
The northern hemisphere was in the grip of a 鈥楲ittle Ice Age鈥 into the early 19th century. Julia Fullerton-Batten recreates the 鈥楩rost Fair鈥.
Manon Ouimet
鈥楢LTERED鈥 is a body of work that encourages inclusion by displaying honest physical alterations, including those with life-changing alterations.
Martin Tscholl
Traversing remote landscapes, Martin Tscholl seeks out moments of contemplation. These locations provide incomprehensible horizons.
Michael Schwan
Michael Schwan offers insight into the beauty, decay and nostalgia of bygone days. Nowhere is safe from the march of time.
NPier
NPier鈥檚 pictures represent humanity without actually needing to have people present in the composition, revelling in emptiness and decay.
Ole Marius Joergensen
鈥楩inding the Red鈥 is built upon childhood memories, reflecting on the artist鈥檚 background in film. The images are wrapped cinematically.
Patty Carroll
Shortlisted
Known highly intense, saturated colour, Patty Carroll takes a humorous, yet critical look at how women continue to strive for perfection.
Robert Walker
Robert Walker is curious by nature; his work reflects this, enjoying the intrigue of an empty room as much as a frenetic street scene.
Romain Thiery
What is it about the piano that evokes such nostalgia and strong emotions within us? Romain Thiery explores the instrument from new angles.
Romain Veillon
Passionate about travel and photography, Veillon specialises in an exploration of heritage across the world 鈥 what humanity has left behind.
Romina Ressia
Romina Ressia鈥檚 practice is an analysis of contemporary society and family 鈥 charting how it has evolved through historical reference.
Sebastian Weiss
The 鈥楧ramatis personae鈥 series represents public fa莽ades that obscure the identity of a given location 鈥 buildings existing on a public stage.
Seunggu Kim
Korea has been developing rapidly over the last 40 years. 鈥楤etter Days鈥 describes leisure time from the perspective of its holiday-goers.
Simple-T
Simple-T鈥檚 images from the 鈥楢lone No More鈥 series were taken in nature whilst travelling through Iceland, Jordan and the USA.
Stas Bartnikas
Stas Bartnikas is an award-winning aerial photographer in Moscow. The artist flies in light aircrafts across the world to create 鈥渁ero-art.鈥
Stephanie Potter Corwin
Shortlisted
Stephanie Potter Corwin鈥檚 work uses data as a framework to investigate the intersections of perception, expectation and self-awareness.
Swen Bernitz
As a self-taught photographer, Bernitz produces long-term documentary projects that focus on the built environment and urban landscapes.
Tim Max Hetherington
Photographer and filmmaker Tim Max Hetherington represents the scale, alteration and intensification of the landscape by humankind.
Tyler Grace
Tyler Grace is a conceptual photographic artist specialising in creating dark and emotionally compelling images that explore life.
Three Dimensional Design & Sculpture
Andreas Lutz
Shortlisted
Andreas Lutz鈥檚 practice refers to human鈥搈achine interactions and the approaches taken to create integrated, universal communication systems.
Charles Aweida
Charles Aweida is an artist and roboticist exploring the intersection of science, engineering, visual arts and film 鈥 responding to nature.
David Aston
David Aston鈥檚 practice is centred around anthropology and human cultural evolution. 鈥楻olling with Humanity鈥 looks to the impact of AI.
Geraldo Zamproni
Geraldo Zamproni鈥檚 career as an artist is marked mainly by large installations that interact with architecture and the public 鈥 thinking globally.
Hugo Harris
Hugo Harris鈥 practice is a continual experiment exploring ways in which we can depict the weight of the human body through poses and positions.
Jim Jacobs
In many of Jim Jacobs鈥 sculptures, tree limbs are grafted to milled lumber, wooden tools, furniture and human hair 鈥 reflecting on nature.
Josefina Isaza
Informed by a love of nature and fine details, London-based Colombian ceramic artist Josefina Isaza鈥檚 sculptures have highly tactile surfaces.
Kenichi Shikata
Shortlisted
Kenichi Shikata creates sculptures and photographs that use geometric patterns. These pieces interact through light and shadows.
Patrick Hurst
We live in divisive times: Brexit, anti vaxxers, flat earthers, climate change, alternative facts. Hurst鈥檚 driving force is to seek common ground.
Painting, Drawing & Mixed Media
Amanda Watson
Whilst painting in-situ, Amanda Watson experiments with how artists can connect materials to the land. Works unfold organically.
Christopher Stott
Shortlisted
Christopher Stott produces clean and representational oil paintings that transform vintage objects into icons, telling stories.
Day Bowman
Growing up in a holiday destination 鈥 a seaside town 鈥 Day Bowman often makes reference to the sea. Recent series circle back to childhood.
Jae young Park
鈥榃oolscape 鈥 Warm Gaze鈥 depicts the process of drawing woven cloths 鈥 strand by strand. The repetitive process mirrors modern society.
Junsuke Yokoyama
Junsuke Yokoyama鈥檚 subjects are derived from thoughts or feelings that come and go. The artist focuses on concepts that emerge and disappear, thinking about the鈥
Loz Atkinson
Creating nebuli through painting, Loz Atkinson use different textures, giving them no definitive edge that can be perfectly measured.
Marcus Callum
Fusing traditional painting techniques with a contemporary aesthetic, Marcus Callum鈥檚 paintings convey a sense of psychological insight.
Show Kawabata x Takuto Usami
‘Noise;nse’ was conceived in a bid to look into how our everyday lives would or will change when we give meaning to the things that we often overlook.
Zara Matthews
Focused around a sense of presence, Zara Matthews explores the aura which surrounds, and still lives in abandoned hotel room objects.
Installation, Performance & Mixed Media
Akira Nakayasu
Interactive artist Akira Nakayasu, evokes the idea of a living presence with Tentacle Flora, a lifelike robotic sea anemone sculpture.
Alexandra Carr
Responding to patterns in nature, Alexandra Carr鈥檚 The Cloud of Unknowing has a sense of presence without definition of form.
Ant Hamlyn
Ant Hamlyn explores our shifting enthusiasm towards contemporary life with The Boost Project, which responds directly to its own popularity.
Bank Job (Hilary Powel & Dan Edelstyn)
Through art, film and provocative, participatory actions, collaboration Bank Job tackle economic, philosophical and social issues of our time.
Chris Drury
British Land artist, Chris Drury explores the connections between nature and culture; inner and outer; microcosm and macrocosm.
Christiane Zschommler
Shortlisted
Christiane Zschommler explores the sense of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, reducing published studies to geometric coloured shapes.
Desire茅 Moore
Interested in the deconstruction of the male gaze, Desiree虂 Moore considers the capacity of the mind, through two-channel experimental installations.
Despoina Zachariadou
Despoina Zachariadou鈥檚 Hostile Nature exposes the viewer to the crucial choices that need to be made in the environmental crisis.
Donna Marcus
Donna Marcus utilises discarded aluminium kitchenware with beautifully grazed surfaces, bringing a past to new assemblages.
Erik Deerly
Shortlisted
Erik Deerly鈥檚 time-based compositions investigate alternative narratives, created solely by a deliberate manipulation of extraneous content.
Eunmi Mimi Kim
With hyperthyroidism, Eunmi Mimi Kim can easily be pushed into sensory overload. The project Me-Time (4.0) aims to realign the mind and body.
Fragmentin
Shortlisted
Collective Fragmentin questions the impact of digitalisation by investigating technology鈥檚 disposition towards control and opacity.
Geoffrey Drake-Brockman
Geoffrey Drake-Brockman鈥檚 cybernetic artworks interact with audiences to bring about dynamic human鈥搈achine performances based on mutual feedback.
HUB Studio (Quartier des Spectacles Partnership)
HUB Studio uses creative technologies to tell stories, in turn making the world a stage through scenography, video projection and mapping.
Jacek Ludwig Scarso in collaboration with Felix Dodd, The Cass, Anise Gallery and Jelmer Tuinstra
Jacek Ludwig Scarso鈥檚 IN LIMBO invites the public to ponder what they are waiting for and whether or not it is worth the wait.
Joe McAlister (Fast Familiar) in collaboration with Dr Kris De Meyer
Interested in using Artificial Intelligence, Joe McAlister鈥檚 The Justice Syndicate intends to explore assumptions, intuitions and emotions.
Joo-kwan Song
Interested in expressing philosophical messages concerned with subconscious sensibilities, Joo-kwan Song explores the physics of time and linguistics.
Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Interested in the relationship between nature and artificial constructions, Juan Carlos Zaldivar explores questions often triggered about humanity.
Luke Watson
For Luke Watson, photography is an investigative tool. Witness Objects comprises of objects which have played a role in major conflicts.
Monroe Isenberg
Monroe Isenberg expresses invisible concepts contributing to a language of solidarity with nonhuman beings.
Nicolas Vionnet
Nicolas Vionnet鈥檚 installations create a non-hierarchical dialogue with the environment, opening up a visual field filled with tension.
Oliver Canessa
Shortlisted
Invitation to Untitled employs manmade sounds from instant messaging software to highlight our acclimatisation to digital technologies.
Sa拧a Spa膷al and Mirjan 艩vagelj
In Sa拧a Spa膷al鈥檚 and Mirjan 艩vagelj鈥檚 installation, Streptomyces bacteria emit an aroma which can evoke the memory of a forest after rain.
Shuster + Moseley
Shuster + Moseley create light-mobiles, sculptural installations and immersive environments that reflect on consciousness and technology.
Stefan Reiss
Inspired by String Theory, Stefan Reiss鈥 installation includes a projection surface for vivid animations of lines, triangles and polygones.
Sylvain Souklaye
Sylvain Souklaye鈥檚 work automated pain? is a performance about the ability to feel real-life pain via the screen as a filter.
Thodoris Trampas
Thodoris Trampas鈥 performance piece, Pangea, offers a process of union through destruction 鈥 a need for reconciliation.
Vasily Kononov-Gredin
Vasily Kononov-Gredin is interested in monumentality and beauty, using large formats to create a space of total installation.
Video & Artists’ Film
Chris Yuan
Emerging Prize Winner
Counterfictions weaves together scientific facts and quotes from Donald Trump, as well as references to literature and mythology.
Derek Johnson & Luke Smithers
Fragile Machines cycles through seasons, space, the bodies of women and water with the fluidity and rapidity of panicked memory.
Di Hu
Di Hu engages with the language of film to demystify complex social-political constructions, including new technologies and data collection.
Elinor Staniforth
Elinor Staniforth asks questions about what it means to embellish the truth. Your Words, My Words is a dialogue with the viewer.
Elise Guillaume
Concerned with the current state of the environment, Elise Guillaume鈥檚 work sheds light on exploitative contemporary industries.
Emilie Crewe
The Art of Fugue is a chorus of female performers telling stories through the repetitive actions and movements of skilled work.
Emmy Yoneda
Shortlisted
Emmy Yoneda is a 鈥渃ollision of cultures.鈥 Influenced by her two cultural identities, Inherited Landscapes exists in the space in between.
Felipe Castelblanco
Driftless highlights the concept of nationhood as a form of contemporary confinement and looks at the ocean as a space for intervention.
Harry Brooks
Isolating specific movements, found gestures or unconscious actions, Silent Gestures asks audiences to engage with the body close-up.
Hollie Miller
To Melt/ To Crystallize explores an artist鈥檚 desire to ingest a sugar-coated landscape, watching it overpower her in a symbiotic relationship.
Ka Ki Wong
Relationships between strangers have always intrigued Ka Ki Wong. I Draw Inside A Sheep provides a personal journey through intimacy.
Laura Besan莽on
Shortlisted
Central to Laura Besan莽on鈥檚 practice are notions of play, connectivity and place. Alone, Together documents a participatory experiment.
Marianne Keating
Considering fragmented identities via archival and postcolonial frames, Marianne Keating addresses the hidden histories of the Irish diaspora in Jamaica.
Natalia Garc铆a Clark
Shortlisted
In ‘Self Portrait’, Natalia Garc铆a Clark uses simple gestures to point out contradictions in the power structures that govern western societies.
Pernille Spence & Zo毛 Irvine
Shortlisted
‘Bob & Sink’ follows a group of oranges through rivers and streams. The oranges are a foreign body 鈥 buoyant and immersed 鈥 yet separate.
Rhea Storr
Main Prize Winner
Rhea Storr鈥檚 work is concerned with the ability of 16mm film (and other analogue practices) to speak about black and mixed-race identities.
Rob Daglish
Rog Daglish鈥檚 work challenges the moving image as a form of visual and social communication. It questions gender, toxic masculinity and relationships.
Shir Handelsman
Recitative is a fantasy spectacle that creates a counterpoint between a human voice and mechanical sounds of platforms moving within a space.



































































































