Phoenix Art Space is delighted to be taking part in the Platform Graduate Award for the fourth year in a row. Led by CVAN South East, the Platform Graduate Award celebrates new artistic talent from across the South East, supporting emerging artists to further their practice. Exhibitions will be happening across six regional galleries including Phoenix Art Space, Aspex Portsmouth, Modern Art Oxford, MIRROR Arts University Plymouth and Turner Contemporary. Each of the five network partners will select graduate nominees from the South East region.

Congratulations to our selected 2023 graduates; Bran Flakes, Em Walker, Emelia Archer, Sara Paowana and Saul Baraitser. Nominees were selected by a panel consisting of Executive Director of Phoenix Art Space Lucy Day, curator Claire Wearn and artist Joshua Uvieghara.

The next phase of Platform will see the partner organisations each shortlist a finalist, from which one outstanding graduate will receive a £2000 bursary and 12 months of mentoring support. The winner of the Platform Graduate Award 2023 will be announced in a ceremony this winter. Find out more about the Award

Visit the Platform Graduate Award 2023 exhibition in the Project Space from 2 September – 8 October. Join us for the exhibition opening on Friday 1 September, 6pm – 8pm.

SELECTED GRADUATES

Bran Flakes
In a paradoxical way, BRAN FLAKES challenges the institutional restraints that go along with conceptual art while simultaneously embracing the elitism and exclusion it has historically provided. They attempt to involve the viewer in a debate about the art world and the place of the artist and viewer within it.

Em Walker
Through her painting practice Em seeks to embody her understanding of the world, creating visual and physical motif which narrate complex experiences and inconsistent paradox. Her series of expanded paintings dissect the absurd experience of womanhood, rejects religion, and defies the limited expectations of female painters.

Emelia Archer
Emelia’s work seeks to embody a felt experience through a female gaze, centred around the visual representation of memory and environment. Using primarily oil paint to express these narratives, she focuses on creating a visual representation of lived female experiences and anxieties.

Sara Paowana
Sara is a multidisciplinary conceptual fine artist, largely working with ceramics, sculptures, and installation. Her artworks often combine language and text to formulate a cultural narrative that responds to diasporic identity and interchange of dual nationality.

Saul Baraitser
Saul’s current work involves exploring painting without paint by utilizing drawing, figuration, textiles, and language. Their artistic practice is concerned with exploring the unconscious and conscious aspects of human relationships, their emotional valence, and how an individual or group interpret these.