Ciara Phillips and HM Queen Sonja at the Royal Palace in Oslo
Photo: SGG
©The Royal Palace
“I am delighted that the Queen Sonja Print Award 2020 goes to an artist that is so deeply committed to the art of printmaking. Ciara Phillips’ formal and social experiments within the graphic arts are bold and unconventional, yet striking and aesthetic.”
On the 7th October 2020, Ciara Phillips received Queen Sonja Print Award from HM Queen Sonja at the Royal Palace in Oslo.
Earlier in the year the jury, consisting of Emi Eu, Christopher Le Brun and Philip Tinari had assessed 42 candidates for the award.
They stated: "The jury is unanimously convinced by the fervor of Ciara Phillips’ commitment to the medium of printmaking, the boldness of her formal and social experiments within it, and the maturity and confidence of her artistic outlook and attainment in general. Her belief in collaborative practice, manifest in her ongoing Workshop project, grows from a set of political and aesthetic concerns that she elaborates and elevates through concerted making.
Beyond her graphic and compositional prowess, Phillips is also a keen spatial thinker, adept at expanding beyond the conventional wall and frame. Without sacrificing seriousness, her work is imbued with a sense of wonder and delight in the serendipity and collaborative nature of this creative process. The jury further believes that Phillips is at an ideal point in her career to both benefit from and bring credit to the prize, giving renewed prominence to the field of printmaking and the Foundation’s role within it."
Ciara Phillips with MCA Young Guides in "Workshop", 2010 - ongoing
Commissioned by 21st Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Photo: Daniel Boud
Courtesy of the artist