2024 Winners

Ava Elizabeth Liberace
2024 First Place Winner, 19-22 year old category

Artist Statement

Ava Liberace explores ecological systems and modes of embodiment through drawing. She is an artist based in Virginia and Connecticut and is completing her bachelor's in studio art and biology at Wesleyan University. Often tributes to ecological systems, her final compositions involve members of family and friends and highlight ongoing explorations of the Anthropocene. She uses scientific inquiries and close academic drawing to investigate these environmental relationships such as fungal networks and climate crisis concerns. She experiments with abstraction to re-contextualize the body in fantastical landscapes to explore what it means to be human, and to redefine the body’s relationship with systems of interconnection. She has shown work in London, UK; Sarasota, Florida; Alexandria, Virginia; and New York City, New York. 

Artist Statement

Ava Liberace explores ecological systems and modes of embodiment through drawing. She is an artist based in Virginia and Connecticut and is completing her bachelor's in studio art and biology at Wesleyan University. Often tributes to ecological systems, her final compositions involve members of family and friends and highlight ongoing explorations of the Anthropocene. She uses scientific inquiries and close academic drawing to investigate these environmental relationships such as fungal networks and climate crisis concerns. She experiments with abstraction to re-contextualize the body in fantastical landscapes to explore what it means to be human, and to redefine the body’s relationship with systems of interconnection. She has shown work in London, UK; Sarasota, Florida; Alexandria, Virginia; and New York City, New York. 

Sophia Congya Sun
2024 First Place Winner, 16-18 year old category

2023 Winners

Martin Kamau Mbuguah Toska-Go
2023 First Place Winner, 19-22 year old category

Artist Statement

Toska - noun - Russian word roughly translated as sadness, melancholia, lugubriousness. I am inspired by the breadth of meaning that can be found in the word TOSKA, the notion that one word can encompass so much excites me and I will keep going until I can capture that goal, this is the definition of TOSKA-GO

I (Martin Mbuguah) was born to a Kikuyu family in Ol’Kalou, Kenya during a time of great instability within my nation, the observation of struggle characterized my youth. Endless tribal conflicts, political corruption, financial challenges, and health crises all compounded into a deep understanding of pain at a young age.

When I first moved to the states, I became acutely aware that Africa and my people had been relegated to a primal existence in the minds of most Americans. This became all the more evident when I began my artistic journey and found that our art had lost its true meaning in the hands of the west. The essence of African storytelling is the liberation of perspective and the immortalization of one’s spirit. It is through stories that we share our history, lessons, and traditions, and hold onto the memory of loved ones. Within a Western context, that part of African storytelling is missing.

Through my use of symbolism along with painting in a western canon, I seek to communicate the essence of African story-telling through a more universally understood language. My work at its core is an endeavor to connect, through narratives of addiction, racial injustice, and identity struggle I seek to create an interconnecting story titled “TOSKAGO” spanning the course of my life and across all different mediums to stand as a monument to the core of my people’s tradition and to alleviate that missing element.

Olivia Padrusch
2023 First Place Winner, 16-18 year old category

Artist Statement

I am currently in high school. I would like to study visual arts after graduation, including fine arts, graphic arts, and film/cinema studies. After high school I plan to pursue a Masters in Fine Art. I aspire to be a practicing artist with gallery representation.

2022 Winners

Caroline Crawford
2022 First Place Winner, 19-22 year old category

Artist Statement
My work focuses on depicting a narrative through a psychological lens. My ideas are built from scenarios that represent my journey growing into myself and as a woman. Recent work of mine depicts scenes within a dream-like landscape that takes inspiration from magical realism. My work is also heavily connected to photography and photographs are constantly being taken of loved ones and friends. I incorporate them into my work through painting in a hyperrealism style. The environments within my paintings bring us into a space that feels equally unsafe yet inviting at the same time. My goal is to create my own language between the figure, the landscape, photography, and painting by creating a connection between them that the viewer can join.

Biographical Statement:

            Caroline Crawford is an artist from Central Florida. She graduated from the University of Florida in the Spring of 2022 with a BFA in Painting. Growing up in an artistic environment and being encouraged to make art since a very young age has allowed her to acquire a love of creating and being emersed within the art world. She recently finished up her internship at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art as a Preparator intern and plans to work more in preparation and installation in the future.

Sophia Sun
2022 First Place Winner, 16-18 year old category

Artist Statement

I’m inspired by the ideas and depictions of the human psyche. Portraiture and the human figure fascinate me with the numerous stories they tell with such seeming simplicity. Through my art, I aim to constantly explore my thoughts with varying stylistic choices, compositions, and media.

2021 Winners

Fabien Harry Lilavois
2021 First Place Winner, 16-18 year old category

Artist Statement

My mind is a mirror that constantly reflects surroundings, analyzes spaces, and creates visualizations. Art is my way of turning those ideas into reality. I get to capture the vitality of a moment, the creation of connections, and the experiences of life while creating new stories in the process. My art is inspired by my transformation into a free young adult in the city of Miami with a suburban childhood. School in downtown Miami has given me a unique experience and access to new perspectives I would otherwise never see. As a visual storyteller, my everyday commute nourished a love for my city along with all of its hidden details. I witnessed skateboarders making videos with film students, drama students collaborating with animators, and poets working with musicians. This lifestyle saved me from falling into the normal category of being just a painter, or only a photographer. I pushed myself to learn new mediums like film, design, and different styles of painting. I would use random interesting objects and paste them with photos I’ve taken to create visual collages in my sketchbook. I even formed a passion for thrifting and sewing different materials to make personal clothing. This pushed me to find not only an identity in my work but a face to my appearance. I was able to explore my voice as an artist because of its collaborative community and diverse environment for growth and expansion.

Kate Mackenzie Goodvin
2021 First Place Winner, 19-22 year old category

Artist Statement

I am inspired to create a narrative through material. I use fabric and screenprinting in a

painterly fashion to produce images that represent my interpersonal relationships as well as myself. I am inspired by vivid colors and shapes. I'm compelled to document what's going on through the lens of my own lived experiences. When making my work I'm thinking about time, memory and nostalgia and how that relates to certain circumstances.