The Artist Space Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the third Nature online Art Exhibition. Along with the selected artists, the jury selected award winners in the following art categories: painting, photography and digital art. The show displayed a variety of artistic styles and mediums: oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, gouache, graphite, bronze, digital art, photography. Out of all submissions received 60 artworks were selected to be included in the exhibition.
Best of Show
Jason Shih
Short Biography and Statement
Jason Shih was born in 1972 in Taiwan. In 1991, he began to specialize in metal sculpture when he was a sophomore in the Fine Arts Dept. of Taipei National University of the Arts. In 2001, he graduated from School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA, and majored in Metal Sculpture. And then, he served as the metal sculptor Albert Paley's assistant, involved in crafts and public art work practices. Furthermore, he earned his Art Ph. D. from China Academy of Art, China (2015). Now, he lives in Taiwan, and consistently engages in the both areas of sculpture and public art. Jason Shih’s artistic vision is shaped by a diverse array of influences, from contemporary dance to avant-garde fashion. He cites German choreographer Pina Bausch and British designer Alexander McQueen as significant inspirations. Bausch’s explorations of time and space resonate with Shih’s interest in sculpture’s capacity to embody kinetic energy and spatial imagination. McQueen’s innovative approach to contemporary imagery and themes provides Shih with a broad canvas for creative expression. Shih’s work is also influenced by the aesthetic principles of Futurism and Constructivism, movements that emphasize dynamic energy and continuous motion.
Painting Prize
Holger A. Baehr
Short Biography and Statement
Working with acrylic on canvas, I use paint in either a layering or sketching process. Often I work on a series of paintings at the same time; each one feeds the next and brings a certain harmony to the body of work. Whilst some pieces stand alone, new directions in my work have resulted in certain pieces being connected to each other; consequently they should remain side by side in a series as one piece. My paintings always associate with the surrounding landscape. I paint from memory, rather than from photographs or sketches, often inspired by continuous journeys through the Irish countryside, especially the Shannon region where I live. More recently I have chosen to paint scenes of Heidelberg, but treating them as landscapes, avoiding obvious traditional architectural features in favour of impressionistic studies of river, light and the characteristic red colours of the local stone. Although the subject matter can be recognised as a landscape, it has an abstract quality to it. The basic elements of the scene are broken down into more simplified forms and I try to capture and portray the climatic qualities of a certain place at a certain point in time. Some of my paintings are best seen from a distance, while others require close-up viewing to appreciate the underlying layers of paint, resulting in an intimate viewing experience. My aim is to connect each viewer personally with each composition – to remind them, by an unexpected moment of emotion, of a place they once knew, or visited. Reacting to visual and atmospheric elements around me, i create work which is meditative for both myself and observers. This brings a quiet beauty to my paintings without distracting the eye by traditional elements such as animals, people and builds.
Photography Prize
Janos Somogyi
Short Biography and Statement
jsavua@aol.com
My photographic work was shown in numerous group and one-person exhibitions in the Washington area, Annapolis and Richmond, and it participated in the photographic exchange exhibitions between Washington and Beijing in 1985/87. This was complemented by several one-person shows in Europe, in galleries in Berlin, Budapest, and Stuttgart, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Györ, Hungary. My formative work encompassed landscapes, still lives, infrared photography, and experimental combination printing. Subsequently, my emphasis shifted toward abstractions by alternative photographic methods and artistic nudes in natural surroundings, with the unifying purpose of employing camera and darkroom to reveal beauty and truth manifest in natural shapes and forms.
Digital Art Prize
Tomas Lagunavicius
Short Biography and Statement
g.dadurkeviciute@ksjmc.lt
Tomas Lagūnavičius is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. He is a multi-disciplinary, mixed-media artist and his art has always been a manifestation of his vision of the world. His creative work includes visual and performing arts. Tomas Lagūnavičius has organized over 37 solo exhibitions, staged over 50 performances, participated in 56 international exhibitions and biennales, such as the 13th Florence Biennale (Florence, Italy, 2021), the Earth Art Exhibition "Balance" (Vilnius, Lithuania, 2021). Tomas Lagūnavičius’ art has been recognized all over the world. His art has been included in the 15th Annual Art Exhibition "Abstracts" (USA) in which he won fifth place and in a virtual exhibition in Brussels, Belgium organized by the V-Art Union. Tomas Lagunavicius is an interdisciplinary artist who specializes in digital and performance art. His vision is meta-conceptualism. For him it is important to create a concept first then represent it. Since 2006 he has been creating visual art objects such as installations, paintings, photographs, digital art and so on. Tomas considers himself a post-matrix person. A post-matrix person is a person who has many selves. He does not try to suppress any of his selves. For example, he may be a painter and he may be a psychologist and he may be a marketer. All of them need to be given time, space and energy to excel in their fields. There is no contradiction between them and there may be no connection. They can exist side by side at the same time. The rational self of the marketer may have nothing to do with the sentimental self of the writer.
Winners