Last night was the opening of the Aesthetica Art Prize 2019 which has hosted at the York Art Gallery. It was a vibrant and stimulating evening showcasing the cream of contemporary art, the ones to watch, so to speak. There was a bold mixture of video, photography and kinetic work and a real sense of excitment about the contemporary art scene.

I am immensely proud to be part of this high calibre award with a longlisting for Empyrean, the culmination of my residency, Sculpting with Light in Durham in 2017. It was an intensive and stimulating process to work collaboratively with Prof Giles Gasper to produce a representation of the expansion of medieval cosmos, in a single static work.

This is the second year I have secured a longlisting, with Phi having caught the judges eye for the 2016 award. Now I am back in Durham for a new residency, working with the elements and alchemy and I hope to have something for next year that might give me a chance of making this a hat trick. I’ll keep you posted on developments but in the meantime I shall be basking in the glow of being in such talented company.