| Some highlights from the 2008 Awards Here is a small selection of highlights from our 2008 Awards, together with comments by the artists.
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"Thug Life", John Patrick Craggs, HMP Ashwell, Lord Ramsbothan Outstanding Award for Oil/Acrylic Painting "This is my reality on canvas. I spent 5 years sharing cells with other inmates – it’s horrible. I know what I did, and punishment is part of the process, but 23 hours a day locked up! What good is it achieving? Now I am lucky to have paint, brushes and easel in my cell. I thank the Koestler Trust for giving me a goal every year. Art will not just make a difference when I am released – it is the difference. Even my dad told me to 'get a proper job' until he saw some of my paintings: now I have his full support!" |
"Come Get Ya Meals", Terence Lambert, HMP Highpoint, Kalyx Outstanding Award for Oil/Acrylic Painting "I wanted to show what I see on an everyday basis. Here are the different characters who serve our food, with a range of approaches to their job. You can be met with smiling faces, but this only makes you more suspicious of the food!" |
"The Tunnel", Anon, HMP Send, Bowman Smart Highly Commended Award for Mixed Media "This picture represents the long, dark tunnel which greets people facing a life sentence. At times it feels like there is no light at the end, hence the black centre. Being selected for this exhibition has given me a massive boost in self-confidence. People have always put me down, this has made me feel worthwhile." |
"Subterranean Homesick Android", Anon, HMP Liverpool, Kalyx 2nd Prize for Drawing "Dean Stalham at the Koestler Trust asked me to finish this drawing for a play he wrote for the Union Theatre in London. My family saw the show and told me about it. The picture was projected onto the stage for a scene about chasing the dragon (taking drugs) underneath the escalator at Green Park tube station. So the picture shows the escalator as a dragon. Perhaps it is also about being de-humanised by addiction, or by prison, and crying out to be in a better place." |
"Departure", James Soutwell, HMP Wakefield, Kalyx Highly Commended Award for Oil/Acrylic Painting "The plane parts all in different places represent the mess my life was once in. My partner and I were trying to get away, and the clock is past the hour because I was always too late. But the man sitting calmly at the departures desk shows that life isn’t such a calamity – it’s what we make of it." |
"Mohammed Ali", Steven Saunders, HMP YOI Parc, Commended Award for Portraiture "In class, we were talking about how to draw eyes. I turned to a book showing Mohamed Ali and drew his eyes. In the next lesson, I ended up drawing the full face. I would just like people to know straight away who the portrait is, without being told." |
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