Norwich University College of the Arts student, Georgia Dodson, is the winner of this year’s Bishop’s Art Prize.

 

Georgia described her work, Goldfinches and Thistle-seeds (pictured above), as a contemporary response to the theme for this year’s competition, Life Journeys.

 

She said: “The goldfinch has long been used as a symbol for Christianity. The painting depicts a flock of goldfinches amongst a patch of thistles. The seeds (potential life) are dispersed by goldfinches and dispersed by the wind. Together they represent life’s journeys. I’m amazed to win the competition. I’d like to thank the Bishop because the prize is a great thing to encourage students in my position.”

 

The two runners-up were Joe Baker for Slaver/Tanker, a diagram from a slave ship superimposed onto the plan of an oil tanker, highlighting “the repeated exploitation of the third world by western industry”, and Aviva Leight for Each day is a Journey, a coat of merino fleece and indigo dye.

 

The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, said: “The annual Art Prize encourages the talented students at NUCA to explore our rich spiritual heritage and to understand how the various dimensions of faith have inspired artists in every age, including our own.”