P O RT H L EV E N PRIZE
10 Y EA R S
P O RT H L EV E N PRIZE
10 Y EA R S
First published in 2023 United Kingdom Publication © BATH SPA UNIVERSITY Wunderkammer Press Edited Angela Cockayne Designed Liberty Fearns Cover Image Theo Box All work © of the Artists and Authors ISBN 978-1-7394822-0-6 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the artists & authors. The Authors make no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained within this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Printed and bound in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
This book is inscribed to Trevor Osborne Without his kind generosity the Porthleven Prize would not have been possible. & All the students who applied for the Porthleven Prize; applicants, shortlisted students and finalists.This book represents only a small selected range of the work made for this residency. The Porthleven Prize is the experiences shared.
Porthleven Prize West Cornwall is a unique location with a rich creative history particularly noted for its exceptional light, changing weather-moods, land and seascape. The numerous picturesque harbours, once home to a thriving fishing industry, now attract an ever-increasing number of tourists. Evidence of its industrial heritage can be seen in the tin and lead mine engine houses that pepper the landscape. Porthleven is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the South West coastal path. Loe Bar, to the East, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall. Set in a National Trust park the area is rich in fauna and attracts many migrating species of bird.The coastline is famous for its treacherous seas and shipwrecks. The Porthleven Prize has witnessed the changing moods of this unique location in the last ten years, from glassy still oceans to the most violent storms; Porthleven is known as a place that can have four seasons in a day. The skies above Porthleven are magnificent and ever changing from every shade of milky grey where the horizon melts into the sea, to ultramarine, cerulean, and fiery sunsets, set against distant views of the Lizard Peninsular and Lands End. In considering the uniqueness of the landscape and the liminal edges in between the domains, Porthleven provides an abundance, from its natural environment and rich heritage to investigate and respond to. The theme of provenance has been used to explore and investigate how the land, seascape and community now sit within a thriving village. Once fishing, mining and farming shaped the people and local community. Now tourism and the Ministry of Defence provide much of the income for the area. The Porthleven prize is a unique three week interdisciplinary residency programme for students studying at Bath Spa University and more recently Falmouth University. The aim is to produce work in response to site, which showcases collaborative and individual responses across disciplines of visual arts, sound and image, dance, performance, film, photography and creative writing. Students are invited to apply from courses across the Universities and are a mix of levels of study from undergraduate to PhD. The residency enables a rich cross-fertilisation of both practice and experience allowing students invaluable experience of a breadth of different practices and ways of working.
The prize is offered to up to twenty students selected from an open call application. A three week fully funded residency and subsequent exhibitions to showcase the amazing work produced is generously supported by The Osborne Group.
The first five days responding to site are facilitated by workshops, seminars and tutorials which encourage a more interdisciplinary approach through collaboration within a safe and playful space. Following this stage students each submit a proposal to an industry panel detailing their plans, if successful, toward the second two week residency. The second phase of the residency allows the students to focus on research and begin making work on site in a studio context, using the lifeboat station in Porthleven. Students have access to this ‘twenty-four seven’ for two weeks. Again this stage of the residency is supported by staff led workshops ranging from drawing, film, sound production, creative writing and performance.Tutorials and seminars support the students throughout. Further to this the students have opportunities to showcase work made in response to Porthleven, exhibiting in different locations. The residency has never focused totally on the outcome, more the experiences and knowledge shared in this wonderful place.The work presented here is a small selection, a representation of the hard work, engagement and commitment of all those involved, and a celebration to mark the last ten years of the Porthleven Prize. Long may this unique interdisciplinary residency continue to flourish. It has been a career highlight to work on the programme from its inception and watch one hundred and sixty students develop their practice, adopt new skills, and gain experience of working collaboratively. The residency helps to develop a professional approach to underpin their work, and to form strong bonds and networks which have continued beyond. It is a unique opportunity to take considered risks, be playful, and to develop new ideas and transferable skills which feed into their academic programmes of study and studio practice. The Porthleven prize is a leap of faith, totally immersive, inclusive and enriching, and an unforgettable rewarding experience for both the students and staff. Porthleven takes you in and it’s hard to let go. The work produced and subsequent exhibitions resulting from this unique prize are testament to the trust and commitment demonstrated by the students. Their responses have formed a unique and enriched understanding of this special place. The community has embraced the students, facilitating fishing trips, talks, performances, reciprocated with invitations to see their studio practice and exhibitions in Porthleven. Angela Cockayne 2013-2023
When I discussed a potential student prize with Trevor Osborne, Rosie Hughes and Helen Statham eleven years ago, I don’t think any of us realised the profound impact the prize would have on countless creative practitioners. It is no exaggeration to state that the prize has fundamentally changed the creative practices of over one hundred and sixty early-career artists. There is no simple formula that has determined the Porthleven Prize’s success. The fact is everyone who has engaged in the project has taken something slightly different from the experience. The only constant has been the extraordinary collaborative dynamic that stems from the intoxicating cocktail formed when you pull disparate creative minds together. As Artists (those that paint, sculpt, work with sound, lens, spoken and written word, performance, and all the disciplines that weave in-between), our instinct is to work with familiarity; to play to our known strengths. Yet it is when the creative practitioner works in unfamiliar territory that our inquisitive mind is nourished, and we learn something new. The ability to step outside of ourselves, and to see the world from other perspectives is one of the hardest but most crucial skills for the artist to learn. It is through objective evaluation that individuals reflect and adjust their own perspectives and produce artwork that facilitates a similar enquiry for the viewer. This is an extraordinary gift but also a sizeable responsibility the artist has at their disposal.
Room with a view, the lifeboat station used as studio base camp, for water gazing, workshops, seminars, presentations and showcasing work made in response to site, to the public. Image Theo Box
Each year professionals from inside and beyond the university select between 10-20 students to take part in a residency in the town of Porthleven on the South-West coastal tip of England. Students from all creative disciplines and those at different periods of their education are selected. The level of invention and ambition of artwork produced is often a reflection of the scale of diverse knowledge amongst the group. What is most profound for participants, is the realisation of synergies between seemingly disparate creative disciplines… for example, how a dancer responds to a place is akin to how a painter composes their canvas, or how a writer creates spaces and colour within a text. In realising this, a student becomes emboldened with a hunger to experiment beyond their comfort zone, to learn something new and to amaze themselves in the process. While I had a sense from the outset that the Porthleven Prize would be impactful for a student’s creative progression, I did not anticipate the level of impact, or indeed quite how such an experience would contribute to their success after graduation. Equally as remarkable has been the impact the prize has had on the academic community at Bath Spa University. Over twenty-five tutors have been involved, and the interdisciplinary collaborations that have stemmed from such experiences have shaped our curriculum and advanced our research culture. While many staff have benefitted, a few individuals with the ideal characteristics and ambition have been critical to the prizes ongoing success, none more so than Angie Cockayne, Robert Fearns, Poppy Clover and Naomi Box. The Bath Spa Porthleven Prize has been, and will no doubt continue to be, one of the more profoundly positive outcomes of my decades in academia and something that I am immensely proud to have played a leading role in establishing. Dr. Dan Allen Head of School Bath School of Art, Film & Media Bath Spa University
2013
SHORTLISTED Jana Abrams Rebecca Dodds Emily Milton Lucie-Amelia Fowler Catherine Gray Will Kippax
FINALISTS Sara Mark Jane Hall Joseph Perman Turnbull Kilda Meadows Vasileios Chatzimakris
Joseph Perman Turnbull
Sara Mark
Sara Mark & Jane Hall
Jane Hall
Kilda Meadows
Vasileios Chatzimakris
Joseph Perman Turnbull
2014 SHORTLISTED Lia Leozappa Emily Cropton Lizzie Hawthorn Vanessa Braun Sophia Chapman
FINALISTS Sae Murai Lucinda Burgess Fiona Haines Jennifer Kyte Emily Furnell
Jennifer Kyte
In 2014, we arrived the morning after a great storm. Our intended studio was looking somewhat dishevelled, and the whole community in shock with significant storm damage caused to the harbour, boats and livelihoods. We were kindly taken in by Teresa Gleadowe at CAST artist studios in nearby Helston to continue with the residency.
Following the storm of 2014 the harbour was empty of boats for the first time in living memory. Image Emily Cropton.
Ten years ago, the group of students and the accompanying staff members involved in the first Porthleven Prize gathered in a function room overlooking the harbour. I was visiting for a few days, tasked with providing a context-setting discussion, and sharing ways of thinking about Porthleven in particular and west Cornwall more generally. The discussion mixed art history, local history and personal reflections on what influences the life of the locality. The subsequent discussion was rich, fresh and open. Those same qualities characterised the work that the participants in the project created. Over ten years, the work made through the project by successive students has evolved with the place and with the times we live in. What remains consistent is those qualities of discussion and creation, rich, fresh and open, with each new cohort. Our conversations frequently circle around similar themes: the possibilities of whether or not one can put aside the dynamics of being a ‘visitor’; and the realities of understanding complex local identities. Above all, we emphasise the value of making an individual new start in a place so loaded with existing mediated perceptions, even while being as well-informed about history, culture and politics as possible. The period of the residencies and the time for reflection and production around them have frequently become significant moments in the development of the artists involved. Equally frequently, these moments have led to work being made that is outside a predictable frame of reference.Work has often been performative, often bringing together ideas from across different media and artforms, and often challenging inherited ideas of depicting places and landscapes weighed down or limited by an existing set of visual tropes. I now look forward to each year’s new combination of individual personal journeys and renewed responses to locality, a genuine celebration of the continuing potential of bringing artists and special places together. The role of the project, to bring ways of celebrating special places so as to move on from existing ways of imagining them, represents how artists can shape futures. Professor Mike Tooby
Fiona Haines
A collaborative project mapping three walks and distances in wool.
Fiona Haines
Cyanotype on silk.
Lucinda Burgess
The residency was brilliant and has been a real springboard for my career as an artist, writer and graphic designer. It provided me a platform to explore all three aspects of my work, and grow both as an individual artist/ writer and also as a collaborative artist. Jennifer Kyte
Sae Murai
Sae Murai & Jennifer Kyte
Emily Furnell
Emily Furnell & Jennifer Kyte
Simon A Hunt
2015 SHORTLISTED Bethany Hyde Bridget Edelman Victoria Walters Benjamin Jones
FINALISTS Philip G Marshall Poppy M Clover Simon A Hunt Roxanne Jackson Andrea V Wright With Trevor Osborne
Drawing workshop with Professor Anita Taylor.
The Porthleven Prize was an incredible experience to be a part of and I always look back fondly on my time in Porthleven. Getting to work with peers in different subjects and at different levels of study was enjoyable to navigate; the conversations we had during the residency were artworks in themselves as much as the physical work we produced. Being thrown into a new landscape and away from my usual ways of working really changed how I produced work afterwards. I felt more immersed and connected to my practice and not afraid to fail and make mistakes. The confidence this residency gave me has helped me to progress in my career and I honestly don’t think I’d be doing the work I do now if I hadn’t been on the Porthleven Prize. It was the best part of my studies. Poppy Clover
Andrea V Wright.Work installed at the O3 Gallery, Oxford.
Andrea V Wright
Philip G Marshall
Who wouldn’t find the sound and smell of the sea, the stories and history of Porthleven, its working harbour, shore and cliffs, inspiring? Especially when you are working alongside and learning with people from different contextual backgrounds and creative disciplines.The Porthleven Prize residency was a nurturing experience in which we collaborated by sharing ideas and combining practices, as well as continuing to developing our own. All influenced and inspired by our surroundings. The residency gave me the chance to completely immerse myself in exploring aspects of the location and its environment without the distraction of ‘normal’ life. I was able to expand my practice as well as being given the freedom and confidence to explore fresh ideas and ways of presenting them. It was a wonderful adventure that supported my Phd research as well as providing me with new material and working methods that I continue to explore and develop in my work today. I am very grateful that I was given this opportunity. Dr Roxanne Jackson
2016
SHORTLISTED Alison Mcginn Honor Carter Joe Hamlyn Hannah Ball Oliver Harrop Elizabeth Hawthorn
FINALISTS Benjamin R Jones Holly Nicholls Melissa J Mahon Toby Rainbird Oliver J Lucas
Over the years I have seen a great deal of remarkable work produced as a result of the Porthleven residency. Often unpredictable, sometimes with little discernable trace back to Porthleven itself, rarely the obvious result of a previous idea of what to make there. Important though these final outcomes are, I always found the real value of the Porthleven Prize occured in smaller almost insignificant events during the residencies themselves.The moments where a student suddenly ‘got’ what someone else was up to. Or when an unexpected alliance was formed. Or when someone found themselves immersed in a working process completely new to them. There were many such moments.We never quite saw them coming, but we always looked forward to them. Robert Fearns
Oliver Lucas
On my very first day working for The Trevor Osborne Trust I visited Bath Spa University to discuss the possibility of a collaboration between the two organisations. At the time no one really knew how it would work but the principal was very enthusiastic and when Dan Allen came on board a brilliant plan took shape. It was a great pleasure for me to introduce the students to the beautiful harbour village of Porthleven and share their delight in the place. The Trevor Osborne Trust accommodated them in a number of charming holiday cottages with studio space in the Old Lifeboat House on the edge of the harbour. I retired 3 years ago and look back on my involvement with the the Bath Spa Prize with great fondness and am so pleased that it is still going strong. Rosie Hughes, Trevor Osborne Trust.
Holly Nicholls
I can’t praise the Porthleven Prize enough for facilitating my growth as a young artist.The Prize helped me to step outside my comfort zone and realise the need to act on curiosity and collaboration. Porthleven is such a unique place that it’s hard not to be inspired. I’m lucky to have been offered the chance to be there at a pinnacle time in my creative development. Toby Rainbird
I feel very privileged to have been able to contribute to the Porthleven Prize in past years, and have seen first hand the impact it has had on the individual practice of students studying across a range of disciplines. All have returned from the experience positively changed, inspired, excited and creatively refreshed. Porthleven gives an opportunity to students to truly collaborate and exchange diverse ideas and approaches to practice.The mutually supportive environment nurtured by Angie, Bob and Kellie encourages students in their thinking and making, and tests their preconceived creative boundaries. On a more prosaic level the experience fosters communication, collaboration, networking and interpersonal skills, invaluable not only within creative contexts, but also in an individual future professional context. As a tutor my approach to teaching was also changed as I watched students negotiate workshops and collaborations that took them out of their individual comfort zones. Experiences that allowed them to realise that they could perform, draw, paint, write, photograph, film, dance or sculpt.That what they made as a result was ‘allowed’, valid and part of a creative process that didn’t necessarily require labels and boundaries.That everything encountered and undertaken was part of a process that was important in itself - whether it was seen to succeed or fail. Besides, what more could we want: a studio that had waves crashing against windows when the wind got up, loquacious nights in the ship Inn, delicious Cornish pasties, to discover poetry in the calls of gulls and the shining sea, to be able to dance in a rocky cove whilst a fellow student sculpts from clays gathered nearby, to collect flotsam and sound recordings from a deserted beach, to document and respond to the harbour and communicate with its residents (all species), to realise personal skills, to watch Trevor become emotional when students performed for him in the lifeboat studio, to swim in the Atlantic . . . . Martin Thomas
At Porthleven You believe every idea is possible You sense everyone around you is tuned in You can’t wait to start and you don’t want to stop You get that feeling to make….and then magically, you do. Afterwards, you revisit, and are happy it all happened. Melissa Mahon
Prior to the Porthleven residency, I had worked solely with photographic materials and techniques.This period introduced a wide array of new mediums and processes from sculpture, drawing, moving image, performance and painting, supported by invaluable time to explore how they could interact with the ways of working one was familiar with. It was this interaction with photographic materials, the way that photography could re-interpret or translate them, that in time became hugely significant. Initial workshops facilitated experimentation, and then the experience of exploring Porthleven in tandem with the other residents provided a brilliant grounding in working site-specifically. It gave ample opportunity to collaborate, yielding a breadth of works that comprised performance, light and sound. That time helped set in motion perspectives within my practice that are now fundamental to how I approach the work. Particularly, an understanding of photography as an elongated process outside a singular moment, and what can be read in its materiality.The structured nature of the prize offered an indispensable grounding for approaching self directed residencies postgraduation; years on these are regular and central to my working life.They are always fascinating experiences, and as with Porthleven are enriched enormously by the people met, conversations had, and the stories and idiosyncrasies of place that feed into each experience. Porthleven provided a foundation of ways to open up one’s practice, and use each subsequent opportunity to push the work somewhere new. Benjamin R Jones
Benjamin R Jones
2017
SHORTLISTED Summer Coleman David May Josie Llewellyn Joshua Lambert Maria Berghorst George Harrop
FINALISTS Jusefa Charlamow Sally Bennett Holly A Early Martin T Humphries Kate McDonnell Koji Tsukada Katarzyna Wagner
Press cutting from the opening exhibition in the lifeboat studio.
Katarzyna Wagner
Holly Early, Sally Bennet.
Martin T Humphries
Jusefa Charlamow
Sally Bennett
It was the little things that I enjoyed during my time in Porthleven – tiny plants growing in rugged walls, handwritten signs, strands of seaweed, and everyday there was a different feeling to the place due to the changing weather. My time on the residency gave me space to explore outside of my normal practice, and time to think and observe. I was exploring the wreck of the Anson and the subsequent Gryll’s Act, using text from the act as titles for my final works. But it was the sculptural sketches and photography which are the most memorable for me. Kate Mcdonnell
Koji Tsukada
2018
SHORTLISTED Abigail Coombs Amelia Hardy Calum Mcfie Georgia Player Hugh Goodfellow Jill Moshman Laura Denning Mihaela Stefanaove
FINALISTS Lyon Hansen Mariana D Marcelino Poppy A Briggs Katie L Sims Deborah J Westmancoat James Thornton Alex Mah
Being selected for the Porthleven Prize residencies in 2018 was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my MA. The weeks were well considered, with a wide variety of lectures, practicals, walking tours, visits and studio time. Importantly, they were lengthy enough to allow us to build meaningful relationships with the area and our fellow participants. I was lucky to be there with a particularly friendly, talented and insightful group. Conversations with Alex Mah (MA Research in Composition) and Lyon Hansen (MA Songwriting) proved especially fruitful and Alex and I subsequently collaborated on a couple of projects as a result. Alex’s book, Allowing for Drifting (2018), contains several images of my paintings and a score we both worked on intended to inform future artworks. Following discussion with Alex I wrote a score for my own practice which was eventually performed at the Inventory of Behaviours event at Tate Modern in 2018. This new discipline of score writing helped me to consider the habitual stages of process that I had naturally fallen into in the studio and, on recognising this, make deliberate changes to ‘trip things up’ and provoke new outcomes. I am certain this consideration influenced my final show and my work thereafter. Initially during my MA in Fine Art I spent all my time with other visual artists. Breaking out of this and spending a few weeks talking and experimenting with composers, dancers, printmakers, performance artists, writers and singers was wonderfully liberating. It really helped me question my own practice and broaden my outlook. I learned so much about other specialisms. During the second residency I enjoyed how much we bonded as a group. We were kind to each other, open to new ways of doing things, supportive of each other’s endeavours and even cooked for each other. It was a really fertile time creatively and I look back on it with great fondness. Spending time with such a fantastic and diverse group of people was a rare treat, and sincere thanks go to Trevor Osborne, Naomi and all the team at DARO and Bath Spa for generously giving us that opportunity. Deborah Westmancoat
Deborah J Westmancoat
Creative writing workshop with Professor Kate Pullinger.
Sea Prints. Etching plates attached to a buoy, marks made by the ocean.
Poppy A Briggs
Drawing in space with Dr Robert Luszar
Participating in the Porthleven Prize was a fantastic opportunity that had a profound impact on my art practice. Collaborating with like-minded people who work creatively in different disciplines, such as poetry, music, dance, and art, was an unforgettable experience that broadened my horizons and inspired me to approach my work in new and exciting ways through performance art. Being in my third year of my Fine Art degree at the time, I found the Porthleven Prize pivotal in shaping how I showcased my practice for the degree show. The experience helped me build my confidence, challenged me to advance my practice, and prepared me for my current role as an Art & Photography Teacher at King’s College Taunton, and an artist, representing the interplay between the natural world and the human-made landscape through painting. I am grateful for the opportunity the Porthleven Prize provided and I would recommend any creative to apply, as you never know where it might take you.Thanks to this experience, I now have the courage to seek more opportunities, such as being on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2022, showcasing and selling art in the South-West of England. Katie Simms
Mariana D Marcelino
Lyon Hansen
Alex Mah & Mariana D Marcelino blind dancing at the edge of the land.
James Thorton & Poppy Briggs
2019
SHORTLISTED Eleanor Roche Fiona Underhill Owen Fender Lucrezia Di Canio Brandon Basinski Harriet Bradley Olivia Mitchell Juliet Duckworth
FINALISTS Leanola Rose Kara Gavriel Rubin Natasha Parker Edwards Lia Brazia Caroline Vitzthum Alyson Minkley Danielle Fernando
The Porthleven Prize Residency, which intersected the final year of my undergraduate degree, was a pivotal point in my creative practice and career. It gave me the opportunity and freedom to step away from university research projects to collate a separate body of work responding to the ethereal place and people of Porthleven amongst other talented artists and academics. The Porthleven Prize Winners of 2019 solved problems, affirmed identities and expressed consensus, highlighting the importance of dialogic working and the collapse of grand narratives. As an interdisciplinary curator, artist, and choreographer, I regularly take inspiration from the relationships formed during the residency, and, 4 years on, my practice remains intrinsically linked to the work I produced. I recently obtained a postgraduate degree in Curatorial Practice (jointly delivered by Glasgow School of Art and The University of Glasgow). My curatorial practice, reflective of my Porthleven experience, investigates dialogic art making and display. I utilise my role as curator in facilitating the coming together of disciplines and contributors. I aim to create spaces of connections and discussion to decentralise common dialogue and promote visual culture in, off and from the margins. My projects tend to invite viewers to muse over clusters of collaborative works and glide amongst bodies, sound, film, visual art, site, and conversation. My current role as Community Artist for the Glasgow-based charity PEEK (Possibilities for Each and Every Kid) feeds into my passion of re-writing the white, neurotypical, heterosexual, male art history that we see in many art spaces and beyond. Natasha Parker Edwards
Caroline Vitzhum
Caroline Vitzhum
Sound & image collaboration. Leanola Rose Kara & Gavriel Rubin
I feel very lucky to have been awarded the Porthleven Prize whilst I was at Bath Spa University, during what I can now see was a pivotal time in my practice. I specifically used the residency to develop my understanding and experience of collaboration. During my time in Porthleven, I worked with a performer and a sound artist to create nature-inspired and sometimes on-site artworks. Gaining skills in working with other creatives and knowing when to compromise and when to persist with an idea gave me the confidence to keep expanding my multi-disciplinary practice. This became evident during my Master’s at the Royal College of Art where I collaborated with a Palaeontologist from the Natural History Museum to create a wall sculpture and later constructed a multi-sensory installation for my degree show that was developed from my collaboration with a glass artist. Now, as a working artist, I have recently been invited by an independent fashion brand to collaborate on a detachable sculpture for their upcoming FW23 collection. If it wasn’t for the Porthleven Prize 4 years ago, I honestly think my practice would have looked completely different from the way it looks now. Leonora Rose Kara
The legacy of the 2019 Porthleven Prize 2020 was an extraordinary year. The announcement for impending national lockdown was made during the week of our exhibition at the Old Lifeboat House and the show had to close early. There was no opening event and visitors had to be socially distanced, but they still came, attracted by my projection installation, Sink or Swim that appeared to drown the building under rising tides with nautical distress calls beaming from the rooftop. Many came from The Ship Inn and even surfers in their wetsuits direct from the sea engaged with my triptych of interactive sculptures inside the gallery space. Connecting with the community, hearing stories and gathering the often conflicting opinions of fishermen, boatbuilders, local craftspeople, holiday home developers, seasonal catering staff and tourists, was where my work began.The time, like the weather, was precarious with BREXIT imminent and weekly climate change protests; this was reflected in the work I produced. Porthleven was a turning-point in my practice, re-establishing my voice as a social sculptor with the opportunity and encouragement to experiment and collaborate with time to develop ideas in response to such a stimulating environment. Two years after the residency,Three Sheets to the Wind, one of my triptych of Porthleven sculptures, was centre stage in The Mall Galleries, London, for the Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition.The work had an animated reception as the first mixed media installation selected in the history of the show. It was a wonderful experience to share the embedded stories of a Cornish harbour town with a wider audience. At the same time, the other two sculptures – Swinging the Lead and All at Sea - returned to Porthleven for the inaugural arts festival in September/October 2021. Porthleven lives on in my current project, collaborating with Juliet Duckworth, who I met in the first part of the residency, and we are now touring our co-creative project, Social Scaffolding, with support from a national lottery project award through Arts Council England. It is hard to know, but I’m not sure I would have ended up in the same place, if my journey had not gone via Porthleven, and my thanks for the privilege of it doing so. Alyson Minkley
Alison Minkley
Film stills of Flora Day children dancing. Lia Brazia.
Katie Hanning & Charlotte Tamkin
2020/21 (COVID)
SHORTLISTED Caitlin Rowley Max Blundell Jennnifer Jenkins Jennifer Thompson Cameron Reed Ayse Ozedemir Ollivia Noonan Ceri Shaw Julia Archer Kate Philibin
FINALISTS Ashley Pegram Charlotte Tamkin Matthew Collins Jon England Katie Hanning
Mathew Collins & Olivia Noonan
Katie Hanning and Max Blundell
The parable of the artists on the beach. There once was a group of artists who got invited to come and play together in a town by the sea.The artists were happy to have been given the opportunity and engaged with the landscape in all the ways they could.They spent time with the landscape and played in, and with it: exploring it through body and mind, collecting and gathering images, sounds and ideas.They learnt from each other; of how to hear the world, how to see the world, how to know the world and how to engage with the world - and in doing so, learnt how to hear, see, know and engage with each other. The artists formed deep friendships that extended beyond the duration of the time in the town by the sea, and vowed to come back together to continue the work they had started. Much time passed, but the artist’s desire to return was relentless. Much time passed, but the pull of the moon on the sea was continuous. So the artists returned to the town by the sea, but time had passed and the landscape they thought they knew had changed.The cave, full of seaweed that looked like bones that the sea had deposited, had been plundered, empty, by the very same sea.The holes and cracks that they had previously played in were now covered in foam, or rendered unrecognisable by time and tides.This did not stop the artists though, who were adept at navigating change, and though where they had left off was now just a trace, they began to work again. The artists soon found that it was not only the physical landscape that had changed, but also the dynamics of their own landscape of relationships.Within the passing of time, internal shifts had taken place within each artist. Like the movement of tectonic plates, and internal forces: cracks had formed, scars had appeared, magma had risen to fill previous rifts, subducted layers melted in the mantle occasionally erupting back to the surface. The artists had also invited a new artist to join them in this return, who like an glacial erratic, was at odds with the landscape they had previously created.This anomaly offered a counterpoint to pathways of thinking and doing that they had forged between them. The artists found a cave in which to work, and focused around an idea, frantically working to create something purposeful before the sea rolled in. When the sea told them it was time, they left. They wanted to return, to continue to work, to finesse the image, to come to a conclusion but were confined by the tides and the light. Time passed, the clocks moved forward an extra hour, the sea recoiled, the artists returned. However, when the artists came back to the cave, the light was different and it was impossible to continue the same way. What was one thing yesterday had now passed and was something new. This was frustrating for the artists, who wanted to find some completion in the trip, and meant they left the town with yet again a yearning to return - knowing that when they did, the foundations of what they thought they knew would be challenged again. Katie Hanning
Sound and image collaboration. Ashley Pegram, Jon England, Katie Hanning.
2022 The Porthleven Prize at Bath Spa University in its 9th year collaborated with Falmouth University.The interdisciplinary nature of the prize has enabled unique collaborations and insight into the work and practices of our creative community. This year we expanded inviting twenty students to apply from Bath Spa University and Falmouth University, giving them the rare opportunity to work collaboratively and learn from each other, and to produce work for a touring exhibition. Students from all courses were encouraged to apply.
SHORTLISTED Jack Roberts James White Joely Mae Greally Jon Raine Sage Gregory Sani Hussan Sarah Beeusaert
FINALISTS Alice Orchard Francisco De Freitas Rodrigues Jennifer Carter Jessica Angwin Libby Bove Livvy Eden Olivia Rees Ro Handy Ruben Bowers Storey Toby Sadgrove
I think I can safely say that those weeks by the shores of Porthleven have been one of my most creatively enriching experiences to date. Whilst there I studied local Cornish folk customs and was lucky enough to catch the ancient celebration of Flora day. The body of work I produced imagined artefacts from a future civilisation, living after a point of ecological collapse, surviving off the debris of our current society, held together by the strands of folk magic still in the air. Whilst there I collaborated closely with musician Toby Sadgrove, and filmmaker Alice Orchard. Together, we worked to create a short film, which acted as a form of documentation of this imagined future world. Each of us took on different aspects of the production and we were able to learn from each other’s creative specialities. I think the interdisciplinary nature is such a valuable aspect of the residency. Allowing for the cross fermentation of ideas that wouldn’t necessarily happen in a standard education environment. The residency has been a real turning point in my practice. Since then my fascination with folk customs has grown into a prominent force within my practice and photography has become a key element of the work. Although I feel like my most valuable takeaway from the experience has been the confidence it has given me in myself, in my work and in the articulation of my practice. Libby Bove
Pinhole photography Jess Angwin
Olivia Rees
Ruben Bowers Storey
Study visits have included boat trips, Geevor & Poldark Tin Mines, Museum of Rural Life Archives, Flora Day, Newlyn Art Gallery,Tate St. Ives, Barbra Hepworth Museum, Porthmeor Studios, Kestle Barton, Cast Art Centre.
The Porthleven Prize is a unique opportunity for creative practice students to develop their process and to collaborate with other artists/creatives and art forms.The glorious setting of Porthleven enhanced the desire to connect with such a special place and its many communities. On the residency I was impressed with the commitment of the students and their exceptional abilities. In my workshops we explored thoughts and feelings about place and memory and tried to find words to express these feelings. For visual and sound based artists working with text can be challenging but we started with basics, words which expressed the senses. We went on a ‘Zen’ walk to find out what we could see, hear, smell, taste and touch.We walked slowly and deliberately and let the rest of the world zoom past us.The students realised that the world of the senses is surprising and unexpected and how often we forget to pay attention to what is immediately around us. Colours became brighter, sounds became more poignant and smells took us back to our childhood or teenage years. Experimenting with creative writing meant that the students were introduced to using text in their process and to think more clearly about which words to use and how to use them. I really loved watching them grow out of their usual ways of working and explore new methods of creativity. Professor Lucy English
Ro Handy
Salt spray stuck to the other side of the window as I stared through at the Atlantic Ocean. Fair weather had kept us warm for most of the week, but overnight, a storm we hadn’t expected grew to the magnificent form Porthleven is famous for. Inside the studio, the damp and salt in the air gave my lungs a new perspective. Outside, the wind rattled the masts of boats, forcing them into an eerie chime of unpredictable rhythm and harmony. My fingers wove a net from string, a response to the place and to emotions that often form within me when I visit towns I don’t belong in. Each knot was formed as I weaved, and remained that way. I was exploring art in its rawest visual form. And I was learning not to edit. Sitting in the lifeboat studio, on top of the waves and between the rocks, the work I made was immediate, unedited. A raw response which I tried to accept as ongoing, but unchangeable.The experience sent me so far out of my comfort zone, I started to forget what that looked like. The Porthleven Prize residencies impacted and shaped the words I wrote whilst I was there, and learning new approaches has changed the way I think about my finished pieces. It can be hard to let go of the desire for a perfect, finalised piece that requires no further attention, however simplifying that process and returning to back-to-basics ways of making work, allowing initial notes, explorations, and experiments to be viewed by others, can free the work and the creative mind. I am eager now to allow myself the luxury of being able to share the unfinished in this way, and have the confidence to believe that the journey truly is more important than the destination. The lifeboat studio was a place to explore and grow, and as I left on the last day of the residency, I missed its vulnerable position in the waves. I have let that vulnerability seep into my words. Something I will carry through to my future writing whenever I get the chance. Jennifer Carter
Through the Cornish landscape, I typically explore ecological relationships between man and nature and the ways in which a place can influence the individual. I applied for The Porthleven Prize as I was becoming quite comfortable within my practice, and often repetitive with my techniques and concepts. I wanted to expand my knowledge and let new ideas reshape my work.This residency gave me the opportunity to work both independently and with others in various practices. Most prominently, the performance art and creative writing workshops encouraged new mediums into my work, using movement and space to reveal new questions and ideas. Working with like-minded individuals gave me the confidence to communicate my ideas and ask for feedback. It was a very natural and supportive environment, and it was an excellent way of broadening the network of artists around me. I developed three main projects around my physical connection to the land and my contact with it;Trace with Jessica Angwin, Contact with Roanna Davis and Sea Change, an independent project. In particular,Trace presented new, sustainable ways of image-making and we used natural solutions like seawater rather than harmful darkroom materials to develop our images. Sea Change additionally involved environmentally friendly materials, as alongside my framed works, I also hand-sewed a small book of experimental prints. Using found materials from Porthleven, such as archival imagery and book paper, I also used expired darkroom paper, and other scrap paper I collected throughout my time there.This continued to enhance the concept of my connection to the place. The Porthleven Prize elevated my work to a professional level, particularly during the refinement and curation process.The touring exhibitions situated my works in various spaces and displayed the various projects I had created. Livvy Eden
Francisco De Freitas Rodrigues & Joely Mae Greally
Film collaborations and kiln firing.
When I first applied to the Porthleven Prize, I was a very different artist to the one I am now. My experience over the two residencies was one that has had a profound influence over my practice. Not only did I meet some of the most wonderfully talented and lovely people, but I also got to know myself much better. I got to know the kind of artist I wanted to be and the kind of work I wanted to create.The Porthleven Prize gave me the freedom to explore all kinds of art, and experiment outside my comfort zone. I am an experimental filmmaker, and it is because of the prize and the other artists from all different disciplines I met, that I can call myself that.The residencies were the first time I was able to create and share work which people really responded to. I am forever grateful to everyone who ran and was part of the prize, it truly is an experience I will never forget. Alice Orchard
Toby Sadgrove
Film still from Immersed in Porthleven, generated through AI in the style of Peter Lanyon.
Collaborative film projects.
The Ship Inn in Porthleven has played an integral part in the Porthleven Prize, located next to the studio, providing refreshments, fortitude and studio space for presentations, seminars and tutorials. If you could bottle Cornwall it would be available here.
2023
SHORTLISTED Alice Quarterman Dana Han Edie Evans Gayathri Narayanan Kondath Isaak Johnson James Richards Jenni Ratcliffe Misty Scrimgeour Neil Robson Vivian Almas
FINALISTS Agata Flaminika Asha Uberoi Bhavana Ram Mohan Brodie Marshall Elliot Coffin Helen J R Bruce Jessica Borders Oli Saunders Rosie Behri Sam Churchill-Guntrip
Descending the stairs to the lifeboat house in Porthleven for the first time is a truly unique experience. In this moment all involved in the residency leave behind any preconceptions of a creative workspace. Our subject specialisms may guide and inform but no longer define as the studio and the sea enfold.There is a palpable energy that is held in that moment which sustains us throughout the residency.This space that we hold together is what many of us aspire to in our creative lives and is further enriched by our connections and collaborations within the Porthleven community. I am grateful for the generosity of spirit from all who participate and the richness of relationships that are formed in our short time together. Kellie Hindmarch
Jessica Borders
I’ve had an incredible experience working with Kellie in attending to the craft and spirit of the participating students. It’s been illuminating, powerful, humbling, validating and craft-affirming.There has been room to give students the opportunity to deepen their relationships with their practice and process in ways beyond technique and tool, to deepen their relationships with themselves, what and why they make.Their collaborations have embraced the simple human connectedness that arrives by working, crafting in a space together spilling over into talking, laughing, eating, sometimes crying together. Holding space for them to explore this has been staggering and wonderful and I have been changed as well: my world has become larger because of this. Adrianne Arenas Falmouth University
Elliot Coffin
Agata Flaminika
Sound & Image Brodie Marshall
Group collaboration, book of poems, a contemporary re-imagining of Porthleven’s heritage.
Sam Churchill-Guntrip
Photography workshop with Ben Parry.
Helen JR Bruce
Woven Textiles. Rosie Behri.
Elliot Coffin
Bhavana Ram Mohan
Photography Workshop Ben Parry
Oliver Saunders
Asha Uberoi
Elliot Coffin & Sam Churchill-Guntrip
It isn’t often that you happen upon a project that changes the course of your life: both professionally and personally. On the 22nd of March 2013 I participated in the very first selection committee of the newly launched Bath Spa University Porthleven Prize, kindly supported by the Trevor Osborne Charitable Trust, joined by Professor Mike Tooby and Angie Cockayne from Bath School of Art & Design, Patricia Singh from Beaux Arts, Rosie Hughes from Trevor Osborne Group and Helen Statham from O3 Gallery in Oxford. Our role was to select five applicants to embark on a fully funded residency in the Harbour Town of Porthleven in Cornwall. In that meeting my life changed forever, and the impact of the prize on all who are lucky enough to be involved is incredible. Over the past 10 years I have met all sorts of creative practitioners from visual artists and creative writers, through to dancers and singers.The work produced each year is always so different; one year a concrete life ring, another a rhinestone buoy! There have been beautiful compositions and heart warming
(and wrenching) vocals, Lyon from the Faroe Islands sung so beautifully and to me was the sound of the Porthleven Prize 2018. I have made lifelong friends with students and staff, discovered wonderful things about those I work with. Discovered new ways of working through participation in this incredible series of residencies. Ultimately it drove me to move to Cornwall and to be in this place that fills me with contentment. The Porthleven Prize and all those who have been involved are changed forever, I don’t believe there is anything else quite like it. Naomi Box. Philanthropy Manager & Facilitator of the Porthleven Prize 2013-2023.
When I acquired the Porthleven Harbour & Dock Company in 1977, the Village and its community were cautious in welcoming a new owner who might inevitably influence the Village community and the lifestyle of its individuals. Porthleven was described by the previous owners as a fishing village where the locals often recalled not just their own experiences but recounted stories of fathers and grandfathers. Its population was dependent upon the “catch of the day” and families congregated on the harbour quayside awaiting the return of fishing boats sometimes after more than one day. A good catch would warrant a happy family response and a drink or two at the Ship Inn or the Harbour Inn (later to be extended and to be Porthleven’s only hotel). The intended sale of the Harbour & Dock Company by the three Hagenbach brothers – owners for some 14 years – was of concern to the Village and rumours were rife when I arrived at the Harbour Hotel during a Spring evening after a long journey in the car with my then wife, Pamela, and an infant daughter, Sarah. It was early Springtime and it took time to be admitted with some suspicion to our allocated room by Jim Geddis, the then partner of the tenant. A mist had fallen across the harbour which to a town boy like me (I was 32 and lived in London) was mystical. Once our daughter was settled in her cot, I made the first of what was to become a lifetime of walks around the harbour and along its breakwater stretching out to sea beyond the Bickford Smith Institute and softened by a light mist creating a strong image of the stone harbour.
Although this was 47 years ago, I am still able to walk around the harbour when night is falling and I still have those same feelings that I had on that night so long ago. The harbour is now in better repair and the dilapidation of buildings which was then evident has gone but the essence of place remains – the mist comes down, the tide goes out and returns with resounding spray and sound seemingly challenging the harbour’s defence of the Village. The breakwater stretches into Mount’s Bay to the extremes of its length, challenging the sea and defending the Village from its daily roaring invasion. Yes, the village buildings have been adapted and some replaced but always with respect for Porthleven’s history and the all present contribution of its harbour protecting Porthleveners from the often ravaging attacks of the waves. These elements have caused Porthleven to remain a unique Cornish village - its harbour courageously standing as guardian against the aggression of the waves which roar into the outer harbour with gathering momentum from Mount’s Bay. The setting of the harbour at the heart of Porthleven provides spaces on three sides with the harbour and shipyard buildings at its head and its heart giving a sense of enclosure. It is the unique combination of stoic Porthleveners and loyal visitors who share this magical village with its beaches and rockpools running both east and west of the Village which creates the magic of the place.
There are few places that can offer such wide and extensive evidence of human activity, land-based animals and sea creatures ranging from mussels to dolphins and the occasional whale, towering rocks and green pastures, woodland trees and occasional seals and all manner of fish, all of which and with mankind adapt and take a place in the extensive variety of life, nature, rocks, cliffs, beaches, sand and people. Porthleven accommodates all of this and more with its aged exposure to people and to Mount’s Bay. Art is created by human reaction to life in all its forms and by adaption of the human hand, stimulated by curiosity, individual perception and interpretation to create the unexpected, the beautiful, the stimulating and the vision and personality of the individual. Response of the artist to the stimulation of place, person, nature, imagination, colour, texture and life itself is the making of the artists’ creativity and expression. Porthleven offers in one small place opportunity for an open mind, a good eye and an individual and personal passion for expression to create artistic representation of experiences in response to the emotional influence of the Village and its setting thus creating work of a unique character.
Many students who have experienced Porthleven alongside other art students find that time spent here has changed not only their perception of the Village in its setting at the heart of Mount’s Bay, but also the direction of their own artistic expression of this magical environment. It is humbling to experience the rich variety in Porthleven and of Porthleveners, who care and understand the good fortune of living in this special place. I hope that students will continue to benefit from the Porthleven experience. For almost half a century, Porthleven has given me so much which I am pleased to share with enquiring minds. Trevor Osborne July 2023
2013
2016
Sara Mark Jane Hall Jana Abrams Rebecca Dodds Joseph Perman Turnbull Emily Milton Lucie-Amelia Fowler Catherine Gray Kilda Meadows Will Kippax Vasileios Chatzimakris
Holly Nicholls Alison Mcginn Melissa Mahon Ben Jones Honor Carter Joe Hamlyn Hannah Ball Oliver Harrop Toby Webb Oliver Lucas Elizabeth Hawthorn
2014
2017
Lia Leozappa Sae Murai Lucinda Burgess Fiona Haines Jennifer Kyte Emily Cropton Lizzie Hawthorn Vanessa Braun Emily Furnell Sophia Chapman
Jusefa Charlamow Sally Bennett Holly A Early Martin T Humphries Katie Mcdonnell Koji Tsukada Katarzyna Wagner Summer Coleman David May Josie Llewellyn Joshua Lambert Maria Berghorst George Harrop
2015 Philip Marsahall Bethany Hyde Poppy Clover Bridget Edelman Simon Hunt Toby Rainbird Roxanne Jackson Victoria Walters Andrea Wright Benjamin Jones
2018 Abigail Coombs Amelia Hardy Calum Mcfie Georgia Player Hugh Goodfellow Jill Moshman Laura Denning Mihaela Stefanaove Lyon Hansen Mariana D Marcelino Poppy A Briggs Katie L Sims Deborah J Westmancoat James Thorton Alex Mah
2019
2022
Eleanor Roche Natasha Parker-Edwards Alyson Minkley Lia Brazier Gavriel Rubin Leanola Rose Kara Fiona Underhill Caroline Vitzthum Owen Fender Lucrezia Di Canio Danielle Fernando Brandon Basinski Harriet Bradley Olivia Mitchell Juliet Duckworth
Alice Orchard Francisco De Freitas Rodrigues Jennifer Carter Jessica Angwin Libby Bove Livvy Eden Oliva Rees Ro Handy Ruben Bowers Storey Toby Sadgrove Jack Roberts James White Joely Mae Greally Jon Raine Sage Gregory Sani Hussan Sarah Beeusaert
2020/21 (Covid) Caitlin Rowley Max Blundell Jennifer Jenkins Jennifer Thompson Cameron Reed Ayse Ozedemir Ollivia Noonan Ceri Shaw Juulia Archer Kate Philibin Ashley Pegram Charlotte Tamkin Mathew Collins Jon England Katie Hanning
2023 Agata Flaminika Asha Uberoi Bhavanna Ram Mohan Brodie Marshall Elliet Coffin Helen Jr Bruce Jessica Borders Oli Saunders Rosie Behri Sam Churchill-Guntrip Alice Quarterman Dana Han Edie Evans Gayathri Narayanan Kondath Isaak Johnson James Richards Jenni Ratcliffe Misty Scrimgeour Neil Robson Vivian Almas
List of staff Bath Spa University Dan Allen Naomi Box Eve Betts Poppy Clover Angie Cockayne Robert Fearns Amanda Goode Hugh Sanders Kellie Hydemarch Peter Bodenham Ben Ramsay Josh Ryall Andrew Southall Professor Lucy English Professor Mike Tooby Professor Anita Taylor Professor Kate Pullinger Martin Thomas Dr Robert Luzar Terry Pope Ben Parry Sharon Alcock Sarah Alexander Falmouth University David Paton Elizabeth Tomos Adrianne Arendse Mandy Jandrell
Special thanks to Naomi Box & Poppy Clover The glue that held this project together. And panel judges Trevor Osborne, Chris Stephens, Beaux Arts, Helen Reid, Rosie Hughes, Andy Salmon, Ben Borthwick, Debbie Hillyard, Henry Ward, Josh Gulranjani, Kate Abbey, Kate Love, Marnie Middlemass, Mike Tooby, Patricia Singh, Rosie Hughes, Gavin Turk, Salima Hasmini, Sandra Le Marchant, Simon Chadwick, Stephen Dutton, Susan Mcmillan, Jane Wakefield, Emily Casey. Porthleven Holiday Cottages Teresa Gleadowe at CAST Veronica Ryan Naomi Frears Theo Box Peter Holgate The Ship Inn
Sally Bennett