A graduating BA (Hons) Fine Art student from Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has claimed first place in the Over-18s category at this year’s prestigious Dorset Art Prize, securing a £1,000 cash prize to help launch her professional career.
Madeleine Iyengar, who recently showcased her work at the AUB Undergraduate Summer Show, won the top accolade for her striking Final Major Project piece, Do I Look Like I Feel?
The intricate artwork is comprised of 49 individual pointillism drawing squares that form a single, larger image.
Representing roughly 200 hours of meticulous work, with each square taking between three and five hours to complete, the piece explores conflict, contrast, and duality within identity, using the body as a site of both tenderness and tension.
“Through the pointillist drawing style and the visual gaps within the piece, I explore the presence felt within absence and reflect on identity as ever shifting and never fully understood,” Madeleine explains.
The shortlisting presented a unique logistical challenge for Madeleine, as the opening night of the Poole Museum exhibition clashed directly with the launch of AUB's own Undergraduate Summer Shows.
Determined not to miss out on either opportunity to showcase her work as an emerging artist, Madeleine went to extraordinary lengths to ensure her art could be in two places at once.
“I made duplicated prints of all 49 squares, mounted them on acrylic sheet, and installed a 'print version' of the work to be on display at AUB,” she says. “I wanted to put in the extra effort to ensure I didn't miss out on either opportunity to showcase my work and take part in exciting exhibitions.”
The £1,000 prize money will directly support Madeleine’s next steps as a practising artist. She plans to put the funds toward securing a studio space for the upcoming year and funding an artist residency in Greece this November.
“I'm so unbelievably honoured and lucky to have the opportunity to progress my passion and love for creating art further,” she adds.
The Dorset Art Prize exhibition is open to the public at Poole Museum until Wednesday 15 July.
The original winning artwork is currently on display at Poole Museum on Poole Quay alongside works from around 20 other shortlisted artists from across the county.
The shortlisting presented a unique logistical challenge for Madeleine, as the opening night of the Poole Museum exhibition clashed directly with the launch of AUB's own Undergraduate Summer Shows.
Determined not to miss out on either opportunity to showcase her work as an emerging artist, Madeleine went to extraordinary lengths to ensure her art could be in two places at once.
“I made duplicated prints of all 49 squares, mounted them on acrylic sheet, and installed a 'print version' of the work to be on display at AUB,” she says. “I wanted to put in the extra effort to ensure I didn't miss out on either opportunity to showcase my work and take part in exciting exhibitions.”
The £1,000 prize money will directly support Madeleine’s next steps as a practising artist. She plans to put the funds toward securing a studio space for the upcoming year and funding an artist residency in Greece this November.
“I'm so unbelievably honoured and lucky to have the opportunity to progress my passion and love for creating art further,” she adds.
The Dorset Art Prize exhibition is open to the public at Poole Museum until Wednesday 15 July.
