BAMS STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT XXX 2023 - THE CATALOGUE

The Thirtieth Anniversary

BAMS STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT XXX 2023

Contemporary Art Medals

GRAND FIRST PRIZE

TINA AVERY

Seek the Shore, Seek a New Life (obverse) The Glasgow School of Art. Winner of the Grand First Prize, awarded annually by the Worshipful Company of Founders.

See page 60

TIA DUNN

Caught up (obverse)

Leeds Arts University.

Winner of the Grand Second Prize, awarded annually by Thomas Fattorini Limited.

See page 70

GRAND SECOND PRIZE

BAMS STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT XXX 2023

THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY

Contemporary Art Medals

CONTENTS

MEDAL PROJECT XXX 2023

FIRST WORDS MARCY LEAVITT BOURNE

The British Art Medal Society celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, and has since grown in membership: collectors, makers, curators, writers and lovers of the art medal can be very proud of creating together a Society that has commissioned new medals every year and brought to wider public attention this wonderful, surprising and powerful art form.

The Student Medal Project celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, 2023. It was conceived by the British Art Medal Society as a means of re-introducing the art of the modern medal into art colleges within Great Britain – through bronze casting – and it has grown to include a considerable number of UK institutions and one invited foreign academy each year, this year from Pforzheim University, making it an international Project. In 2023, 21 UK colleges took part, with students creating a total of 165 cast medals: a new generation of medal makers. It has become part of the curriculum in many colleges, in sculpture, jewellery and metalwork. Teachers are encouraged to make medals too. Loyal sponsors provide prizes. For teaching the art of bronze casting, it creates a perfect module whether a college has its own foundry or sends work out to be cast. There are few experiences in the art world to match a bronze pour, and the skills learned –wax carving and modelling, ceramic shell or plaster cast making – can forever form part of an artist’s working life. In terms of the focus or the subject of a modern art medal, the themes are without horizons. A student may choose to examine their own feelings about a personal matter, or select a place of great significance; they may want to speak out in anger at political wrongdoing or celebrate poetry; abstract design and attention to the form and function of making a modern medal also feature as potential ideas. The parameters of two sides and an edge – a work of art held in the hand – far from being restraints, create possibilities. The prizes

are based on engagement with the medallic medium, with several specific areas, such as lettering, or current affairs. To encourage promising students, ‘Merits’ are also awarded. No theme was set for this year’s Project, only that students might consider the idea of history, and what is truth. Nevertheless, the interpretation of this idea inspired many medals about future history: what will happen to our earth, air, water and creatures of the world including human beings. However small it may be, the appeal of the modern art medal is its enormity of impact, its potential to state a case.

Marcy Leavitt Bourne Director, Student Medal Project; Secretary, BAMS

INTRODUCTION: THAT’S A LOT OF ART PACKED INTO A POCKET-SIZED BRONZE

With the growth and success of the Student Medal Project, it now celebrates its 30th anniversary. The collection of medals this year has become a cohort of great creative expression using this unique form, the art medal. It is inspiring to me, even after nearly 50 years as a practising maker, that so much ingenuity in form, design and content flows out from these bronzes; this is especially so given that many of our student creators have perhaps come across this art medal genus for the first time. It is in no small part that the dedicated involvement of so many skilled tutors and technicians has facilitated this blossoming of expression allowing students to enter the field with confidence. This process will encourage some students to incorporate medal making as a regular part of their practice, and others may gain an understanding from the experience that will inform and enrich their future creative expression. It’s a multi-skilled process, the creation of a medal, incorporating not only practical modelling, casting and metalwork, the tangible skillsets, but also the challenge of integrating and imbuing a piece with the intangible human longing for communication or meaning. The sense that these are transferable skills, both the manipulation of materials and the infusing of a ‘narrative’ into a work, illuminates for me the relevance of art medal making to the wider creative landscape. Perhaps most art is a balance of these fundamentals. I see it everywhere in human expression, in the Lion Man Ice age sculpture of 40 thousand years ago through to the master of Renaissance medal making Antonio Pisano and continuing like a bright entwined thread on until today as we enjoy the start of the journey for these newest student art medals.

Julian Cross President of the British Art Medal Society

THE STUDENT WORK

ARTISTS’ STATEMENTS & PRIZE-WINNING MEDALS

ALL MEDALS ARE CAST IN BRONZE UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY; CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS; CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY; CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART; CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS; CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS; CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL; DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN; UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH; FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM; CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE;

GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE; THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART; GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON; LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY;

NORWICH UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS; SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY;

TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE; UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY ST DAVID; WEST DEAN COLLEGE OF ARTS & CONSERVATION; PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY, GERMANY.

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF JEWELLERY

HND JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING

BA JEWELLERY AND OBJECT HEAD OF SCHOOL

JEREMY HOBBINS

STAFF TEAM DELIVERING PROJECT

DAUVIT ALEXANDER, KATY TROMANS, REBECCA SKEELS

CASTING IN BRONZE G W LUNT

TIN/PEWTER

IN-HOUSE CASTING WITH CLARE

MAIDEN AND TECHNICAL TEAM

GABRIELLA IVANA BROADLEY A Riot of Vines

‘This bronze art medal is an expression of the challenges faced by individuals in a society where patriarchal norms are deeply ingrained. It was initially designed in response to the Sarah Everard case in 2021. The sinuous design of the serpent-like creature symbolises the pervasive nature of oppression, while the reverse shows flowers bursting forth representing resilience, a symbol of hope in the battle for gender equality.’

LILLI CANHAM Ear

Worm

‘The medal explores how an intrusive thought can be both innocuous and obnoxious. The piece draws inspiration from the conflicting opinions we might feel when a song is stuck in our head. While a pragmatist might see the worm as a hindrance, a hedonist might be inclined to immerse themselves in the blissful ignorance of the tune.’

ESTA DE LA TORRE

Passings By

‘I based the medal on the Santiago de Compostela Camino, a walk my father took from Seville to Santiago, and my inspiration came from the photographs he sent me along the way: the landscapes, architecture and artefacts. Historically, the Camino is a religious and spiritual practice, named after St James, who used a scallop shell to ask for water, and which has become a symbol of the walk.’

KEELAN FAUNT-BRODERICK Calm and

Chaos

‘Some believe that the chaos of life is what makes it exciting and worth living, while others

believe that the calm of death is the ultimate goal. The umbilical cord is attached to the noose, suggesting a cycle and co-dependency. The background of the baby is calm waves, suggesting an unblemished existence.’

OSCAR GLENISTER Tempus Fugit

‘This is a medal that explores the passing of time and its circular nature; the rich symbolism of the Ouroboros, the snake eating its tail, perfectly reflects the endlessness of the Celtic Dara knot. The reverse of the medal is a functional sundial, which invites the viewer to interact with the piece, enjoy its tactile nature, and encourage contemplation. Just remember you need to be in the northern hemisphere to be accurate.’

MARY-BETH HAMILTON Suffer in Silence

‘The medal explores how society treats someone suffering with depression. The small man curled up, alone on the edge, is the focus of the piece. He represents the sufferer. The partying people on the obverse suggests that others don’t always know how to support such people, so he is ignored. On the back, the words “I’m fine I’m okay I’m alright” show the reality of hiding how you really feel with these automatic responses. The medal is small enough to conceal in the palm of your hand, a personal battle.’

see a representation of tactile paving, used for sidewalks, metro stations, buses and other public places. I was inspired by the Paralympian Karolina Pelendritou, a story of the courage of a visually impaired athlete who won a gold medal in swimming in 2022 in Tokyo. The medal is to raise awareness.’

YUQIAO LIU Sacrifices for Freedom

‘Through this medal I hope to inspire people to reflect on the sacrifices made for freedom. One side depicts a bird housed in a cage, to rest and sleep comfortably. The bird is not free. The reverse shows a nest in a window with eggs and a pigeon flying around freely in the snow. They enjoy freedom but must put up with challenges posed by the natural world, and unknown threats. This is like being cared for when young, without worries; compared to being free as an adult, but needing to tackle challenges.’

Prize Winner CLARE MAIDEN

Cornish Tin-Mining’s Legacy on the Landscape (tin/pewter)

KAROLINA KALOGIROU A Message for Those Who See but are Blind

‘On one side is the message of the title, and on the other is the same message in Braille. On the edge of the medal you will

‘A tin medal narrating the story of tin mining in Cornwall and its legacy. The derelict chimneys and engine houses that litter the Cornish landscape, perched precariously on cliffs, tell the story of the thousands of men who every day would trek miles under the ground, in brutally hot and airless conditions, blasting and digging out the ore to fuel our industrial revolution. The mines closed and communities are trying to rebuild themselves with tourism and new industry. Those discarded mines now have UNESCO World Heritage status. The obverse depicts the derelict engine house

and chimney; the reverse shows the location of the tin mines in Cornwall. The encircling edge of the medal resembles the bricks of a chimney, the most visual feature of this legacy on the landscape.’ Winner of the Bigbury Mint Honourable Mention prize.

GEORGIA SPYROU The

Seeds of Good and Evil

‘As a Greek-Cypriot, the pomegranate holds a lot of meaning to me, as it was always very symbolic of our culture. From Greek mythology it was referred to as the “fruit of the dead”. It played a significant role in the Hades and Persephone myth. It also represented fertility in addition to death, with a strong association for Hera and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It still symbolises good luck and fertility.’

GUANXU WU Deer’s Eye

‘My design inspiration always comes from nature and relates to the environment, to find out the relationship between people and nature. The medal suggests this competition between people and the forest by combining a deer’s right eye (on the obverse) at the centre of the medal, with wrinkles surrounding it creating a mountain and water. The reverse was carved with humans, birds and deer to present forms of freedom. What humans decide affects the relationship.’ This medal received a Merit.

Prize Winner CLARE MAIDEN

Cornish Tin-Mining’s Legacy on the Landscape (tin/pewter) 75mm

The Bigbury Mint in Devon awards the Honourable Mention prize annually, which is particularly suited here considering the medal has been cast in tin. There is good contrast between the two sides, one landscape and one topographical.

YOURAN ZUO Women Observed

‘By comparison, I found that through the study of the history of fairy tales, there were great differences in the depiction of women between the Middle Ages and modern times. Medieval depictions of women showed them ill-treated by cruel, malicious people. But in today’s world a character with a tragic ending is just a supporting role, and a positive person is the main character in the story. This kind of propaganda is completely unjustified in modern society.’

CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON

COURSE LEADER, MA DESIGNER MAKER OSCAR LESSING

SPECIALIST

ABIGAIL BURT

FOUNDRY CHELSEA COLLEGE OF

GENESIS ADEWOLE New Life

‘This medal is an ode to nature, through the process of creating life. The first side is made from cuts and splashes of metal pressed into clay to create the natural earth-like texture. A small hole leads to the other side, which reveals a root-like pattern growing from the hole, which mimics the germination process of seeds, the process of new life. The edges have small glimpses of fractal patterns, resembling roots or lightning, outside forces.’

HAORAN BIE Unity

‘I came across a picture of Pangea and I am very interested in it. Pangea existed as a supercontinent hundreds of millions of years ago. With the movement of the earth’s crust and the drift of continents, seven were slowly formed. The outline of Pangea closely resembles the curled-up state of a human baby in the womb. I used the similarity of shapes to express how we may also become whole like the land, abandon barriers and accept differences.’

HUGO DE VICENTE The Mind’s Windmills

‘This bronze medal is inspired by the novel “Don Quixote” by Cervantes. On one side two windmills stand atop a mountain, while on the other, a fogged head pictures a windmill in its mind. This represents the delusions and struggles faced by Don Quixote, while the delicate clouds on the reverse symbolize the mental fog and confusion that can accompany mental illness, reminding us that what we perceive as giants may be something else entirely.’

FOUNDRY TECHNICIAN, TEACHER/FACILITATOR OF THE PROJECT

ARTS

HODA EZZEDDINE The Greed to Reach

‘The idea of the medal is the power vs normal people, the rectangular shape representing paper money. One side has hands trying to reach blocks of money; these continue to the other side to show three extended hands which are people with power, linked to a large government building that also looks like a tank. I come from Lebanon and wanted to reflect on this problem.’

DAIRU HAN Melting

‘The concept of this medal is based on the death of a polar bear as a result of the melting of the Arctic glaciers due to global warming. Through this medal I wanted to raise awareness of the damage global warming is doing to the Arctic ecosystem. I designed the edge of the medal as a very thin and melting irregular glacier, with the dead polar bear surrounded by smoke from a nuclear power plant.’ This medal received a Merit.

ZHICHENG LIU Imprint

‘The design of my medal is my logo for everything, for example my webpage, my YouTube channel etc. The upper half is my id name, which means deep but not learning. It is an artificial intelligent joke for training neural network AI models. The square figure is the stamp of my name, which was made by my calligraphy teacher when I was 5 years old. It opened the door to art for me when I was very young.’

NOL NETPROM Save Koalas

‘The medal represents a koala that was hurt or killed in Australia’s wildfires from 2019 to 2020. The obverse shows a happy koala enjoying his eucalyptus in the forest. In contrast, the reverse depicts how they were exploited by people’s carelessness, fired in a tree. I used ferric oxide when patinating to make a hint of flame and fire on the reverse, while the obverse is shiny and happy.’ This medal received a Merit.

JINGNYU WANG Weed and Wheat

‘The parable of the weeds and wheat. “While his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat... lest in gathering the weeds you root up wheat along with them, let both grow together until the harvest...and then gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” So, the positive and the negative are shown by weeds and wheat, and the green spring, and yellow the autumn.’

YEJIN WANG Whales Falls

‘My topic for this medal is Whale Fall. The theme was inspired by news about whales stranded and dying as a result of ocean pollution. Not only whales but many other marine animals have been stranded. Through research, I discovered that when a whale dies a normal death its body can support thousands of sea creatures. People call this selfless and gentle way of dying a whale fall. I wanted to present this beautiful rebirth in a narrative way that would make people rethink the meaning of death and life.’

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN

AMANDA BENSTEAD Form Within Form: Continuous Surface

‘I read Tim Ingold’s article on Materiality when writing an essay in 2020: “Anthropologically trained moles, of a philosophical bent, would doubtless insist that the materiality of the world is not culturally constructed but culturally excavated.” I started sketching ideas around the suggested polarities of construction/excavation, presence/absence, internal/external. The idea of continuous surface is about where the inside becomes the outside becomes the inside.’

EMILY HAWKES

An Ode to the UK

LECTURER

HUW WILLIAMS

CASTING

DALLAS COLLINS

‘History – in any form. One of the most transformative events of 2022 was the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. This medal symbolises the events from Her Majesty’s death during this period, contrasting with the realities of an everyday working person in the UK. The dissonance between the displays of loyalty from the public and how her wealth and power is distributed describes each side of the medal. Billions were spent on the funeral whilst food banks closed and hospital appointments cancelled, during this country’s highest cost of living yet.’

NETTA LLOYD-JONES Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand

‘My work is generally inspired by space science fiction/fact. The medal represents the past informing the present through the infinity of time and space. Contemplating our life on a planet in empty space is linked to a transformative effect involving a sense of wonder and awe. The medal reflects the concept (from William Blake) of infinity through grains of sand, held on a palm, which is to be held by a hand, with the infrared image of outer space on the back.’

CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART, COLEG SIR GAR

SCULPTURE DEPARTMENT HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

LISA EVANS

PROJECT TUTOR

LEE ODISHOW, KATY OWENS

FOUNDRY

LISA EVANS, LEE ODISHOW

DERYN MAY

Achub Ein Coetir Hynafol (Save Our Ancient Woodlands) (Pewter)

‘I based my medal on ancient woodland, inspired by the importance of this historical landscape, my own love of the natural world and my connection to Welsh language and culture. My dad lives in an area of ancient oak woodland, so I began my project by walking there, observing the trees, twisting branches, gnarled roots and the textures of bark, as well as gathering leaves, twigs and acorns to make wax casts of these familiar textures. By pouring hot wax into water I could create organic and undulating forms, emulating the complex network of mycelium and roots.’

KAIUS MCHALE The Road of Life

‘The bronze medal was inspired by Celtic knots with my own twist. Learning and incorporating several new techniques into the project gave me a new perspective of my future career. The medal is the outcome of my process and visualisation project, an interesting and thought-provoking process, and it included six different processes, culminating in lost-wax casting in bronze.’

CHELSEA REBECCA REILLY

‘Within the process and visualisation brief, I decided to focus on relationships, specifically the bond between identical twins before and then after one passes away. In 2020 my twin nephews were delivered prematurely, and sadly the younger one passed away. The older is now thriving at 2 years old. My medal is dedicated to the intimate connection between identical twins and how each is part of the

other, always tied together. The continuous wrapping of the chain suggests this, linking the hands on both sides of the medal.’

JAMES REYNOLDS

Be Kind to the Planet

‘Bees play a vital role in our ecosystem. They pollinate plants, which helps us to have fruits and vegetables. And when you think of bees you’re most likely picturing the honey bee. The truth is the honeybee is actually doing quite well. It is the wild and solitary bees, as well as other pollinating insects – pollinators – that are on the decline and need our help. So, what can we do to save them? The title says it all.’

The Annual Project Award CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, LONDON

TUTORS

KATY HACKNEY, MARTIN HOPTON

MOULD TECHNICIAN

CHRIS HOWES

TECHNICIANS

CAMPBELL MUIR, FRIEDA MUNRO

FOUNDRY

ARON MCCARTNEY AT MCART STUDIO

The Annual Project Award is an award made to a college/university in recognition of the teaching and technical skills of the members of staff, which have contributed to the high standard of submissions to the Student Medal Project in the current year. In 2023, the selected university is Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.

BA JEWELLERY DESIGN COURSE LEADER GILES LAST

STAGE ONE LEADER KATHARINA DETTAR

ATHRA ABUNAYYAN From Within

‘This medal is about androgyny, and my friends are the main reason behind this theme. They are in their mid-thirties, androgynous, and being from the middle east it is unusual not to follow the stereotypes. This is an abstract piece, focused on my feelings of masculine and feminine words in relation to the desert: soft sand dune, representing femininity, and rocks representing masculinity. Working with constraints made me take different directions in designing the medal.’

MILO GABRIEL MICHAEL BLANCHARD In Attainment of Beauty

‘This medal captures the often adverse nature of creating beauty through rules and doctrine, such as William Hogarth’s “Line of Beauty”. Using this symbol, the medal is an unfinished carving wishing to become perfect, and displays a certain loss of grace through this method of making. But, with its cracks, it exhibits another kind of grace in the moment of still being in the attainment of beauty.’

ZIYI CHEN Obituary

‘Medals are always awarded to people who do well. I think people should be awarded for their lifetime. That is why my theme is about death. My grandfather passed away three years ago, and I had mixed feelings about it. We want our grieving relatives and friends to let go of their sadness and move on. But we also want them to remember: “death is not a permanent goodbye, forgetting is”, from the film “Coco”.’

PETE FLOWERS Milestones

‘My medal is based around the experience of puberty, taking a playful and satirical view of my experience as a male. Puberty is a distinct element of human development, the unfamiliar change from childhood to adulthood, an almost alien period in which growth and change generate an unfamiliar experience from deep within us. The medal is a nod to the “awkward age” whilst simultaneously celebrating it.’

Prize Winner MONICA GATES A January Medal

‘“Blue Monday”, the third Monday in January, coming after “the most wonderful time in the year”. This month can be tough for most. By using the reflective, domed side of the medal, we are invited to focus on the world around us whilst the distortion of our face supports acceptance and letting go of critical self-reflections. The concave, “inner” side is designed as a tool to comfort through touch and feel. The overall shape is designed to fit well in the palm. The two points allow the medal to spin, each side encourages reflection on our inner and outer worlds and the change of emotions and uncertainty that can be present, a personal reminder to keep going and look beyond the bad times.’

Awarded the Ditchling Prize for the excellent use of lettering. The medal is shown on page 26.

Prize Winner MONICA GATES

A January Medal, 62mm Awarded the Ditchling Prize for lettering, in which the theme of the medal and the lettering are integrated to create an inseparable whole. The circling inscription reads: ‘TO SEE YOU THROUGH’. The reverse depicts two heads.

SUNHO JUNG My Timidity

‘This medal is my own story, as I am trying really hard to speak in front of people, to change and overcome my timidity. The front side is showing my anxious face when I feel pressure to speak, and the reverse expresses overcoming my fear and timidity by stretching my mouth open with hands. If I overcome my timidity I want to give this medal as an award to me.’

MATHILDA MONTEIL Meaning

‘We try very hard to figure out the meaning of things, and sometimes there isn’t any. We can’t help ourselves, and because it is something that we create, it can easily change, depending on how you chose to see. The only times we accept things as they are is when they happen in nature and only then can we take a moment to see them purely for their existence. Meaning is a powerful thing, as your entire situation can change with your viewpoint.’

NAILLAH SHABBIR

It’s High Time We Called Tea-time Chai-time

‘Tea is known for being English, so we believe? Back in 1662 Catherine of Braganza married Charles II. She brought with her from Portugal her shipments of spices, labelled, legend has it, “Transporte de Ervas Aromaticas”, later known by their initials: TEA. Drinking tea is native to Asia. While we can’t turn back the clock on colonialism, it’s high time we honoured Britain’s favourite beverage and the culture and land it came from, and call it “Chai-time”.’

Prize Winner HYOEEUN SHIM

We Must Repair the Barn Even After Losing a Cow

‘Since the Itaewon Halloween disaster in Seoul in October 2022 was very traumatic for me, as for most Koreans, I wanted to illustrate this story through a medal. I expressed the situation metaphorically by twisting a Korean proverb. I slanted one side of my medal so that the lettering could be readable from the front. “Repairing the barn after losing a cow” references the futility of regret after things have gone wrong. A traditional Korean barn, made from wood and straw, must be fixed every year. History repeats itself. We must prevent the same thing from happening again. In a way, the process of making the medal was a healing process for me, having lost an old friend in the disaster.’

Prize presented by G W Lunt.

MIA SINGH I’m A Half Caste

‘In the initial stages of this project, I started to investigate what is a medal? This led me to look into Nazi medals and war medals, who decides and who deserves a medal? Consequently, I looked at myself and my own background and I thought, I’m a half caste, why don’t I make half a cast. I used an old English font on my medal as this felt iconic. I was born here, but made to feel as though I don’t belong (as I’m not white) so using this font so boldly felt like a stuff you, I decide

Prize Winner HYOEEUN SHIM

We Must Repair the Barn Even After Losing a Cow, 100×68mm

G W Lunt has given this prize, and it has been awarded for illustrating a narrative involving both sides, with well-placed lettering utilising the edge.

where I belong. I work with the themes of identity and ethnicity.’ This medal received a Merit.

LOREN STANDISH

Are the People of East London

Responsible for Jellying all the Eels in the Thames/Eel Pie

‘I was inspired to do my medal after seeing a few shut down shops in east London, and during my research I learnt different theories – or urban legends – for example, eels being aphrodisiacs, responsible for east London’s large population. My work this year has had a comedic aspect to it. My piece looks at the correlation between the slow extinction of historical Pie & Mash shops and the critical endangered eels in the Thames. Who is responsible, or are we not hungry for jellied eels any more? With a multi-cultural cuisine now, perhaps eels are out, or almost extinct.’

GRACE WILSON

Apples and Pears – Stairs

‘I like making work which is playful and interactive, and the medal was an opportunity to do this. My design is inspired by Cockney Rhyming Slang. I chose the well-known rhyme of apples and pears, meaning stairs. The phrase originates from market stalls. My piece is intended to be light hearted and intriguing, and I aimed to make use of clear visuals on both sides of the medal, while inviting people to puzzle the association between them.’

ZHIMO ZHUANG Forget Me Not

‘My grandparents were a loving couple until Alzheimer’s Disease separated them. The disease brings suffering to the patient but also to those who love them, as memories are slowly erased. I chose the first and last letters exchanged between my grandparents to design this medal. These two letters on each side are representations of their memory of each other. The title of the medal is the last wish from every family for the patient, a wish that will never come true.’

CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON

PRODUCT & FURNITURE DESIGN GRADUATE

DIPLOMA FINE ART, COURSE LEADER JASON CLEVERLY

GRADUATE DIPLOMA FINE ART, COURSE LEADER KATRINE HJELDE

TEACHERS ON THE PROJECT ABIGAIL BURT, FRANKY HUSSEY

FOUNDRY, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS ABIGAIL BURT (SPECIALIST CASTING TECHNICIAN), LYNDSEY MACLEOD

ELIZABETH BOTSFORD The Further Adventures of Noah

‘This art medal was recently found in an archaeological dig near Mount Ararat. Carbon testing shows that it is about 4,300 years old. The ornament was found near a fossilized raven and some papyrus scrolls. Most people won’t even remember there was another bird in the story of Noah. I am the raven. This work relates to my other creative output because I am writing a children’s book about Noah, set in the future. I have loved making this bronze art medal because it connects me with the ancient bronze-makers in Benin or the Indus Valley, as well as artisans of the Renaissance.’

ABBIE COOMBS

The Future is in our Hands

‘This medal aims to foster a discursive environment around the difficult but urgent topic of abortion, taking it out of the realms of the taboo and into a place of open discussion. The medal contributes to a shame-free counter narrative to the repressive views on abortion rights perpetuated by right-wing governments worldwide. The surface of the medal reflects the rocky terrain and the labyrinth of laws we must navigate, using our collective voice to achieve equality and respect.’

LINNEA FRICKE Helper T-Cell

‘One side of the medal shows a helper T-cell, a cell used in immune therapy to destroy cancer cells. The other side shows how the cell attacks a cancer cell by creating bubbles on its surface that explode. Cancer is an emotional and sensitive topic to discuss and still touches and affects so many people. Through my medal I want to represent the

promising developments of cancer research and treatment, an abstracted representation of what is happening on a microscopic level, to celebrate the work of researchers.’

PETER SAVILE Knit Together

‘The text may say, “knit together in love”, but the two sides of this medal are actually joined with wool from the obverse side, wrapping around the edge, becoming the writing on the reverse.’

ADRIANA SEITAN Imprinting Identity

‘The medal is a continuation of my previous project which explores the connection between prehistoric cave painting and ceramics, as the oldest ceramic artefacts are dated to this era of history. Both mediums are proven to stand the test of time. The medal was first built in clay, then cast into bronze, which allowed me to press textures from rocks, to mimic cave walls. A lone figure is depicted on one side, and the other reveals the cave wall, numerous marks left by other people. The theme is resilience, a connection with people of the past.’

CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL

CARVING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD

HEATHER NEWTON

PROJECT TEACHER

RICHARD BARNES

CASTING AT CITY & GUILDS

ALISTAIR BLAKE, JOSH VAUGHAN

HENRY BROWN Medal to the Earth

‘This medal is a study into our relationship with the earth. The coolness of bronze echoes the harsh coolness of industry that tears up the natural world in search of precious materials and ores. The colour red indicates the heat of the world. As the medal sits in your hand it begins to warm, much like the world, as global temperatures are on the rise. How long before the natural world is overtaken by our industrial needs and drives.’

KATE HOLMES Cognizance

‘I’m not sure I’ve ever felt free as an individual, always a faceless part of a squad, having entered the army at a young age, a cog in a machine. This year I enrolled at City & Guilds and for the first time feel like the scales have been tipped: encouraged to claim my agency, to find true autonomy, to think critically and creatively. This medal represents expanding beyond the “machine”. I want the unbinding of the zip on my medal to give way to the unknown underneath. It represents a literal and figurative cleaving, a severing along the grain to welcome in a previously unknown multivalence of options. Ultimately the piece symbolises opening up to new ideas, reclaiming my own sovereignty.’

DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

DJCAD FOUNDRY DEPARTMENT HEAD SCHOOL SUPPORT SPECIALIST, FOUNDRY AND 3D MAKING RODDY MATHIESON

TEACHERS/CASTING

RODDY MATHIESON, KRIS COPELAND, JANE BULLIVANT

SCOTT DUNCAN Embrace the Void

‘I was part of the Scottish rave scene in the late 1990s and this medal is something of a paean to those experiences. For me, the weathered smiley is a rave relic, honouring the power of stepping away from conventional societal expectations and norms to embrace chaos and chance. This medal represents transcendence, in cultural, spiritual and pharmacological terms. Ultimately, we all must embrace the void, but before we do, let us take the lefthand path and find there what we will.’

CAIT EAKINS The Constant Unseen, Particle Study

‘The idea behind the medal stems from the theory that we’re all made from the same particles of stardust generated by the Big Bang; how everything in the universe breaks down to particle composition. A lot of my work visually depicts compositions of how I imagine these particles to be in states of existence in a moment in time. I believe it is these moments of process and contemplation that embed a fingerprint, so to speak, of the artist within the piece.’

KARISSA-MAY MILLER Breakthrough

‘The medal is made to reflect mental health, made to look like a book. It shows the bad leading through to the good, and how meditation, positive affirmation and telling yourself to breathe will give you the strength you need to break through those negative thoughts. On the obverse it depicts stress and anxiety, on the inside; the reverse shows how the ladder goes through the dark tunnel, taking it day by day to persist and to win, to reach peace and tranquillity.’

CONSTANCE MCROBERT-SMITH Now is All that Exists

‘In my Art & Philosophy course I have been working around the theme of “now”. How to convey to the viewer that “now” is the only moment that really exists. The past and the future are merely memories and dreams. I decided to use my own face for the portraits because it’s the one that I know and can replicate the best. I hand carved the design out of green wax; I used very thin lettering stickers for the words around the edge.’

Prize Winner LUCY SMITH Perihelion, Aphelion

‘The medal forms part of PhD research that considers the role of art in communicating abstract scientific phenomena in a more accessible way for those who do not have an advanced algebraic vocabulary. Aimed at younger learners, “The Analemma Project” is a year-long collaboration with a local school, focusing on the earth’s orbital relationship to the sun and the importance of Kepler’s laws of elliptical orbits in science. The medal depicts a lowrelief 16-pointed sun. Centrally placed, suggesting the importance of the sun for life, it shows remaining bronze turbulence visible from heating and pouring, hinting at a dynamic solar surface. The four compass points allude to the geographically precise location of the project in Dundee. Each side of the medal, subtle in relief, includes traces of the 3D printed mould where it leaves apparent etched impressions from the make process. A highly polished bounding edge surrounds the medal and hints at the protective magnetosphere shielding the planet.’ Winner of the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize.

Prize Winner

LUCY SMITH

Perihelion, Aphelion, 89mm

Awarded the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize for making precise detail in varying depth of relief both beautiful to look at and expressive of purpose.

CAMERON TUCKER Turn Over a New Leaf

‘The front of the medal is consistent with, and mirrors, the back of the Gingko leaf, as humanity repeats the same mistakes of the past, ensuring consequences unable to be erased. The back of the medal is more detailed as it expresses all our past experiences. Our origins, roots, paths taken and constraints in our life are all entwined within the stem that defines who we are. The rim is convoluted to reflect life’s journey. In turning over a new leaf, we reflect on man’s hopes for a better future.’

CLYDE WILLIAMSON Dundonian Recognition

‘This bronze-cast medal celebrates the city and the people of Dundee, Scotland. On one side it depicts the Dundonian skyline collage of churches, multis (high flats) and jute mills, historically important to the city in the production of ribbon. On the other side it is a celebratory crown. The medal was introduced to the people of Dundee at a public event in a shopping centre.’

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART

JEWELLERY AND SILVERSMITHING HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

JENNIFER GRAY

TEACHER

STEFANIE CHEONG

CASTING ECA FOUNDRY, SCULPTURE DEPARTMENT

TATIANA ZAUGAROVA Moment of Growth Captured in Time

‘The medal explores the importance of nature and plant growth through the true organic leaf patterns captured in time. The face of the medal was created by pressing different leaves into clay and pouring wax on top to create a true print. The reverse of the medal contains an organic plant burnout, capturing the moment of growth. The rim was 3D printed to showcase a clear word message around the medal, the title. It explores my current interest in clusters of organic forms.’ This medal received a Merit.

CARMEN ALEXANDER Music and Mental Health

‘Inspired by the song “Vienna”, by Billy Joel, this medal is a representation of my personal relationship with music and mental health. I feel I’ve been caught up in the media, and the lyrics “take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while” resonated with me and what I was aiming to produce. The medal is a response to escaping this cycle.’

ELLIE ANDERSON Empty Bellies

‘My medal is a statement about the cost of living crisis that the UK is currently facing, and I was motivated to focus it on this subject matter to raise awareness and hope that conversation on this issue will lead to greater action. I opted for the face of a hungry baby screaming for food, with the reverse of the medal being the baby’s empty plate. The baby is also a representative of the next generation and should evoke fears of how this crisis may worsen for future generations and survival at a time of climate change.’

ROBYN BROOKE

Third Culture Kid

‘My medal reflects on my experience as a third culture kid, having grown up in both the UK and the Netherlands. It reflects on my feelings of not feeling as though I fully identify with one specific culture and not completely knowing where I belong. One side is moulded from a digestive, an iconic British biscuit, the other from a stroopwafel, an iconic Dutch biscuit. These represent the cultures I relate to.’

ISABEL COLES The Dilemma of Dyslexia

‘I looked at dyslexia and how it is approached by society within my medal. I wanted to illustrate the difference between those who are supported and those who are neglected and ignored, through the metaphorical idea of drowning. The carving of the hands in plaster was difficult to get accurate on this small scale. I feel strongly about this theme as I believe my success in life thus far is due to the support from family and educators.’

ALICE COURTNEY Family Roots

‘This medal explores the concept of the family “tree” and my own personal ancestral history. The obverse depicts a collection of root systems with a zinnia flower entwined around the root’s edge. This flower has an association with remembrance. The reverse is a shallow relief carving of various objects connecting to my ancestors, such as a wheel which refers to my great-great grandfather’s work in Manchester cotton mills, a Triumph car belonging to my grandfather, and other things. It has given me the chance to research the family’s past.’

LEWIS GIBSON Exploration in Time and Place

‘After my initial research I decided on “Exploration” as my theme. Both sides of the medal mirror each other, with one side showing an old sextant device and the other side showing a telescope with a background pattern of a star chart. My aim is to show how we used to explore the earth by navigation and today we

explore space, however we have always looked to the stars for guidance. The quote on the reverse is by Don Walsh, “Exploration is curiosity put into action,” which inspires the observer to act.’

EROLINA KAMBUROVA Untitled

‘When I moved to the United States from Bulgaria one of the biggest shocks I experienced was people not taking their shoes off upon entering their house. I didn’t understand how they could stain their carpets with the outside world on their soles. When my parents became naturalized citizens they had to take an oath renouncing their native country. The imagery and quote – to entirely renounce all allegiance – speak to the American immigrant experience of assimilation and the veiling of culture. The footprint will forever soil the traditional rug.’

EVELYN MULLIGAN We Need Music

‘The medal was inspired by the theme, a history of music in neurological science, which I chose due to my love of music. I explored the effects of music on the brain and the two sides represent the evolution of the way we experience music. The first side is an abstract representation of a traditional orchestra, while the other side is depicting the modern experience of music. It is a tribute to the way music helps us to communicate as a universal language.’

OLIVIA MUSSON Perfection vs Freedom

‘This medal explores the past and present views on the concept of perfection. The medieval viewpoint was that no one would be able to achieve it as God was the only one who could. Today’s society is constantly striving to complete perfection, whether physically or mentally. Through this unachievable process our freedom is grasped from us. This is represented on the reverse by a woman stuck with a lock and no key; it is a hopeless cause, chasing perfection.’

ROSINA PAYAN PECORELLI Mythos and Hystera

‘The medal represents the entrenched misunderstanding and mythology surrounding the womb, which has run through history and continues to affect our medical system to this very day. The word “hystera” for womb led me to think about how the term hysteria became a blanket term for women’s emotions and that, from the beginning of medical science in the western world, was a catalyst for centuries of misinformation. It became another tool for silencing women, creating an image of mystery about our bodies. Mythology was used to avoid studying our anatomy.’

ANNA REID Unsung Heroes

‘This medal was made to celebrate the work of unsung heroes, influenced by my research. I depicted the scene of washing hanging on a line, drawing attention to acts that go unnoticed. On the reverse is a carving from a WW2 propaganda poster that I used to show how ordinary and mundane

jobs should be seen as just as prestigious as the traditional roles of working men that were undertaken by women during the war. Around the edge I carved a quote from “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf.’

EMILIA SANTAELLA BARRETO Hasta que no falte ninguna

‘I was moved to make a medal that addressed the violent climate for women in my home country of Mexico. There is a massive epidemic of violence and specifically gendered violence, femicides, the ultimate expression of it. I wanted to honour and acknowledge this very difficult and terrifying reality with my medal. I approached it as a sort of religious or talismanic hand-held medal that would inspire bravery and strength to those who held it: “Until there is no one missing.” I imagine it held in the raised fists of women at protests. It could be a weapon as well.’

FERN STRANG Protect Me

‘This piece is influenced by the Avian Flu that has swept the Scottish Hebrides this year. I want to bring attention to this issue; I think it is important that we are aware of wildlife catastrophes in our country, so that we can all make steps to conserve and protect.’

YANJIE WANG Foot Binding

‘I designed my medal to let more people know how foot binding persecuted women in the past. Although there is no such custom now in China, nevertheless

there are many products still projected on women by male aesthetics similar to foot binding in today’s society. I hope this medal can let more women find this phenomenon and not be affected.’

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY FALMOUTH SCHOOL OF ART

ISABEL ADAMS

Forgotten and Unnamed

‘My medal is inspired by Cornwall, a land interwoven with stories and history, deeply connected to the surrounding ocean. Representing saints and martyrs, it reflects a common theme of Cornish legends, like the tale of St. Non/Nonna, who was once in such pain that she caused the rock beneath her to split in sympathy. It is said that water flowed from the cracks, creating a well at Altarnun with the power to cure madness. As an entirety the medal is an icon with a sense of mystery and a sense of the ritualistic, with the female martyr and flowing rivers.’

PROJECT TEACHER AND CASTING TOM HARRINGTON

TERRI-ANN AUBREY-SMITH

Half the Sky be Fruitful and Multiply

‘This medal represents the importance of pure liberation of the female form, condemned for centuries as sinful and highly sexualised. I was inspired by images of the ancient goddess Artemis and her many breasts, symbolising fertility and once highly revered for the hope and strength of human existence. I made my apples, the fruit that Eve is believed to have eaten, connected to the breasts by branches that turn into veins, showing the intrinsic connection to nature and fertility. The apple symbolises to me the value of the feminine being free, empowered and educated.’

MARIJA BANAITYTÉ

The Baltic Soul

‘In my home country of Lithuania, in the peninsula of Kuršiu Nerija, people have been sailing the Baltic Sea for hundreds of years. The Baltic folk were brilliant craftsmen, sailors and boat makers. When ships were no longer seaworthy they were

FINE ART COURSE LEADER JONTY LEES

sunk at sea, and the wood washed up on the beaches. The pagan people of the lands would make wooden pendants to manifest good luck and health. My medal tells a timeless tale, now an omen of good luck, a traditional pagan pendant motif of a figure, a soul.’

ROXY CANTON Where

the Wild Things Are

‘The medal is based on the idea of making your own path with your life. I used pressed leaves to show the organic and purity of life, along with a snail. The snail represents the harder times eating you away, but without a hungry snail and bad times we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the times when we are thriving. The casting faults, bumps and bubbles represent the core memories that stay with us and help us grow through life. As soon as we open our minds we realise we aren’t so alone.’

SAM CHURCHILL-GUNTRIP Barnacle Bodies

‘Reckoning with the disabled experience has been an ongoing theme within my artistic practice. I’m exploring periphery bodies and intersecting this with images from the sea. Being so local to the beaches, I’m constantly inspired by the natural shapes and critters. I latched on to the motifs of knotted legs and limbs, disassociated somewhat from the body, all acting on their own accord. I’m speaking to the dissonance of body and mind that many disabled people experience. The tactility of the medal revolves around the reveal of the body underneath the barnacle side.’

HANNA KOJIMA BOYD

Whatcha Doing on my Raft Froggy?

‘The idea for this medal came about when thinking of what would feel precious to have held in my hands, and, natural materials being at the forefront of my practice, I thought of a lily pad, round like a medal, yet delicate and crushable, unlike bronze. I call the lily pad “my raft”, symbolic of how I aspire to float through life, going with the current, staying afloat even in rough waters. The frog symbolizes the unexpected and welcome surprises that come our way; I flip my raft over to see a tiny friend has hitched a ride. These magical moments are what spark the most inspiration in my work.’ Recipient of the Kate Harrison Award, a studio visit to a medal maker.

GEORGE LAWRENCE The Evolution of Language

‘This medal is an exploration into how language has evolved, visually as a form of communication, and in its purpose. One side is a copy of the Rosetta Stone, the artefact that enabled the understanding of past languages, and through this their cultures and technology. The reverse shows a slide of rain code, representing the medium of coding generally through popularised visuals from “The Matrix”. As more of our lives are lived online, we become reliant on coding languages, written by strangers, to communicate with one another and create this online culture.’

SARAH SWEENEY Kid Only Sees the Sun

‘The medal is about growing up, and the duality of life as a child and as an adult. “Seeing the sun” hints at being a child and viewing the world through a restricted spectacle vs as

an adult being exposed to the “night” and “galaxy”, living an uncensored life in a galactic scene of information and experiences. For me the medal is centred specifically around the duality of knowledge surrounding gender for me as a child and as an adult. I wanted to link misinformation and lack of education surrounding LGBTQ+ topics.’

ANNA-MARIA TURCANU Take Me Home

‘I wanted to design a medal that is unique to me and would make me feel closer to my family, especially my wolf dogs, who were a big impact on my life. The tree symbolises the wolf’s habitat, which is representative of how I feel about my home, a place where my heart will always belong. Despite our distance from one another, the moon is what binds us together and we can admire it no matter where in the world we may be.’ This medal received a Merit.

UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM

JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING, CERAMICS, GLASS PROGRAMME DIRECTOR

DEBRA ALLMAN

JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING TUTOR

LINA PETERSSON

CERAMICS AND GLASS TUTOR

JOSHUA KERLEY

CASTING

DAN SEDDON, MARK GRAY

LUCY WOOD Bitches in Bronze

‘The medal displays two fables designed to subvert the male gaze with the power of disgust, taking influence from Susan Sontag’s “Notes on Camp”, specifically the idea that camp “discloses innocence and corrupts it”. The Garden of Eden was the inspiration for the landscape which my characters frequent. The snail acts as a double entendre: follow the snail trail or follow the line of pubic hairs. This challenges ideas on female body hair and queer desires, whilst the other side challenges the male gaze with the idea of women pooing hedgehogs.’

LAËTITIA ELOISE ALLEN

Trapped in a Fantasy or Awake in Reality/ Loves me Loves me Not (with copper wire)

‘From career, to relationships, to hobbies, we all have dreams that keep us awake and inspired with one question on our mind: could this be my reality or future? For this medal design I took the “flip the coin for your fate” approach. On one side is a cartoon heart with an eye representing our sights drawn into fantasy or hope, and the petals represent our efforts, attempts. On the other side is a heart of reality. The overall message is how would you decide your life’s next steps?.’

SHENG-YI CHEN Aura

‘When I was reading “The Work of Art in the Age of Reproducible Technology” by Walter Benjamin, I was curious about the concept of aura mentioned in the book. After visiting the Sagrada Familia, seeing the stained glass in the hall and the colourful light and shadows reflected by the sun on the pillars, I suddenly felt that I understood what aura meant. After experiencing this touch, I was reminded of the Asian cultural background in which I grew up, and found something similar in a Buddhist temple.’

LOTTIE FITZSIMMONS Struggles of the Mind

‘I wanted to raise awareness about the subject of mental health and living with this illness. It affects a large number of people and I believe that it is an incredibly important topic to discuss. I wanted to portray the helplessness and struggle you feel on one side of the medal; on the other I wanted to show that even when you feel

stuck there is always hope of things getting better and how you will not always feel how you do at that moment. I don’t often expose topics like these within my work.’

HUI-CHUAN HUANG

Many a Little Makes a Mickle

‘Whether one person would like to do it, it all starts with one single step and then the process is built on this fundamental. Basically, that is the idea of this medal. One side is about showing how to gather five scratches to make a mark, when the other side is about demonstrating “history”, which indicates how much effort and time has been paid to make an accumulation.’

ETHAN LACEY Industrialisation

‘The medal shows the industrialisation of Africa, from animals and trees on one side to industry on the reverse.’

Prize Winner

LIVIA AIKO KAMADA DE TOLEDO

Pelé Disse Love (Pelé Said Love)

‘The inspiration of my medal comes from “The King of Football”, aka Pelé. I wanted to make a tribute because he passed away at the end of last year. In Brazil, kids collect football stickers and this medal implies a Pelé sticker, with its rectangular form and his figure on the front, as an immortal figure, just like many bronze sculptures around the world implies the “forever”. But on the back I decided to engrave the day he was born and the day he passed away below his signature. Most of my work comes from memories, stories and identity. As a Brazilian

football enjoyer, I felt the need to approach the theme: Pelé Said Love.’ Awarded the ‘Herbie’ Prize for excellence in creating a medal of political/social comment.

CHENHAO LI A New Turn

‘This year’s Chinese zodiac symbol is the rabbit, which is also my natal year. In the Chinese zodiac, 12 years is a cycle and 2023 is my second cycle. I have twelve Roman numerals on the front of the medal, they represent the change of time; time keeps going and never stops. The rabbit is in fourth place in the zodiac, so the arrow on the side of the medal is like the hour hand going from fourth to fifth. On the back is a relay scene, a race that requires teamwork, and expresses the idea of the past handing over the baton to the future.’

NANCY MATHER Seize that Robber!

‘I looked at local and personal history for this medal. The building is the Four Counties Inn in the village where I live, No Man’s Heath, which used to be run by my family, and is now an Indian restaurant. I wanted to preserve some of my local’s history, such as the legend that in the 1700s highway robbers used the pub as a way of escaping arrest, as it sat over four different counties, each room being a different one, and they could just walk through a doorway and be free men. I want the medal to inspire curiosity about people’s own local history.’

Prize Winner

LIVIA AIKO KAMADA DE TOLEDO

Pelé Disse Love (Pelé Said Love) 77×68mm Winner of the ‘Herbie’ Prize for use of the medal to make a social or political statement relating to a topic in current affairs, which in this case refers to the need for society to value truth, honesty and respect, creating a portrait of a man who exemplified these values.

KIERAN FINN MCQUILLAN Unity in Our Time

‘I am Northern Irish, growing up as to what we call a “peace agreement” baby after the Troubles. There is still violence to this day and we are yet to come together as people, so I used a common peace sign of holding hands, the lily representing the Catholics/Irish and poppy representing Protestants. A petrol bomb is a popular weapon, used by both sides, showing what we are coming from.’

SEONGYEON PARK REMEMBER

‘On the obverse is the Statue of Peace, and on the reverse is a bird symbolizing peace flying up with a ribbon. The statue, in memory of girls who suffered in the war with Japan in Korea in the past, is now known worldwide to remember the girls who suffered in all wars, and were courageous in coming forward. It is to establish a correct history. Old history is prone to distortion, and is forgotten if people are not interested. The Russian war creates a situation in which the world could be agitated again and other victims emerge. This medal is to be alert that history is not forgotten.’

CLAIRE QUICK Under the Surface

‘My entry is based on what happens under the surface of our seas. The surface of the water is calm and tranquil, however beneath the surface there are the unseen dangers to the wildlife. Under the surface there is the floating debris of plastic bags and bottles which are causing damage to marine life. The dolphin and corals are looking up to the surface where the light would normally be filtering through, but the debris is prohibiting this. The dolphin has a solitary teardrop to signify sadness.’ This medal received a Merit.

instance. Since demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019–2020, China has more direct control. Education is surely one of the key areas being changed. On the reverse is written, in Cantonese, “When will you come home for dinner? I miss you so much.’

MORGAN WILLEY A Stitch in Time

RAMALEX RAJAGOPAL Meanings in Symbols

‘My grandpa told me the symbol “takeaway” or “minus” (–) is an obstruction of death, and what he means by that is that when someone dies they are laid flat, which creates the minus symbol. In the medal this is the bottom element, a silhouette of a dead body, influenced by Egyptian art. My grandpa also told me that the symbol for “equals” (=) means equality, meaning how wealthy or poor you are when you die, both of you are equal. On the other side of the medal is an abstraction of an Indian drum which is banged on both sides.’

WING YEE EMMELINE SMACZNY

I Miss the Old Hong Kong

‘Moved to the UK 10 years ago permanently, I surely miss my hometown Hong Kong. It is full of amazing cultures. One side of my medal depicts one of the well-known outdoor food stalls, but not many survived through modernization of the city. As time passes, other memorable attributes of Hong Kong’s culture will vanish, Cantonese for

‘My medal is inspired by Everlyn’s teddy bear encased in the story of growing old and a history of a life in time. Working as a care assistant, I found that Everlyn became one of my favourite residents I looked after and one of the things you could never find Everlyn without was her teddy bear.’

CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE

CRAFT AND DESIGN DEPARTMENT

CURRICULUM HEAD AND TUTOR

LISA MCGOVERN

PROJECT TUTOR

COLIN THOMSON

CASTING

RODDY MATHIESON: THE MOBILE FOUNDRY

JODIE BROWN Habitat Loss

‘My medal design is based on climate change. I started off with looking at extinction and loss of habitat. One side of my medal shows a pond, a place where people may not think gets affected by climate change, and the back of my medal shows the pond when dried up.’

ROSE ELAINE DUNBAR Embrace

‘The theme here is to convey the importance of protecting those around us, including our environment and the creatures which inhabit it. I chose a koala as my vision to represent the 2019/20 Australian bush fires which harmed and killed over 3 billion native animals, one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.’

HOLLY GALLACHER Precious Time

‘The broken clock signifies don’t waste time.’

LYRA GEDDES Prosperity and Destruction

‘This medal was made with the theme of history and is about the before and after of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, which rained down on Pompeii. One side shows the cornucopia, a symbol of prosperity, with buildings and the dormant volcano. The reverse depicts the eruption with clouds of smoke and ash. The medal is vase shaped, small enough to fit into the palm of the hand to tie in with the piece.’

SAMUEL HEY Two Paths

‘In researching this project I discovered two quotes that have formed the basis of my piece. One is from the UN’s Global Assessment Report: “Humanity is locked in a spiral of selfdestruction”. The other is by Henri Matisse: “When we speak of Nature it is wrong to forget that we are ourselves a part of Nature...we are linked to the entire universe”. The first presented quite a bleak outlook (and is represented by a spiral). For the other side I drew inspiration from Matisse’s cut-outs. His statement contains a sense of hope and perspective which I feel lends the piece a sense of balance.’

HAZEL HENDERSON Tipping Point

‘The design on the front of the medal portrays climate change as a “storm in a teacup” with a paper boat precariously balanced on the crest of a wave. One of the waves has escaped the confines of the teacup and tipped over the edge. On the reverse is shown the ensuing tidal wave which threatens to engulf the tiny boat, just seen on top of the wave.’

KATE HUTCHON There Could Be Love

‘Most of the world believes a shark to be a mindless man-eating monster. “They are actually a beautiful, sentient creature that thrives on love and affection”, according to Jim Abernethy. Sharks have always fascinated humans and at one point they were seen as gods, gifting fishermen with plentiful fish. Over time we have lost that respect and turned to fear and hate, finning and overfishing, pushing the shark to extinction. Without protection, this would impact the whole ecosystem.’

HEATHER IVATT Suffragette

‘My medal design is based on the suffragettes, beginning with looking for slogans or famous sayings by them. Whilst doing research, I found a rosette that had been worn by them and used this for one side of my medal. For the other side I decided handcuffs would be a good idea, because of them tying themselves to buildings in protest. I started the process by carving these ideas into wax, and once completed it was cast into bronze.’

MEGAN MCCANN The Melting Polar Bear

‘The obverse of the medal is a polar bear and the reverse is the melting ice caps from a bird’s-eye view. The medal suggests that as the ice caps are melting, wildlife is shrinking with them.’

GARY MOORE Art’s Made its Mark

‘The meaning of this medal is to explain the difference of how art has changed over the years. It was inspired by Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Artists years ago put in effort and emotion and the use of colour to tell a story. The reverse is to express contemporary art with meaningless marks; the date 1888 is to show the date of the Sunflowers, when art made its mark.’

‘Inspired by the theme of history, I decided to listen to interviews with queer elders, and stumbled across an interview with Kate Bernstein, a 74-year-old author, playwright, performance artist and gender theorist, who, as non-binary, was quoted as saying, “gender is

EMMA MURRAY Gender is a Playground

a playground”. This is something I very much identify with, expressed on my medal as a see-saw in motion, showing the ever moving (and fun!) way I see my gender identity.’

ROSIE PARK Intertwined

‘This medal represents the relationship between humans and the earth. At first view it is clear the visible resemblance – one human fingerprint – and the cross-section (sometimes considered the fingerprint) of a tree. It however also represents the extreme impacts that humans have had and will continue to have on the planet, and the reliance we as humans have on trees. We are closely intwined. The trees will continue to fight back.’ This medal received a Merit.

letters”, the senders expressing misfortune that they believed came from having taken the wood, a curse. Hundreds of these letters, collected over the years (see the blog, Bad Luck, Hot Rocks) reflect an increasing awareness of our relationship to the environment.’

RACHEL SCULLION World War

‘My medal design is based on the World War, showing a poppy, which carries a well established meaning. It is a symbol of both remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. This theme shows support for the armed forces community. On the front it shows a soldier and the reverse depicts a cross.’

JENNIFER STEWART Reflection Pool

SARAH REID Dinosaurs, 66 Million Years Ago…

‘The medal shows an asteroid hurtling towards Earth on one side, and a dinosaur skull on the reverse, showing the aftereffects of the asteroid. I chose this theme as I found the fact that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and were made extinct in this way. I am just starting out on the medium of medals, but I enjoyed learning new skills in a different expression of art.’

CHRISTINA SCOTT Conscience Letter

‘The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona preserves land with deposits of fossilised wood from trees that lived over 200 million years ago. Many visitors over the years, enamoured by the beauty of the wood, take pieces home. In 1906, when the park was created, many pieces began to be returned, with “conscience

‘I wanted to consider how our connection to the natural world combines our feelings of responsibility, dread and can also provide a primal sense of solace in overwhelming times. I wanted to create a piece that felt as if it had been picked up or found in nature, as a point of reflection on the importance of nature. This art medal was created to serve as a talisman of hope and a reminder of nature and its beauty, as well as an object to encourage us to take reflection on our activities as humans and make changes for good. It is formed in the image of an oyster shell, with texture from direct moulding.’

GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF JEWELLERY LECTURER KATHLEEN DUNCAN

TECHNICIAN

IAIN BAIRD

SARAH BROWN Skin Deep

‘There is a saying that beauty is only skin and this medal represents how I feel, which is the reverse of that saying. After years of treatments for different diseases that have brought scarring, as well as cancer and weight gain, I find these conditions accumulate into feelings and thoughts that spiral into depression. When I glimpse myself in the mirror I don’t recognise myself, for in my head I am still as I was in my 20s. In my heart, I know I am a kind, loyal and loving person, but it occurs to me that people only see the monster of my exterior. Below the surface they would see the real me.’

EDWARD GALLAGHER Diaspora

‘I chose the apple as it is a universal symbol, instantly identifiable, imbued with many different myths and meanings. “The strange fruits of consolation, where do they ripen?”, asks Rainer Maria Rilke. The apple is available in many different varieties and the seeds can grow in most soils worldwide. Here it represents the diaspora. Split in half, the seeds are gone. As more people are displaced by natural and manmade disasters, I considered what would you take with you if you were forced to leave your home. The ladder on the piece represents a journey, taking with you the seeds of your culture to take root and grow and flourish.’

SUSAN KELLY Broken Britannia

‘Broken Britannia was created with the cost of living crisis at the forefront of my thoughts, a crisis suffered by so many people nationally

All medals cast in brass

and internationally. The hardships faced and the rapid decline in the value of the British pound against worldwide currencies were driving factors in the inspiration of the medal. The broken coin also represents the widening gap in UK politics, while the links on the coin bind all the nations together as one United Kingdom.’

JAKUB ODOSZEWSKI Life Clock

‘Time is something over which we have no influence; it is something we cannot delay, speed up or even stop. Up to a certain point in my life I treated time as my enemy; I felt the pressure of passing years. And suddenly it dawned on me that I could no longer let time dictate my life. Only I can subjectively interpret the time in which my life takes place. Only I can decide when and what I do, and it’s never too late to do something I want to do. The medal is a symbolic clock showing the time of my life. I can put it face up or face down. I decide what time it is in my life.’

MELANIE REID

Dystopia (bronze clay)

‘Dystopia, literally meaning bad utopia, has been inspired by the crumbling of the global society. The faces that can be seen on the front of the medal represent the people in the world who live in fear or distress, whether because of the global financial crisis, or war or earthquake. The reverse depicts the decline in society caused by social and economic factors bringing fear and distress. This piece is not like my other pieces as it depicts pain and anguish, whereas other pieces are mainly jewellery, which have been light and jovial, spreading happiness to those who wear them.’

A BRIEF LOOK BACK AT THE STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT EXHIBITIONS OVER THE YEARS WITH QUOTES FROM THIS YEAR’S PARTICIPANTS

PAUL FOX, GOLDSMITHS

‘It is great to open up a dialogue with institutions, and it is what we should strive for more in the arts. Everyone was really positive, in that it has opened up a bunch of new skills and processes that we would never have come across unless it were for this project.’

BELOW

The ‘Art in the Hand/Celebrating 80’ exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London in 2017 featured a selection of 80 medals from the Student Medal Project, including students and former students of Parviz Tanavoli from Iran, who turned 80 that year. These were shown alongside work by UK graduates who had been awarded the BAMS New Medallist bursaries.

‘Making this medal was a labour of love. It took time to form and was slow to evolve.’

TERRI-ANN AUBREY-SMITH, FALMOUTH

LEFT

A selected exhibition of medals from the Student Medal Project was exhibited at Birmingham City University, School of Jewellery, in 2011.

BELOW

In 2021 the medals were shown at The Makers Guild Wales/Craft in the Bay, in a large display which combined two years of the Student Medal Project, 2020 and 2021.

‘The medal itself has allowed me to strengthen my sculptural ability. The process has been intriguing and sparked a new love for metal work and its techniques that I can move forward with in my practice.’ SOPHIA MATTY, LEEDS

BOTTOM

In 2010 the medals from the Student Medal Project were exhibited alongside medals by professionals at the National Museum Wales, Cardiff.

BOTTOM RIGHT

An exhibition in 2008 took place at Birmingham City University, School of Jewellery.

BELOW

This year, in 2023, the Project exhibition was held from the 29 March to the 9 May at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London. As well as showing 166 student medals, also included were 10 teachers and 7 New Medallists. Central Saint Martins has been participating in the Project since it began, and showed some of its own collection of student medals from over those years.

THE STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT EXHIBITIONS OVER THE YEARS

BELOW

In 2018, the University for the Creative Arts, Rochester, held a medal symposium to go with the Student Medal Project selected exhibition entitled ‘Holding Stories’.

BELOW RIGHT

‘Time and Tide’, an exhibition of medals relating to the environment and the landscape, especially that of Cornwall, some by students and graduates of Falmouth University and Truro & Penwith College, others by professional makers, was showcased at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, Cornwall, in 2021.

BELOW LEFT

In 2022 a selection of medals was shown at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, which had also held an exhibition of the Project medals in 2014.

BELOW RIGHT

The Glasgow School of Art hosted the medal exhibition in 2012 in the Mackintosh Building. Entitled ‘Taking Sides’ it coincided with that year’s BAMS Conference in Glasgow.

‘I found the whole journey eye opening, and it has piqued my interest in further exploring the use of bronze, and utilising the idea of a reveal in future work.’ KATE HOLMES, CITY & GUILDS

‘The process was a real learning curve and so much fun, a therapeutic experience.’

CAITLIN EMMA HAUGHTON, TRURO & PENWITH

BELOW

The cabinet contains the ten prize winners at the Goldsmiths’ Centre exhibition of 2017, ‘Art in the Hand’. During the exhibition there were talks and a holding session, all of which contributed to making the public better acquainted with the art form, and with the skills required in making medals.

‘This live brief has encouraged me to create work with more of a message behind it.’ ESTA DE LA TORRE, BIRMINGHAM

‘The medal project has been an important outlet for me to discuss the broader environmental elements of the themes within my studio practice while continuing to support my technical development.’

‘The size of the object forced me to think creatively to reach a design. I was drawn into the interplay between the three available surfaces and endeavoured to work with these in a cohesive way.’ SCOTT DUNCAN, DUNDEE

TIA DUNN, LEEDS

THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART

SILVERSMITHING & JEWELLERY DEPARTMENT

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

LECTURER, PROJECT TEACHER MARIANNE ANDERSON

CASTING NIGEL MUNRO

Prize Winner

TINA AVERY

Seek the Shore, Seek a New Life

‘Migration is a deeply human endeavour. We leave a known place to find somewhere new to live. There are many reasons why we leave, sometimes by choice, at others from necessity. In modern times this movement is difficult and complicated due to controlled borders and varying views on ethnicity and nationality. The label “migrant” now seems to be derogatory, the person arriving is often unwanted. In this medal I wanted to depict human movement that has happened across the centuries. On the obverse, an Ancient Greek girl is travelling to a colony in Turkey. On the reverse, a young boy is escaping conflict in the twenty-first century, setting off from Turkish shores to look for sanctuary in Greece. This is the first time I have carved in wax to create an item to be cast in bronze and then patinated. It has been quite a challenge, but an interesting one. I chose to do a light patination.’ Winner of the Grand First Prize for overall excellence presented annually by the Worshipful Company of Founders, who also purchase the winning medal (or sponsor the making of a cast) to add to the Founders Collection of Grand First Prize medals. The medal is also shown on page 2.

YOUJIA DENG Progress

‘In the progress of human civilisation, technology and knowledge have been highly developed and evolved. But mankind has always abused

ANNA GORDON

Prize Winner TINA AVERY

Seek the Shore, Seek a New Life, 65×70mm

Awarded the Grand First Prize for excellence in medal making by the Founders’ Company. The medal creates a moving narrative about migration, looking back to classical times and relating the movement of people today. Each young migrant, dressed according to their period, is pictured in a small vessel, with a map of the coastline of their home behind them, a hand on the rail to steady them.

the affairs of its own creation, and they are frequently found in wars and national conflicts. The heart, originally forged of flesh and blood, was forced to become a lifeless machine. In my medal I can see hints of steampunk and the industrial revolution, a metaphor for the “deification” of material or “human overlords” in their obsessive pursuit of technological innovation and “progress”.’

DIANE GREEN Time to Avoid Irreversible Climate Change

‘This medal is about the fact that the science suggests that climate change is happening faster than the world realises. Increasingly there are extreme weather events including tidal waves which is the image on the obverse of my medal. The reverse is also a wave, the wave on heart monitors which, when there is a death, result in a straight line, when there is no heartbeat. The heartbeat of the world will end in climate catastrophe.’

ANGEL JORGE IGLESIAS It’s Hard

‘I observe two social developments that make it increasingly challenging to find truth, or even define it. One the one hand individual experiences are elevated to absolute truths; on the other, the multiplicity and immediacy of voices that share information online can make fake news appear genuine. The bronze medal is meant to be an invitation to collectively find truth by looking through the central hole, a sort of magnifying glass or porthole, to find the golden truth. I drew on the Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, who said (translated): “Your truth? No, the Truth. Let’s find it together”.’

AUDREY JACK I Just Want to Be

‘As a mother of “third culture” children, it struck me that they have a unique identity, drawing on Hong Kong and a Western heritage. My story is that of trying to fit in, specifically in relation to being an expat/repat. It is about the need to try and adapt, fit in culturally and socially, whilst trying to maintain your own identity. The shape and imagery of the piece is that of a faceless crowd, in which an individual stands out, in green, in reference to a poem by Whitni Thomas, called “Colours”.’

MIRANDA JOHNSON

She is the Ocean (with ribbon, moonstone and shell)

‘My piece was inspired by the characterisation of the ocean as a feminine entity. I was inspired by a documentary entitled “She is the Ocean”, and wanted to capture the parallels between the ocean and the lived experience of women throughout history. Through folklore, politics, literature and art the ocean is seen as feminine, whether it be nurturing, motherly waves, or destructive, enticing sirens. The latter highlights to me the power dynamics at play, the lack of respect for both women and our waters, despite our dependence on them.’

SALLY JOANNA JOHNSTON To New Beginning

‘The butterfly represents the power of metamorphosis and the tremendous feats we can accomplish when we trust ourselves. It is a potent symbol of growth and new beginnings. We all possess the capacity to pay attention to our inner wisdom, lead ourselves through challenging situations, and come out stronger and better than before. There

are numerous paths one can take and, like vines, there is no end to a connection.’

NAOMI LARGE Hold Me Fast and Fear Me Not

‘As someone who has recently relocated to Scotland, I have been inspired by the folklore which is interwoven into the natural landscape and the way in which people continue to engage with its rich history and traditions. I first became familiar with the story of Tam Lin through the songs of Fairport Convention and Anaïs Mitchell, but it is a tale which has been passed along through oral tradition for centuries. Tam Lin is the story of a strong woman who decides her own fate, saving the man she loves.’ This medal received a Merit.

real. I began to think of these like false news from the subconscious. I came across a quote – on my medal – from Salvador Dalí, who summed up this phenomenon perfectly. The hand on the reverse of the medal represents the projection of memory processed through the subconscious and how it can touch our waking life.’

ZAKAYI MAYATA MURPHY A Brand New Place

DUODUO LIN Freedom of Speech

‘The medal uses the image of a classic portrait from ancient China to reflect the irony that freedom of speech cannot be realised in the contemporary era. Citizens under some political environments cannot achieve freedom of speech, and if they tell the truth or opinions it will cause even more trouble. The five modern characters clustered on the art medal are shouting without voice, living in solitude. The Qing portrait depicts a hairstyle they were forced to wear in the ancient dynasty.’

HOLLY BRIGITTE MACDONALD False Memory

‘This medal design came about from thinking about the theme of Fake News. At the time I was having vivid dreams that felt almost

‘Creating this medal was special for me because for a long time I have been trying to recreate the feeling I had as a child, visiting the London Eye for the very first time. I was excited to visit all the iconic places then, and I fell in love with the city. Looking at the perfect image of the city, however, the more I tried, the more I strayed from it. Working on this helped me recapture that feeling and was something special for me. The top side is what I saw on my way to the London Eye and the bottom side is what I saw when I reached the top.’

HELEN RUSSELL

Cellular

‘My medal is an abstracted representation of the formation of cells and the inherent beauty that lies within all living organisms. The functionality of cells can often take away from the incredible intricacies of biological design. My medal exhibits this microscopic world, with one side displaying a cluster of cells in their dutiful unity, and the other, a closer abstraction of an individual cell. I wanted also to create something that is physically satisfying to hold, with smooth biomorphic curves and textured surfaces.’

YOSEF SALIHMURAD Let Your Hair Loose

‘This piece is a political statement. I am a Kurdish man whose origins are from Iran/ Iraq. I took inspiration from the current protests being held by my fellow brothers and sisters, the protests sparked by the murder committed by the “morality police” because of a Kurdish woman showing part of her hair, which they deemed immodest. I chose to portray a woman who is wrapped completely in a turquoise niqab, and on the reverse I have portrayed a woman letting her hair out. The shape of the medal came from the view that we all share the same heart, and the idea is that when held you are carrying a piece of your heart with you.’

MARY WIGNALL STRACHAN Symbiosis

‘This medal is focused on the fragility of nature and bees, taking inspiration from the rare blue Himalayan poppy. Without bees there would not be flowers, and the weight of the medal represents this burden. Using the vibrant blue of the poppy, it is this that I have tried to reflect by using an environmentally friendly patina. The number of bees is already in decline, and the use of pesticides is crippling the population. The authorisation of the use of a pesticide that is lethal to bees will cause further decline. Nature will suffer and the world will be a less beautiful place.’

GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

DEPARTMENT OF FINE ART MFA READER IN ART AND PROGRAMME LEADER

DAVID MABB

STUDENT PROJECT LEADER PAUL FOX

PROJECT TEACHER AND CASTING FOUNDRY, ABIGAIL BURT, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS

BEVERLEY DUCKWORTH Jeopardy

‘The theme of history prompted me to think of roots, which developed into an idea to contrast root plants on one side of the medal with a manmade structure on the reverse. Roots are constrained within a form of a disposable drinks bottle, highlighting the human impact on ecology. On the other side there is a circuit board. Its square edges jut out sharply from the body of roots, suggesting a tension in the relationship between nature and technology. Whilst technology can help rebuild damaged ecosystems, an over-reliance on it papers over structural causes and avoids structural solutions to the ecological crisis.’

FAISSAL EL-MALAK

Your Body is a Tree Growing at the Heart of a Chrysanthemum

‘This medal is part of a larger work I’m currently developing for my final show. My art practice incorporates visions from my healing work, a technique I practice called ThetaHealing, which is based on digging through the mind of my clients for memories of ancestral events that have created negative programmes, and re-writing them to disassociate the negative experiences from the learnings. The vision illustrated in the medal is a combination of the resolution of two healing sessions on two different people.’

Prize Winner PAUL FOX Preservation or Desecration

‘While British identity is being questioned even more today, there has recently been a renewed energy towards the interest of Celtic beliefs and ideology, due in part

with its relationship to caring for the environment. The monument that is the pinnacle of Celtic identity is that of Stonehenge, a mystical symbol of much speculation. The medal looks towards what has been in political debate for years, the construction of a tunnel that will go underneath Stonehenge’s sacred and ancient landscape. This idea has been scrapped and resurrected a number of times; its cost would be astronomical, money that could be used better elsewhere. Therefore I wanted to create a moveable medal that displayed two points of view for the future history of Stonehenge and the surrounding land. The segments can be moved to show a direct contrast between traditional and culture, or for motorways and destruction. The holder has the option to choose. The future of this site can still be changed through our hands.’

Prize presented by the Worshipful Company of Cutlers for a ‘cutting edge’ medal that experiments with the medallic medium. The medal is shown on page 66.

ELDAR KRAINER Get Verified

‘The verification sign is used today by almost all social platforms. It is a symbol that appears next to a person’s name and is generally associated with famous personas and influencers or to prevent swindlers on dating apps by proving that you are the real you. The symbol represents a new social currency when the utopic view of the internet as a free and experimental space for identity to grow and morph has been demolished by surveillance capitalism, commodification of personal data for the benefit of major corporations. This verified medal can be seen as a dystopian prophecy in which only one authority can validate our identity.’

Prize Winner PAUL FOX

Preservation or Desecration, 82mm Awarded the ‘cutting edge’ prize from the Cutlers’ Company for a medal that creates four readings of its message, as the medal is made to swivel, resulting in different possibilities on its combined faces. The careful detail in low relief conveys a sense of history and place, or modern convenience, and makes good use of lettering and a repeated pattern.

KATE KUAIMOKU

Structural Support (bronze with steel)

‘I began thinking about how I could leave a remnant of the hand, and to incorporate into the medal. I questioned how our relationships with the built environment are supporting us. I took a half-swivel coupler, known for its use carrying scaffold pipes, to start exploring this relationship. The medal is the result of the space between the medal and my hand, each holding on to each other for structural support. Through a feminist lens, I attempt to find solutions intersecting problems that are facing our civilization: the environment, land use/reclamation, and the body.’

SAMEERA SARDANA Vatsu-Purusha

‘This medal is inspired by a memorable visit to the majestic Kailasa Temple at Ellora. It is a World Heritage site, an 8th-century megalith, carved top-to-down from a cliff face made of basalt, with rudimentary tools such as hammer and chisel. By intricately carving a single block of wax, I attempted to portray this medal as a microcosm of ancient architecture. The details encapsulate picturesque visions of nameless sculptors and artisans. Through the medal, it has been my endeavour to vicariously live the experience of those able predecessors, foreseeing beauty in ordinary elements of nature. Adorned with metaphors, the medal aims to emanate a sensorial feast.’

PAUL STEPHENSON Penna

‘The medal is intended to contrast two alternative versions of how history is constructed and presented. The two sides of the medal are the nest, and the wax seal. The uniformity of the seal represents a single “official” version of events, in

the same way historical modernism views time as a single unbroken line; as neat as a pin. The nest, in contrast, represents history as a complex cluster of interrelated forms, both organic and constructed. This medal is made from thousands of recast 500-year-old Tudor pins which I collected while mudlarking on the Thames.’

SIDNEY WESTENSKOW

In Honor of the Lesbians that Raised Me

‘In my practice I use symbols from my past to create characters on to which I can project my experiences. This work acts as a capstone to the series I’ve created featuring Bear, a character I pulled from a song at summer camps. In the series I reflect on my upbringing as a scout and how it impacted on my life today, especially in the way it allowed me to shape my queer identity. The bear is reimagined as a representation of the strength and the skills that were handed down to me by the butch lesbians that led the camp communities I was a part of. These women acted as role models.’

LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT BA HONS FINE ART HEAD OF DEPARTMENT JO NEIL

LECTURER IN FINE ART, PROJECT LEADER LIADIN COOKE

FOUNDRY G W LUNT

GEORGE WIGLEY This Too Shall Pass

‘Seeing a CNN interview with a Ukrainian Special Forces Sergeant, in which she presents a “coin” made from destroyed Russian tanks, made me think of how medals are connected to war and are also objects that are touched and handled, being cast in bronze, a metal with its own longlasting and monumental connections. I wanted my bronze medal to last a lifetime in this role as a keepsake or personal totem, in some sense subverting its normal role. The final element was the design, taking an ancient Persian saying, with its message of the fundamental ephemerality of the world. This seemed to fit the role of a calming token. The seasonal changes of a grand tree – depicted on the medal – is a timeless visual companion to the text.’

SILVIA ÀVILA-PARCET Mucus

‘The medal is a satirical response to the concept of Christian relics. The absurdity of the “holy spirit’s sneeze” being kept in a reliquary at the Vatican led me to create a medal that is a representation of what I had imagined a holy relic looks like. One side is inspired by the golden baroque “sun” reliquaries, and the other is the inverted version of that, simulating the inside, and covered in snot. This creates a contrast, golden and polished on one side, disgusting, greenish and rough on the other.’

BOBILLIER

‘Self-identity and belonging are prominent themes in my practice, through the use of formalism and the cube. This three-dimensional square is a symbol of geometric perfection, and on a symbolic level is perceived as “the truth”, appearing the same at any perspective. As someone with dual nationality I find it hard to assign myself to one societal group. My aim with the medal is to use abstract and formal forms to articulate the conflict of fitting in (a square peg in a round hole). We all have an exterior we show to the world and within this we hold our beliefs and self-identity.’

JOSHUA BURGESS Morals

‘I wanted to make something ancient and profound, representing morals and expression. I formed the man because I look at society today and see a large amount of confusion and questions around masculinity and what it means to be a man, regardless of biological birth. I began reading the Stoics, such as Marcus Aurelius, and became happier with life. I decided to make

a medal to represent man showing he is who he is, a simple design. I used Vitruvian man as inspiration. The reverse shows the symbol of Pi.’

LONNY CHAUHAN

...But these places may not even exist

‘My medal is about themes of transience, nature and death, which are all common themes throughout much of my work. One side shows a peaceful scene, featuring trees, a river, wildlife, a deer, mountains and an old man resting under a tree. The reverse of the medal shows the same scenery, except barren. The trees have been cut down, the river has dried up, the deer has disappeared and the old man has turned to bones. The first side is based on a painting I made, the old man as an imagined version of my future self, but these places may cease to exist.’

TAFSIA MUZIB DANA Death of Peace

‘My medal focuses on the loss of peace. In our world today we are constantly disheartened by news of war and conflicts. Life is cruel and unfair to people born in war-torn nations. Human beings, blinded by greed and power, seem to have forgotten humanity and love. The beautiful, serene face of the Buddha is often recognised as a symbol of peace. However, the eyes of the Buddha are shut on my medal, indicating his death, and the absence of peace in our current world.’

MAGDELINE DUNN Rage Becomes Her

‘Anger is not a foreign emotion to women, yet it is deemed undesirable and “unfeminine”. Rage becomes a privilege instead of a right, and sadness becomes an acceptable passive reaction.

LOANE

Within a Dome

Anger is a means to create change; it is a reaction, an expression, and it should be harnessed and utilised. I used a whirlpool on the medal as a symbol to represent rage, something wild and dangerous. The reverse is polished and calm and “presentable”.’

Prize winner TIA DUNN Caught

up

‘My practice has an overarching theme of animal welfare and the abject connotations of meat consumption. The obverse depicts two bluefin tuna, the soft, delicate nature of the modelling shows them as majestic and beautiful creatures moving through the water. The reverse, in opposition, is a large school of simpler but still delicate forms of tuna in the act of being caught in a large fishing net. The medal has a simple message: a beautiful show of ocean life, subverted on the reverse, depicting the bleak reality of humans destroying precious life for monetary gain. The obverse could be viewed as a logo for fisheries, while the reverse shows what the industry entails. Another interpretation is the big fish (representative of the bourgeoisie) and the little fish (the majority, the proletariat suffering for the benefit of the big fish). This is just one example of an industry worth billions whose environmental cost is inexcusable, contributing to our planet’s destruction.’

Winner of the Second Grand Prize for excellence presented annually by Thomas Fattorini Limited. The medal is also shown on page 3.

Prize Winner TIA DUNN

Caught up, 72mm Awarded the Grand Second Prize by Thomas Fattorini Limited. The medal exhibits lively modelling with colourful patination, and a change of scale on the reverse, showing perspective and movement. It is a piece that tackles an important ecological issue.

FLO HOLDSWORTH The Bath Monster

‘The medal depicts a peaceful scene of a child playing in the bath with various toy animals and boats, while on the reverse, a huge aquatic monster looms alongside a stray rubber duck. On the monster side, the water swirls into a huge whirlpool, with a plughole at its centre, which goes through the medal to the other side, linking the real world with the world of the imagination. This is a tribute to the seemingly universal experience of children imagining a monster beneath the plughole. My medal explores nostalgia and the magic, as well as the terror, of a child’s imagination.’

SOPHIA MATTY Home is Where the Heart Is

‘This is a cathartic medal, made in response to themes of homesickness as a grieving process and the toll it takes on the heart. It aims to talk of home as a safe space and something all of us could relate to. I’ve explored the motif of a pillow as a physical support system and ideas of preserving souvenirs of a household. The medal was made in answer to this, to process the mourning of a lost space of comfort, more specifically, the sale of my childhood home.’

MIRANDA MELBOURNE Luxury Apartments (Disorder)

‘This medal has explored how our society is not built for our needs; it examines how we as people are affected by housing politics. The sides juxtapose; one is a neat

rectangular building, the other a jumble of people bulging over the sides. I used a modernist building designed by Le Corbusier to house those left homeless by the war as utopias for the masses. In recent times they are seen as dehumanisation of mass society, destroying communities. We are chaotic and messy and do not fit into these spaces.’

SABINE MITKUS Silly

‘When coming up with ideas for this medal I thought about the Aids epidemic, when HIV took the lives of millions of people, many part of the LGBTQ community. This included incredible artists, such as Gonzales Torres and Keith Haring, along with many actors. Even though it can now be treated there is no cure, so I made this medal as a light-hearted way to raise awareness about how important it is to use protection, even if HIV is not as deadly as it was.’

ISAAC ROBSON

Untitled (A Modern Mongrel)

‘The medal is a demonstration of the state of digital fabrication, and represents the conflicting marriage of traditional craftsmanship and design using emerging technologies. It carries with it the demand of the future and the burden of the past. I am exploring the result of virtual workspace design transformed into a physical materiality. A limbo of past and future. Is it disintegrating or materialising?’

becoming extinct. I found the pangolin, a highly trafficked and endangered animal that is sought after for its scales, leather and meat. The design shows the scales falling off the tail into a leather bag, with the pangolin curled into a protective position and the tail wrapping around the medal to join the two sides together. This makes the work talk about consumerism as well as about animal conservation and allows the medal to have a duality, which I think is important.’

FRANCES TABBERNOR Overwhelmed

‘I am an artist whose practice engages with the environment and place. My medal reflects the precarious condition of our planet. Extreme weather patterns have resulted in increased flooding, the result of long-term climate change. The styles used on the medal are deliberately contrasting, one using realism, the other symbolism and abstraction. The obverse is influenced by The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai, which reminds us that natural forces constantly challenge human endeavour; the reverse uses the UK’s flood alert symbol, depicting a house under threat.’

HOLLY LOUISE TOMLINSON

Thy Creature

MILLIE SUNDERLAND More Than My Parts

‘My medal is about an important topic that needs to be recognised. I looked deeper into what animals are poached and are on their way to

‘The medal depicts the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, a marsupial apex predator that fell victim to excessive poaching, habitat destruction and disease. A giant leap in science suggests the possibility through genetic editing to resurrect the Thylacine from its 87-year-long sleep, as shown on the obverse in a foetal position. The reverse of the medal references Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” as a warning, with the marsupial’s limbs strung together with metallic stitches. It stands as a question about these curious sciences: because we can, should we?’

NORWICH UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS

FINE ART

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

CARL ROWE

SENIOR LECTURER (SCULPTURE, MA FINE ART)

HEAD PROJECT LEADER

DESMOND BRETT

ABBY COLWELL

One Pound Koin (bronze/wood)

‘My medal was created in response to the release of the new coin design of the current monarch and the exhibition “Defaced” at the Fitzwilliam Museum. After seeing this I became fascinated with money in art, the art economy and the illusions of money. Previously I have explored popular culture in my art and wanted to reference it in my bronze “Koin” by featuring a well-known celebrity. It acts as a social commentary on the relevance of the monarchy in modern culture, as well as the future of money as we become a cashless society, alluding to the illusions of money.’

MAREK JECZALIK

Heaven Sent, Heaven Stole (bronze with copper and aluminium)

‘The tortuously cruel mechanism of dementia is explored metaphorically using hidden images to illustrate lost memories. The disease blocks the pathways that allow the reconstruction of memories to take place, so in effect these recollections are physically present, just locked away. For the medal, I cast two images: one of a mother and child and one of a girl and a horse, then put them together facing inwards, hidden, as are memories, with a copper spacer in between.’

FOUNDRY AT NUA, TECHNICAL STAFF

JAMES CASTLE, STEPHEN BASSETT, JAMES BURKILL

SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY

JEWELLERY, MATERIALS & DESIGN SENIOR LECTURER, AND CASTING

JEFF DURBER

BA JMD COURSE LEADER

Prize Winner

MEGAN AVERY

Pot and Pan, Bricks and Mortar

‘Growing up surrounded by the dialect and its quirks, Cockney rhyming slang always reminds me of home. My dad’s accent has since faded, but his phrases have always stuck. I wanted to use him as an inspiration for this piece. I decided on the phrase “apples and pears”, meaning stairs, which reminds me of the steps near the marketplace that my dad grew up in. I wanted my design to flow from face to face, and I feel the forced perspective staircase leading up to the open doorway really helps to do this. To me the staircase represents the economic climb and struggle that many people in East London, including my dad, had to face. The design was created on Rhino 3D CAD software and was investment-cast. The title is rhyming slang for man and daughter.’ Prize awarded from the Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, who also purchase the medal to add to their collection of winning medals.

REUBEN NEWMAN

Not Far From The Tree (with steel details)

‘The brief for this project was “personal heritage” and what part of our heritage is more personal than the influence of those who raise us? This piece is inspired by the times I spent with my father as a child, at home and out and about in Sheffield, even at his place of work, a Sheffield steel processing facility. This early introduction to the industrial side of metalwork fascinated me, and my career is similar though more design focused. I suppose you could say that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree, while still being in another orchard entirely! The obverse shows father and son visiting the steelworks, and the reverse taking a walk in woodland.’

NANTIA KOULIDOU

CASTING, SENIOR TECHNICIAN KARL GELEF

Prize Winner

MEGAN AVERY

Pot and Pan, Bricks and Mortar, 90mm

The prize from the Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers is awarded for excellent perspective, a connection between both sides, a medal which tells a personal history that is widely relatable.

TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE

BA SILVERSMITHING AND JEWELLERY

PROGRAMME LEADER MARTIN PAGE

FOUNDRY

DEVON METALCRAFTS LTD

GRAHAM DOODY Peace Never Lasts

‘The medal was inspired by the invasion of Ukraine. The sunflower is the Ukraine national flower, symbolising peace. Less than 30 years have passed since sunflower seeds were scattered by Russian, Ukrainian and American defence ministers, celebrating Ukraine’s abandonment of the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal. The obverse of the medal is seen through a child’s eyes to show how their lives have been up until now. Turn the medal over, and it shows clouds of destruction and debris that they are living in now. The motto around the edge: Glory to Ukraine, Glory to the heroes.’

CAITLIN EMMA HAUGHTON Extinction Beauty

‘The theme is a before and after idea centred on extinction, with inspiration coming from a Japanese puffer fish and the breath-taking sand sculptures it makes on the sandy sea bed. The front shows the designs the fish makes, and the reverse shows a barren sea bed, completely empty of life. The edge of the medal represents the human race’s struggle to battle against its own self-caused extinction, which is visualised by two lines that run parallel to the two edges of the medal’s side, looking like ups and downs of paths crossing on a journey.’

UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY ST DAVID SWANSEA COLLEGE

OF ART

I am a shadow, but what could I be?

‘In my childhood shadows were something to fear and I became quite scared of the dark. My maternal grandparents would try and soothe my worries by playing hand shadow games with me at bedtime. They would light a candle and then use the shapes of their hands to cast shadows on the walls: birds would fly, rabbits hop and dogs bark. I decided to create a medal that portrays both my childhood memories and my fascination for hands and gestures, a medal that looked worn and loved, tactile and heavy, something to hold and provide a certain groundedness. I chose a goat for my main design, as this is the shadow I love the most.’

It’s Not OK...

‘A “funeral” was held for Okjokull, the first glacier in Iceland to lose its glacier status. The front of the medal shows the scale of Ok in 1986, and, on the back, the scant remains in 2019. Surely the message here is that we must do something, and we must do something now. A plaque on Okjokull suggests that only time will tell whether we succeeded in saving our blue planet for future generations.’

CLAIR TOMPKINS

PAULA DIANE WILSON

BA DESIGN CRAFTS HEAD OF DEPARTMENT CATH BROWN

LECTURER, PROJECT TUTOR ANNA LEWIS

FOUNDRY IRENE GUNSTON CASTING

WEST DEAN COLLEGE OF ARTS & CONSERVATION SCHOOL OF ARTS

MODULE LEADER/LECTURER MEDAL PROJECT

STEFANO SANTILLI

LECTURER AND CASTING

STEPHEN COLES OF COLES CASTING

HELENKA BODEN The Gogglebox

‘Having previously worked in the television production industry, I decided to explore my personal story and design a medal reflecting on the evolution of television. My medal illustrates the contrasting experiences of people viewing historical events in the past, compared with the present day, whether it is the size of the device itself or the proximity and relationship of the people watching the same footage, or even where these events were viewed. At first, televisions were expensive and few families could afford them, so everyone gathered in one house to watch black and white images on the small screen. Now hand-held devices are in full colour giving people around the world the chance to stream and view live events “on the go”.’ This medal received a Merit.

KATHERINE HERNON-JOHNSON It’s a Cycle

‘The medal comes from the idea of plant symbolism and the continuous cycle of life: birth, death and rebirth, either literally or metaphorically. The plants depicted on the medal represent an aspect of this medal. Ivy represents man’s sojourning journey through life; yew is associated with death and immortality; birch represents new life. The ivy leaves are present on both sides, to indicate the moving through these stages. In addition, their Ogham alphabet symbols are present to show the link from past to present.’

RICHARD MOSS Time is Fleeting

‘My medal is a reflection on the idea that many old things are becoming lost to the newer

methods, be that skills such as clockmaking, which I studied and is on the endangered crafts list, or the memories and history of the past. On one side of my medal is the front of a Japanese clock; the Japanese were the last to use an old method of timekeeping, where daylight is divided evenly into sections. The reverse is the back of a French clock movement made around the same century as when the Japanese changed to what was used in the Western world. All of this together represents how old methods die to make way for the new, and sometimes better methods, however also becoming forgotten along the way.’

ELIZA ROSE SMITH Lumber Jills

‘My medal is a celebratory moment dedicated to the Women’s Timber Corps of the Second World War, better known as the Lumber Jills. Far less known than the Land Girls, I felt this courageous and industrious organisation needed their own commemorative medal, as acknowledgement and gratitude. At its peak in 1943 there were around 13,000 women taking part in this difficult and dangerous work, previously only undertaken by a male workforce. The strong silhouette of the woman on the front of the medal highlights how these women shone in the face of adversity. On the reverse we see a simple pile of logs, each log representing the life of the workers. Rural vernacular culture is fascinating.’

THE GUEST ACADEMY PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY

Each year an art college outside the British Isles is invited to participate in the Student Medal Project, both students and teachers. This year BAMS has included students from Pforzheim University, where there is a long and historic tradition of excellence in metal work.

DESIGN PF, BA JEWELLERY PROFESSOR ANDREAS GUT

TECHNICIANS

THOMAS LEICHT, STEPHANIE HENSLE

CASTING

KALMAN HAFNER CASTING, PFORZHEIM

FLORIAN ANDERER

All Stars Have a Reason (brass and bronze)

‘The main motif of this medal is this star. Brought together in different shapes and forms, materials and execution styles, the medal symbolises all the different people involved in the project, which may divide in nationality, gender, experience, skills and all other possible characteristics human beings tend to use to distinguish one another. Nevertheless, every single one of them is important for the event including the organisation, without which the project would not be possible, at least not in the existing quality.’

THERESIA BRANDNER Resurface

‘This medal is for all forgotten women in history, who made the jump and had the bravery to do exceptional things, but have disappeared in the stream of time. It is for those who are only now resurfacing, and finally need to be acknowledged for their achievements. The surface of the medal was made with hot wax poured into cold water; the female diver was hand carved. The theme of diving is connected to my passion for swimming and acts as a metaphor for the reappraisal of women’s equality.’

CHIARA CZERNER

The Last Supper

‘To quote Genesis 1:26, “And God said...let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Is this really how we want to treat

our Holy Grail? Is this how you think the relationship between nature and humans should be? Is it fair? Balanced? Do you think we give nature enough room, a place to thrive, heal nurture?’

Prize winner FÉLICIA KOCHER Cookie

‘The obverse of the medal is a cookie with chocolate bits on the surface. It represents the cookies we have to accept automatically by visiting any website. The other side, which appears to be in the cookie itself, is shaped like the porthole window of a rocket. In the background you can see the logo of the “world wide web” which has become indispensable in our everyday life. The human, floating in an embryonical position, symbolises our desires of feeling safe in this big and fast ongoing world. This person is connected and fed by an artificial umbilical cord, standing for our meanwhile nearly unbreakable dependency on the internet. Obviously, most people “accept” all cookies because it is the most time- and nerve-saving path. The word “accept” can also be understood as meaning we “accept” how the modern world works and make the best out of it.’

The ‘Best Guest’ Prize for medallic excellence, presented by Pangolin Editions. The medal is shown on page 82.

JOHN KURZ

Dices

‘The medal ‘Dices’ points to ever-increasing criminality, especially in the US and the UK. Human lives are hardly worth anything, sometimes killed because of money. When we started the medal project, the rapper

Takeoff was shot at a dice game, which is why I took a direct stand on it, choosing the dice with bullet holes. Some people are in miserable life situation, not treated like human being, and they shoot without seeing a person, just the money or the dice.’

JOHANN OBERMEYER

Truth is a Social Construct

‘Thumbs up, in a classic twitter debate fashion, is the symbol for the postmodern competition medal. Ironically, every participant will be validated.’

MELANIE PERNKOPF Under Pressure

‘We humans constantly compare ourselves to one another. This creates enormous pressure that weighs on us and under which many are at risk to break. The iron has a double meaning: on the front a prize for doing a trivial thing, the ironing. On the reverse it shows a woman whose face is flattened by the iron, and one interpretation is that women in particular suffer from the societal expectation to succeed simultaneously in managing housework and a career.’

MAGDALENA SCHIESSER Traces

‘Our nature is full of various traces, such as those we find with trees, hence the annual rings on one side of the medal. The other shows trees in a wood and a path invites us to walk through it. This medal is to raise awareness and appreciation of what we have around us. Nature is worth preserving. We must

Prize Winner FÉLICIA KOCHER Cookie, 67mm

The ‘Best Guest’ Prize is awarded each year to the most outstanding medal from the invited foreign academy. It is given for excellence, here especially for the narrative and for the contrast between the two sides, examining with some humour, but also seriousness, a contemporary issue.

sharpen our perception of life. Nothing should be taken for granted. It depends on us what we make of it, to treasure nature or destroy it.’ This medal received a Merit.

FELICITAS WASNER Weightlessness

‘Sometimes, when this loud and fast world gets too much, I want to feel the peace you feel when you dive under water, when you float there silently, weightless, just like an astronaut in space. So let your thoughts float and feel the peace of weightlessness!’

MEDALS BY SOME ‘NEW MEDALLISTS’

The ‘New Medallist Scheme’ is an annual competition inaugurated in 2005, open to a recent graduate who is interested in medals and would welcome the opportunity to learn more about the medium. It includes travel abroad to join in workshops for the the skills of medal making at Pforzheim University, and also to spend time in the collections of the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as learning about processes at the Royal Mint. BAMS provides a Mentor throughout the year. New Medallists in the past have graduated from, among other colleges, Falmouth University, University of Edinburgh, Duncan of Jordanstone, Birmingham School of Jewellery and the Royal College of Art.

MEDALS BY SEVEN ‘NEW MEDALLISTS’ ON A THEME OF ‘TIME’

With comments on how differently they interpret the theme.

CASTING BY IRENE GUNSTON

ABIGAIL BURT Three Sisters

‘The title is the name given to an ancient growing technique, in which beans, corn and squash grow in harmony, helping each other through nitrogen production, shelter and structure. This medal reflects upon the choice between the lush environment that we can create when we listen to and respect the earth, and the arid, cracked earth that is the result when we take too much from the environment. The overall form of the medal is oval, portraying the hopeful potential of a seed. The cracks become wider towards the edge of the medal, creating a series of tiny gaps the holder can feel.’ Here, the idea is that we can gain a great deal if we respect the wisdom of old teachings.

LIZ DEW Time

‘Twenty-four pools form and erode, the unequal hours of Kairos. On the other side, Chronos’s measured current is interrupted. Around the edge, Aion Circles eternally...’ This is a subtle contrast about the idea of timeliness, a qualitative time, compared to a more specific amount of time.

KATE IVE Liver Medal 1 for Antarctic Krill

‘My research-based practice examines the legacy we leave behind through record-making; I examine how we encode data to create records and traces with varying levels of permanence. The medal brings together early divination tools and contemporary environmental data, which, encoded on this piece reflects the projected future decline of the Antarctic Krill. This hybridisation of ancient divination tools and contemporary data questions the future for

Sponsored by the Goldsmiths’ Centre.

the natural world and the uncertainty faced.’ Ancient and modern brought together to indicate future time.

NICOLA KERSLAKE Fragments

‘Broken fragments revealing a tapestry in time, forever frozen. A fossil protrudes out of a stone, imitating a piece of flint that one would collect from the beach. On the reverse you find a poem overlaying the suggestion of a coastline, the point where land meets sea, always in a state of flux. This medal is a reflection on the years I have spent with my family fossil hunting and skimming stones. This is in juxtaposition to the years it takes for a fossil to form, before being unearthed at the edge of the ocean, broken away from the cliffs.’ Personal time of childhood and family, woven into the long narrative of earth’s history.

ULRIKA KJELDSEN When I Grow Up

‘Outside my studio there is an apple tree with an outgrown swing which I would play on when little, and it would feel like the biggest thrill in the world. Now, years gone by, I feel sentimental walking past, no longer being able to fit into it and now being taller than the branch it’s hanging from. The medal also takes inspiration from the song “When I Grow Up” by Tim Minchin, from “Matilda”, in which children dream of the things they will do one day.’ A metaphor for memories of times gone by, poignant in its retrospection.

CLAIRE POULTER The Cycle of Renewal

‘This medal was designed on the contemplation of the theme, inspired by the leaves that grow and then fall to press themselves into the earth. The shapes they create in the muddy paths, multiple delightful facsimiles imprinted to mush, mulch and earth. The tree trunk on the reverse is a universal and esteemed measure of time and years, bountiful in the information that it stores, recording the temperature of seasons gone millennia ago. The leaves continue on their cycle, a process of continual renewal. The medal is to symbolise faith and confidence in the materials of the earth upon which we exist. They will restore and always renew, continuing on.’ There is nothing in the world that is more of a reminder of time and growth than a very large tree.

NATASHA RATCLIFFE A Year Around the Sun

‘Around the edge is written, “Anything can happen in a year around the sun”. This is a medal to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the BAMS Student Medal Project, coinciding with the Society’s 40th. It takes the Earth a whole year to circle the Sun once. I like this image as a passage of time. The medal is very small to contrast with the size of the Earth and the Sun. Flipping the medal over gives a rotation between the two. The Ouroboros on the reverse – the serpent swallowing its own tail – from Norse legend, circles the Earth which circles the Sun. I like the repetition and all it symbolises: life, death, time and space, dancing as they do.’ How fitting, a round medal that looks to mythology and all things in earth and space

MEDALS BY TEACHER & MENTORS TO THE PROJECT & NEW MEDALLIST SCHEME

JANE BULLIVANT TEACHER, DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE

Ducky Paddle

‘I was inspired by one of our pet ducks, which from day one has been a completely loveable and funny character. This medal represents her journey of learning to swim. On one side a duckling is shown simply looking at the water, as if to say, “are you kidding me”. She needed a lot of coaching, but now you can’t keep her out of the water, pond water dish or puddle.’

KRIS COPELAND TEACHER, DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE Horizon

‘Horizon represents the journey into the unknown, pushing forward through and beyond boundaries. I had in mind an extract from a poem by Seamus Heaney, “The Cure at Troy: Believe that a further shore is reachable”.’

LINDA CROOK MENTOR TO THE PROJECT Talisman

‘The medal came about from playing around with the shape initially. I had made a stone carving from a shard of Portland stone, which was small, and I thought it would make a good medal with some adjustment. It just felt like something you would carry around, a special keepsake or something to hold to comfort you if you felt there was a challenge ahead. I had seen an exhibition of examples of talismans and I felt it belonged in that category.’

LOUISE DENTICE MENTOR TO THE PROJECT

Sell/Fish

‘The medal is part of a body of work I refer to as the “nature series”, which is an exploration into aspects of human nature. The fish represented is actually a “Dentice” fish found in Sicily, from which my name derives, my ancestors being fishermen and fishmongers. As is common in my work, I like the play on words and duality of meaning.’

KATE HARRISON MENTOR TO THE NEW MEDALLIST SCHEME

Sea and Sand II

‘Sea and Sand is a series of medals that reflect my fascination with nature. The inspiration for them is based on a lifetime of beach combing, observation of sand formation, tidal flows and sea life.’

KATRYN HANUSCH MENTOR TO THE PROJECT

The Full Length (gold-plated bronze)

‘I gave found and discarded thread from around the world a new purpose. I extended short pieces into one long thread that formed a pocket-sized time capsule by connecting stories and places. I recalled memories while I tied and wrapped, and from my hands, junctions, textures and patterns emerged. They reflect on my experience of loss, hand-held objects that make loss palpable in a conversation with the body. The medals’ textures create rhythms like sheet music, activated only when they are felt, read or played, echoing moments gone, keeping them alive and contained at the same time.’

RODDY MATHIESON Teacher, Duncan of Jordanstone

‘This piece began with the humble Lego block, and altering that into an “ego brick”, the building block of the human world, delivering everything from consumerism to re-drawing the map. I suppose I am attempting to understand why we behave the way we do, being part of a society of obscene wealth and abundant poverty, and not excluding myself from the trappings of this system. As I worked on the medal it became more about the duplicity of egoism.’

NICOLA D’A. MOSS MENTOR TO THE PROJECT Jane

Goodall-Roots and Shoots

‘Jane Goodall is my heroine. I admired her life studying chimpanzees, shown in the “National Geographic”, when I was a child. Not so long ago I bumped into her in the supermarket in her 80th year. She continues her environmental work and encourages school children in a programme called “Roots and Shoots”. The environment has always been a big concern for me and features in many of my medals. Reconnecting with our roots firmly in the soil of this planet we live on is greatly needed for us to continue to live well in good health appreciating all life.’

STEFANO SANTILLI TEACHER, WEST DEAN COLLEGE

‘if the first rehearsal for life is life itself’

‘I made this medal alongside students entering the Project. I thought, “Why not? We can learn together.” The idea came from an incident some years ago when I absentmindedly walked into the

side of a fast moving car, seconds from being killed. It made me think of possible other occasions when I have just missed something, just not in the right time or in the wrong place. I connected this with the Watts’ memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, commemorating ordinary people; but what about those amazing ordinary people who would have saved lives?’

Upon a Time (stoneware, oxides and string)

‘This is a series of medals inspired by seals, early bookbinding, old folios, rustling of pages, faded pigments, amulets, talismans, astrolabes, horizontal clocks...The medals are neither abstract nor figurative, the story is yet untold but there is a promise, traces of information and clues of what is contained between the obverse and the reverse.’

DANUTA SOLOWIEJ MENTOR TO THE PROJECT AND NEW MEDALLIST SCHEME Once

AFTERWORD

Twenty-one colleges within Great Britain produced medals for this year’s Project, where they were joined by our ‘guest academy’, Pforzheim University. This year’s judges were: guest judge, Eldon Allison, Treasurer of BAMS; Tom Fattorini, of Thomas Fattorini Ltd; Kate Harrison, artist and mentor; Janet Larkin, Curator at the British Museum and Secretary of BAMS; Marcy Leavitt Bourne, Director, Student Medal Project. As each college continues to use the medal to learn about bronze-casting, a tradition springs up, so that students look forward to their time of making medals at college. After the difficulties of the past few years, it is wonderful to see such an enormous response to the Project in its 30th year. Keeping alive the art and craft of the foundry – at colleges or wherever the medals are cast – is also the aim of the Project. The Student Medal Project is by invitation, to college departments of sculpture, metalwork or jewellery in particular, but also from other disciplines. BAMS will often be able to have an introductory talk arranged at the college the first year, either in person or over Zoom, and there is an instructive PowerPoint on the BAMS website. Such talks will often be able to include an artist as well, speaking about the making process. The Exhibition for the Project in 2023, which includes all works selected to comply with the definition of the modern art medal – two sided, easily held in the hand, not too large, weighty or 3D – will be held at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, from 29 March to 9 May.

ABOUT THE BRITISH ART MEDAL SOCIETY

The Society commissions medals which are available to its members to buy. Since its formation in 1982, the British Art Medal Society not only has commissioned medals but also holds seminars and workshops, plans exhibitions, and continues to encourage artists everywhere to take a fresh approach to the medal.

For the past seventeen years (with one break) it has selected an art school graduate to join the New Medallist Scheme, and awarded a travel and study bursary for them to continue their work with medals. This is sponsored by the Belvedere Trust.

BAMS also publishes the twice-yearly journal The Medal, to which writers and medallists from all parts of the world contribute. On the Society’s 30th anniversary in 2012, it published a book, ‘The New Medallists’, which includes essays about its work and contains a list of its commissioned

medals. It is available from the Society, as are previous printed catalogues of the Student Medal Project and other publications. A book celebrating the 40th anniversary of BAMS has been produced during the anniversary: ‘Encounters with Medals, 40 Years of BAMS’, by Philip Attwood, Janet Larkin and Marcy Leavitt Bourne, available from the website.

The Society offers an advisory service to potential patrons, institutions and individuals on how to go about commissioning a medal.

BAMS is also associated with the Fédération

Internationale de la Médaille d’Art (FIDEM), which holds an international exhibition and conference every two years, and in 2023 this will be held in October in Florence, Italy.

The British Art Medal Society welcomes new members. Further information can be obtained from:

Janet Larkin

BAMS c/o Department of Coins and Medals

British Museum, London WC1B 3DG

Email: jlarkin@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Or consult the Society’s website: www.bams.org.uk

Follow us:

@britishartmedalsociety

@british_art_medal_society

For information on the Student Medal Project email Marcy

Leavitt Bourne: marcyleavittbourne@bourne.uk.net

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Goldsmiths’ Centre supports the Student Medal Project with its administrative costs, including those for exhibitions and symposiums held at universities around the UK.

This catalogue includes all of the students who participated in the Project, with details about their work, in their own words, edited for clarity and space. Sponsorship for the design of the catalogue has very generously been given by the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, The Worshipful Company of Founders and by the Goldsmiths’ Centre. Sponsors of the prizes have continued to be very supportive and we cannot thank them enough. The Worshipful Company of Founders awards the Grand First Prize for the medal that most successfully makes use of the medallic medium, and continues the tradition of paying for a cast of the winning medal for the Founders’ collection. Thus their prize is a validation and celebration of the student’s work. The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers has set aside a fund each year to purchase the winner of their prize to add to their collection. The Grand Second Prize is presented by Thomas Fattorini Limited. This year other prizes were awarded by: the John Herbert bequest; Philip Roberts, the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize; the Ditchling Prize, Joe Cribb; The Worshipful Company of Cutlers; Pangolin Editions; G W Lunt; The Bigbury Mint. Kate Harrison has created an award for a student to increase their knowledge of medal making.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Thank you to our sponsors, those who have presented prizes and those whose generosity have made possible the designing of this on-line catalogue:

The Bigbury Mint (See page 17)

Thomas Fattorini Limited (See page 70)

The Ditchling Prize, Joe Cribb (See page 25)

The Goldsmiths’ Centre (Catalogue and administration)

Kate Harrison (See page 41)

The John Herbert Bequest (See page 43)

G W Lunt (See page 28)

The Michael Roberts Memorial Prize (See page 34)

Pangolin Editions (See page 81)

The Worshipful Company of Cutlers (See page 65)

The Worshipful Company of Founders (Catalogue and see page 60)

The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers (Catalogue sponsor and see page 74)

COLOPHON

Published by the British Art Medal Trust, London 2023

BAMS c/o Department of Coins and Medals

British Museum, London WC1B 3DG

Design by Two

www.twodesign.co.uk

Typeset in Bureau Grotesque

Condensed and Signifier

Photography by Stephen Dodd, the British Museum

© the publisher, artists and designers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers.

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY; CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS; CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY; CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART; CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS; CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS; CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL; DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN; UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH; FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM; CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE; GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE; THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART; GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON; LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY; NORWICH UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS; SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY; TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE; UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY ST DAVID; WEST DEAN COLLEGE OF ARTS & CONSERVATION; PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY, GERMANY.