Edinburgh College of Art graduates taking part in the RSA’s annual exhibition have been recognised with awards following the opening of the exhibition, including the prestigious £15,000 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence Award. 

Fifteen of ECA’s art and architecture graduates from 2021 were selected to exhibit at this year’s RSA New Contemporaries exhibition, showcasing the best work from graduates shows across Scotland, with six recognised with additional awards from the RSA and beyond. 

External awards for ECA graduates 

Congratulations to Lorna Phillips, BA (Hons) Sculpture, who won the biggest award of the exhibition, the £15,000 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence Award for a three-month residency. The award includes an exhibition opportunity at Glenfiddich, plus a work added to the Glenfiddich Collection. 

Congratulations also to Mhairi Fenton, BA (Hons) Photography, on being jointly selected for the NHS Lothian Charity Tonic Arts Award, a purchase prize for an artwork suitable for an NHS Lothian hospital setting. 

RSA Awards 

Four ECA graduates were selected for Royal Scottish Academy awards. Eva Cortes, BA (Hons) Intermedia, was jointly awarded the RSA Friends Award winning a share of £1,000, and Kat Cutler-MacKenzie, MA (Hons) Fine Art, was jointly recognised with the RSA Art Prize, winning a share of £400.  

Otto Gobey, BA (Hons) Sculpture, was awarded the RSA Stuart Prize and Daniel Turner, BA (Hons) Painting, received the RSA Chalmers-Jervise Prize, both worth £150. 

ECA’s 2021 graduates at RSA New Contemporaries 

This year’s exhibition will run until Sunday 16 April 2023 and showcases work from 2021 graduates, following disruption to the annual shows in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Visitors can enjoy the work of all fifteen ECA graduates, including paintings, sculptures, films, photography, printmaking, installation, performances and architectural displays from graduates. 

ECA graduates exhibiting at the exhibition this year are: 

• Alice Barker, BA (Hons) Painting
• Ben Caro, MA (Hons) Fine Art
• Eva Cortes, BA (Hons) Intermedia
• Miriam Craddock, BA (Hons) Painting
• Kat Cutler-Mackenzie, MA (Hons)  Fine Art
• Mhairi Fenton, BA (Hons) Photography       
• Jasmine Forbes, BA (Hons) Sculpture
• Georgia Gardner, MA (Hons) Fine Art 
• Otto Gobey, BA (Hons) Sculpture 
• Natalie Godjamanian, MA (Hons) Fine Art 
• Lorena Levi, MA (Hons) Fine Art 
• Lorna Phillips, BA (Hons) Sculpture 
• Emily Topping, BA (Hons) Photography 
• Daniel Turner, BA (Hons) Painting 
• Vsevolod Yurchenko, MArch Architecture 

More about ECA graduates' work

Mhairi Fenton, BA (Hons) Photography, is a photographer, saying her practice “...questions the sincerity of conservation efforts; asking whether there is sufficient respect of nature to provide for humans and the rest of the world’s biodiversity to co-exist." 

Natalie Godjamanian, MA (Hons) Fine Art, creates digital collages "...using archival images, photographs, sculptures and drawings to create dreamscapes which symbolize some aspect of Armenian history or mythology as interpreted by my understanding of my own cultural identity as a Diaspora Armenian.” 

Inspired by the revival of internet chatrooms during lockdowns, Lorena Levi, MA (Hons) Fine Art, said of her 2021 work: “This year, with the continuous lockdowns and isolation, internet chatrooms made a revival. I explored Omegle, a site that boasts itself as being censor free and 'lawless' allowing for anyone to meet anyone.” 

Miriam Craddock, BA (Hons) Painting, works across drawing, painting, sculpture, mask-making, video and performance. She wrote about her work in 2021: "This year has given birth to a bizarre family of masked creatures, that I use to investigate human action and motivation." 

Ben Caro, MA (Hons) Fine Art, is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture and photography, and his practice is “...archaeological in approach, delving into object-histories and excavating time layers via analogue photographic processes.” Ben proposes that "...the analogue is vital to future ways of seeing" 

Congratulations to all fifteen ECA graduates!