*COMPETITION RESULTS!*

View the winning entries of our inspiration competition here…

We are pleased to announce the winners of our competition, based around the concepts of creativity and idea generation.

We asked you to show us what inspires you. Thanks to everyone for your entries, we hope you enjoy the ones we have picked and perhaps they will inspire you too!

 

The winner of our competition is Alex Hedworth, with his choice of the iconic image of the moon landing for his inspiration, and the eye-catching piece he created. Congratulations Alex!

Alex says: “The moon landings have been the source of inspiration for a graphic novel I am currently working on about the loneliness of an astronaut.”

  

 

 

                          *Winning submission by Alex Hedworth*

 

We think this image of the spaceman at sea perfectly captures the sense of isolation Alex wished to convey and we love the stylised feel of it too. We were impressed with Alex’s entry because the relationship between the two images he submitted was clear, and the idea behind the competition was to show the process of inspiration, but he also subverted the usual interpretations of the moon landing. Instead of concentrating on it as a moment of triumph and progress he chose to emphasise the loneliness and isolation of the astronaut. We loved how the sea perfectly captured this while playing with the idea of a space ‘ship’. Without any visible facial expression the dejection of the figure is clear and invites empathy. We wish him the best of luck with his graphic novel!

 

We also loved this entry from Kyle Collard, who brought out the contrast in the historical and cultural context of his chosen image and his piece, ‘Restraint’, a portrait of a girl sprayed on canvas.

Kyle writes: “My inspiration comes from the drawings of pin up girls circa the 1950s, an example of which I have submitted. Whilst some view pin up girls as a form of exploitation, it is my personal opinion that they depict freedom of expression. My piece was inspired by these conflicting ideas: highlighting the restraints imposed on women (as shown by the handcuffs) juxtaposed with their need to express themselves in a time period when this was not always possible for them. The piece is therefore attempting to portray caged sensuality.”

  

 

 

                            *Artwork by first runner-up, Kyle Collard*

 

 

This chilling image created by Eleazer Renée Ang also captured our attention. Eleazer writes: “This is my artwork inspired by my trip to the extermination camp in Auschwitz. I was very affected by the way Josef Mengele made use of twins and this is a response to the emotions I had when I was there. The artwork shows a pair of identical skulls representing a pair of twins and the line ‘Baby your secret’s safe’ is a sarcastic way to say we all know what you were doing.”

 

 

                   *Artwork by second runner-up, Eleazer Renée Ang*

 

And our final runner-up is Jozef Palguta. We like the way Jozef decided to use simply text for his first piece, and then to incorporate it into his second, a picture which has a very surreal feel to it.

We also enjoyed Jozef’s accompanying note: “Every day, every time, every sensation inspires me.”

             *Artwork by third runner-up, Jozef Palguta*

All of the above entries have earned their creator an AVA book of their choice. Please find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more chances to win books and share your work.