WINNERS of the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival (WCAF) Open competitions were announced at a packed event to mark the launch.
Bex Ilsley won the open art competition with Your Cities Will Shine Forever featuring a wall-mounted installation and a virtual reality app viewed through a headset.
The piece is a self-portrait which also explores the predicament of living between the physical and virtual.
Bex said: “I am delighted to have won. It was totally unexpected and really took me by surprise.
“This type of opportunity is vital for artists at the beginning of their careers and I am beyond grateful because funding and awards are the only way I have to continue practicing at this stage.
“I’m buzzing to have my first solo show thanks to the WCAF judges and those at the Warrington Museum. I will aim to do something out of this world.”
Runner-up was Peter Davis with his self-portrait entitled Face Furniture, an incredibly lifelike acrylic on board painting which caught the eye from across the room.
He said: “For many years I have looked on in awe at the quality of work on show at the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival. But this is the first time I’ve entered the competition.”
Photography winner was Steve Deer’s The Birds which captured a dog-walker on a beach with the sky above filled with birds.
He said: “It was a lucky ‘grab’ shot taken on West Kirby beach as wading birds were disturbed by a dog-walker; I was just in the right place at the right time and was fortunate enough to have my camera to hand.”
Second place went to Emma Shaw for The Boathouse, a landscape shot of a wooden building on a lake shore with a misty mountain backdrop.
Winner of the first young person’s prize, made possible thanks to sponsorship from Warrington Collegiate, was Rain Egan whose Untitled captured a low sun over a quiet railway station.
Derek Dick, outreach and engagement manager, judged the entries along with Paulette Terry Brien and Laurence Lane, directors of The International 3 art agents and gallery in Manchester.
He said: “We were really pleased to receive 360 entries, that’s about 100 more than in previous years, and the quality of the work was outstanding.
“The standard gets better and better every year and it was genuinely really difficult to choose the winners; there were so many excellent entries in the running.
“We hope to develop the young person’s prize in future years as I think it’s really important to nurture fresh talent.”
The winners each received £250 and a solo exhibition next year while the runners-up won a £100 cash prize.
Detail from Bex Ilsley’s winning entry “Your Cities will shine Forever”
