A young Scottish artist, whose paintings are inspired by exploring abandoned buildings, has won a major art prize.
Samantha Cheevers, 23, who graduated from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen last year, triumphed in the Glenfiddich Residency Award which is worth £10,000 and is the biggest prize for an emerging artist in Scotland.
She will now join contemporary artists from around the world as part of the prestigious Artists in Residency initiative, which is being held at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown this summer.
Miss Cheevers did a degree in painting at Gray’s School of Art and was the subsequent recipient of an Aberdeen Arts Centre Graduate Award.
Part of her work involves exploring deserted buildings, including farm houses, hospitals and children’s homes.
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She said: “My work is influenced by urban exploration and psycho-geography. The documentation and photography I have collected from abandoned places are the key elements to my paintings.
“The letters and objects I have found inside these derelict buildings help to create a narrative that brings a surreal and peculiar environment to my work.
“When I am exploring the buildings, I always found it interesting how nature was taking over these man-made structures, so a lot of my work is focused on bringing the outside into these empty spaces.”
Miss Cheevers was chosen from those who works features in the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition, a showcase of emerging artists selected from all the students who graduated from Scotland’s five art colleges in 2018.
The exhibition opens to the public in Edinburgh today.
Andy Fairgrieve, co-ordinator of the programme, said: “We are delighted to be inviting Samantha to join the residency this summer. The selection panel felt that she has developed a very strong signature style in her eye-catching paintings which capture the texture and atmosphere of the abandoned buildings that inspire her.
“There are a number of ruined and tumbledown buildings in the area surrounding the distillery and I am sure her explorations will result in fresh inspiration for her.
“This is the fifth year we have had the privilege of bringing an artist from the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition and the quality of work on display seems to improve every year, which is a testament to the talent coming out of the five Scottish art schools.”
