During Degree Shows at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), the University of Edinburgh Collections selects work by ECA students to become a permanent part of the Art Collection.

This year, work by five students was selected for the Degree Show Purchase Prize.

The 2021 winners of the ECA Collections Purchase Prize are:

• Becky Brewis, Contemporary Art Practice MFA
• Gabriel Levine Brislin, Intermedia BA (Hons)
• Valentina Lobos, Contemporary Art Practice MFA
• Daniel Turner, Painting BA (Hons)
• Maria Wrang-Rasmussen, Intermedia BA (Hons)

We spoke to students following the announcement of the prize.

Becky Brewis

“It feels like some air has been let in at the end of an airless year. I was worried about showing work that is about the materiality of surface in a digital format so it feels like a real achievement to have had my work engaged positively by the curators.”

The Collection is acquiring two small pieces, a drawing and a mixed media embroidery.

My textile work holds pictorial composition in tension with fleshy materiality. I like how when working with fabric there is always the question of what to do with the edges; whether to tuck them, or hem them or leave them frayed and the surface more fragile and at risk of being undone.”

Joining the Collection

"The Art Collection team is thrilled to have been able to award Degree Show Purchase Prizes to five students within Art from the 2021 show, and we are full of praise for the entire graduating body and all that they have achieved under such challenging circumstances," said Julie-Ann Delaney, Art Collections Curator at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Research Collections, "As is usual, the high quality of the work made selection difficult, but with the support of ECA teaching staff we were able to review assessment material before reaching a decision on the eventual winners.

The artworks acquired this year are indicative of the amazing breadth and range of processes and techniques employed by artists at ECA, and evidence the remarkable resilience of the makers in the face of limited access to facilities due to the pandemic. Through drawing, text based and performance work, to online and textile pieces, the artists explore identity, automation, hierarchies and representation; producing works which create rich opportunities for future display and teaching. The acquisition of the works - and the exciting conversations had with the artists around methods of recording and collecting - not only enhance the University’s Art Collection but also pave the way for new ways of working in the future.’