Thought-Provoking Ideas on the Canvas - Discover painstakingly hand-crafted scenes that speak to a range of contemporary issues, from Pascal Ungerer’s exploration of environmental decay in Speculative Artefacts to Junsuke Yokoyama’s desire to express transient feelings. These shortlisted artists are able to convey more than meets the eye. Stephen Johnston  Limes in a Jar  Limes in a Jar showcases how Stephen Johnston continues in the tradition of the Old Masters, for whom mortality was a common theme. Johnston considers all still life to be concerned with death and continues this association with his pictures of food decaying in glass jars. The materialistic icons have a sense of fleeting momentariness.  Find out more » Ian Robinson  Rainbow Reading  Ian Robinson takes insight from the world of collection, revealing the qualities of the “stuff” we accumulate. He focuses on the themes of people’s passions, celebrating the backstories of the collections themselves, uncovering the care and passion associated with key items and unearthing hidden characteristics of their owners.  Find out more » Christopher Stott  Ampro Precision Projector  Christopher Stott’s clean representational oil paintings transform vintage objects into icons. He depicts antique items like projectors, books and typewriters. As subjects, they have a built-in narrative. By turning them into paintings, Stott asks the viewer to slow down and perhaps even connect their own histories and stories to the canvas.  Find out more » Constance Regardsoe Trapped Light In Trapped Light, the figure and the light are enmeshed together in water and preserved in the painting, the moment painstakingly recreated over many hours, like an insect in amber. The use of a male model nods to the ubiquity of the female form, throughout western art history and in contemporary paintings of figures in water. Find out more » Teresa Lawler  Haven 9: Beyond the Edge of the City After training as a painter, Teresa Lawler spent time as an art director and has worked across television and theatre. This background has had a strong influence on the featured compositions, which stand out for their cinematic aesthetic. Stylised houses are inserted into fictitious landscapes, with cities only glimpsed in the far distance.  Find out more » - Change email address / Leave mailing list