Kate Lyddon | Mark Tanner Sculpture Award

Lyddon responds to what she sees as the “surreality of our existence, how that experience manifests in human behaviour and social interaction … the madness and crudeness of the world.” Her characters exist at the extremes of possibility and beyond, fusing glamorous outerwear or a svelte silhouette with grotesque features or accoutrements. Some of these sculptures are clothed in ritualistic fashions reminiscent of sports team costumes, military uniforms, or carnival fancy dress. Weighing in against these narrative suggestions is an intuitive maker’s engagement with materials and processes - an essentially modernist approach to making, using both traditional and conspicuously contemporary materials.

Lyddon has been experimenting with ceramics and glazes, combining these thoughtfully formed elements with detritus, offcuts, found objects. This shifts the focus away from a defined subject, affording semi-nonsensical images/objects - nonsense enough to reflect Lyddon’s experience of the world.

Kate Lyddon was selected for the MTSA by Penelope Curtis, Director of Tate Britain; sculptor Conrad Shawcross RA, winner of the 2013-14 MTSA Iain Hales and MTSA trustee Rebecca Scott.

Kate Lyddon received her MA Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art, London in 2006. She has made solo presentations of her work in 2012 at Studio1.1, London and Galerie d'YS, Brussels, in 2011 at Galerie Charlot, Paris and in 2008, at Fold Gallery, London.
The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award is the most significant award for emerging artists working in the field of sculpture in the UK: offering £8,000 in financial support towards the making of new work, plus a solo show at Standpoint Gallery. The MTSA seeks to reward outstanding and innovative practice, with a particular interest in work that demonstrates a commitment to process, or sensitivity to material.