Over the summer, I discovered the 13-19 Art Prize Singapore, hosted in support of the Business Times Budding Artists Fund. The competition aimed to recognise and uplift young artistic talents in Singapore. It ended in an auction of the winning entries, the proceeds from which would go towards funding the arts and more specifically, young artists. As Singapore generally isn’t a country known for its artists, I felt it would be both a fun and meaningful competition to enter.  

As we generally had free reign of the medium, subject, and style, it was a wonderful opportunity to revisit oil painting; a medium that I’d grown particularly fond of during my time at Roedean. The painting features a warmly-lit House 2 common room, with a friend of mine (also from Roedean) centred in the composition. Moreover, it was actually greatly inspired by a previous piece I submitted for my A-Levels (in fact, the biggest departure from it was merely the angle of the perspective). My choice of subject matter, being a person within interior spaces, was also a highly prevalent theme in my exam pieces and sketchbooks. I unfortunately only had about four days to spend on the painting due to time constraints, but it was a much-needed time of rediscovering my appreciation for art after a busy first year at university. I was happy to receive a High Commendation for my efforts. Overall, the piece is a collective of some of the most valuable bits to me as an Old Roedeanian, and I hope it conveys just how much I cherish the time I spent there.