The results are in. Major congrats to the three winners of our 2020 Cover Art Contest!
First Place: MENTAL LOAD 02, by Masha Nova
Masha Nova explores womanhood, feminism, and ongoing events in her latest collage work. Born in 1992 and raised in Russia (Siberia), as a teenager she moved to Canada and later to United Kingdom to pursue her art education. Early immigration and constant travels inspire the artist to view the world through an authentic lens. Nova’s work has recently won an award at The Holy Art Gallery (London, UK) and was featured in Grazia Italy. Masha Nova currently resides in Milan.
The image of Mental Load is quirky, straight forward and has nice dynamics surrounding the figure with the use of garment making patterns. I understand the image of the MAN ON THE MOON. And the flippers makes it look like the young woman is about to go deep sea diving, struggling against the waves of gender politics she is about to encounter. She is holding a problematic Teletubby indicating she is still a child. All of these items together makes for a constant whirling of things to come. — Judge Shelley Niro
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Second Place: Your Silence Makes a World for My Language, by sophie anne edwards
sophie anne edwards (she/her/settler) is an environmental artist, geopoet, and curator who lives on Mnidoo Mnising (Manitoulin Island). Her field and installation-based practice focuses on the complexities of local ecosystems. Her work is funded by the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
The emotional impact of seeing the bandaging of the ash tree as it lays in wait for its own destruction hits close to the heart. We are aware of the environmental decline and often do not know how to cure it of its impending dangers. As we look up from the ground and witness its stillness on a winter’s day we can only embrace the doomed tree with our prayers and continue to educate ourselves and the future generations. — Judge Shelley Niro
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Honourable Mention: My Father Catches Me Confronting Memory, by Tea Gerbeza
Tea Gerbeza is a disabled poet and interdisciplinary artist based in Treaty 6 territory (Saskatoon, SK). She is a current MFA in Writing candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. Tea’s poetry and art often explore themes of intergenerational memory, her scoliosis-related disabilities, and reimagined selfhoods as resistance to ableist perceptions of her bodymind.
Memory is a powerful tool. How far will you go to remember an event, an individual, something that has made ruts into your brain. Living with these imprints on a day to day basis makes us the individuals we are. We learn to cope with constant reminders that we are as much as the past and the present. We have no choice but to go forward. This haunting image invites the viewer to linger in this room: almost touching, almost smelling and almost having a conversation with the person in the room. — Judge Shelley Niro
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The first place winner’s submission will be featured on the cover of our next issue, 44.2, and the second place winner within the same issue. We are immensely grateful to everyone who shared their art with us and our judge. A special thank-you to our wonderful judge, Shelley Niro, for going through all submissions and selecting our winners, and our cover art with such care. Our 2021 Cover Art Contest will open on November 15th of this year. The featured image is Masha Nova’s winning cover entry, MENTAL LOAD 02.
