Phoebe Cummings Wins Major Arts Prize

Phoebe Cummings has been named as the winner of the inaugural £10,000 Woman's Hour Craft Prize. She was awarded the prize by a judging panel made up of Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council; Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A; Martha Kearney, BBC journalist and broadcaster; Susie Lau, fashion writer and style influencer; and Jacky Klein, art historian.

"Phoebe’s work is truly original. It encompasses performance art and studio ceramics and defies easy categorisation. Working exclusively with raw clay to create site-specific pieces that change subtly day-to-day, her staggeringly beautiful work asks us to celebrate rather than mourn the passing of time. She challenges ideas of what craft is with work that is almost impossible to possess but delights in the physical process of making and shows a highly skilled understanding of the material. And so despite stiff competition from 11 other exceptional makers, she has been awarded the inaugural Woman’s Hour Craft Prize," said Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council

The Prize rewards originality and excellence in concept, design and process and will seek to recognise a craft practitioner or designer-maker who is an outstanding artist and who has significantly contributed to craft practice in the last five years.

Twelve finalists were shortlisted, whose work was exhibited in the the V&A, from 7 September 2017 – 5 February 2018, before touring to venues around the UK.