QEST Scholar makes paper trophy for new award

QEST Bendicks Scholar Louisa Boyd has created an innovative trophy for the first QEST Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award winner.

A printmaker based in Cheshire, Louisa made the abstract feature piece out of paper with sustainability at front of mind. Her work is inspired by how we as humans have an intrinsic connection with the natural world. 

The trophy was presented to Award winner and QEST Scholar Lulu Harrison at a Winners’ Reception at Vicars’ Hall, Windsor Castle.

Lulu was one of 66 people who applied for the Award which recognises makers who’ve become measurably more sustainable in their practice over the last 12 months.

Louisa said she was delighted to be asked to make the trophy.

“I feel very pleased to have been able to make a piece that honours a maker for caring about the impact of their practice on the environment,” she said.

“The sculpture itself is made from ghost prints taken from etched copper plates.

“This type of print is taken by putting an extra sheet of damp paper through the press on top of a plate that has already been printed from once. It uses up the remaining ink that is left on the plate.

“The two intersecting shapes in the trophy are the cube and the octahedron, representing earth and air respectively.”

Louisa used Somerset paper from John Purcel Paper suppliers. They have been making paper since the 1700s, produced with the qualities required for long time use when making artwork.

She said the base of the trophy was made by local furniture designer, Suzanne Hodgson, who used beech wood (a tree species native to the UK). This helped to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials.

“I also used a local business to create the bespoke brass plaque for the same reasons,” she said.

“It is important that we all do what we can to protect the world’s resources and often quite simple changes to our working methods can go some way to helping the cause.

In other news, Louisa’s work will feature in an upcoming exhibition in the Netherlands.

The exhibition runs from 3 November 2023 to 24 March 2024 in The Hague, Amsterdam.

Louisa’s 25 sculptural forms of the five platonic solids (pictured) will be shown in the exhibition at a museum which is devoted to famous graphic artist MC Escher.

Learn more here: https://escherinhetpaleis.nl/exhibition/just-like-escher/?lang=en