The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) is thrilled to announce the winner of the BADA Art Prize 2022: Rosalie Oakman.
Rosalie’s work exemplified the criteria and highlights our core principles of conservation and sustainability. We would like to congratulate her on this achievement.
BADA Art Prize Winner 2022
Le prix d’être une femme
2022
Rosalie Oakman
Offcuts of lace and crochet
From the Artist:
Both the physical components and message behind my piece span countless generations. The piece represents the past, and the present. Through the use of inherited antique lace, it holds both meaning and memories. This lace womxn exists today, as an antique of yesterday. However, my hope is that we have a brighter future, where the message behind this piece becomes redundant – an antique of tomorrow.
A textile sculpture representing the female body. A lot of womxn artists, such as Louise Bourgeois or Freddie Robbins for example, have used the medium of textile bodies to express stories. By bringing old and new lace together, to represent the union of the memories and experiences from the past and the present. The story told is one of the fragilities and inviting beauty of worn out lace combined with the tactility of its knurls. It speaks of non-consensual touch, the male gaze, the beauty and elegance held through aging.
The whole process of making the piece almost turns it into an archetypal structure, of womxns’ trauma. I aim to trigger something in people that see the piece. Whether that’s the instinct to save, protect, pity or feel shocked. It should enable discussion and raise awareness, to help people to understand guilt or shame and find a means to cope, and deal with a traumatic response. This piece is a ‘memento’ from the story of many, when will the story end?
The body is made from offcuts of lace and crochet that were collected by my grandmother and her stepmother over the years. In that time, it was current to save everything for further use. I believe that this practice is one that we should try to maintain and apply nowadays, as it is very sustainable.