Christine Risley Award

The Christine Risley Award is a cash prize awarded by the Goldsmiths Textile Collection & Constance Howard Gallery to a graduating Goldsmiths student for outstanding work relating to textiles, in memory of Christine Risley.

The Christine Risley Award Winner 2023

Azna Solas May

The Goldsmiths Textile Collection and Constance Howard Gallery are pleased to announce the 2023 Christine Risley Award Winner as BA Fine Art graduate, Azna May.

Our guest judge, Dr Grant Watson, curator and researcher, writes of May’s work:

We are delighted to give Azna May the Christine Risley Award in response to a unique and unexpected installation linked by a textile element. The artist uses a sophisticated combination of textile materials and techniques including embroidery, patchwork, print and quilting to create sculptural forms and costumes that convey personal narratives and invented mythologies.

There is a fluidity between textile and text, textile and image, moving image and performance, which are integrated by Azna into a compelling queer aesthetic. The artist made great use of the textile workshops at Goldsmiths to produce an installation which draws on a legacy of queer and feminist work in a textile medium.’ 

Azna Solas May’s work will be on display at the Constance Howard Gallery, 2 October – 3 November 2023, Mon-Fri, 1-5pm. Opening reception 29 September, 6-8pm.