RED
AUGUST 2025
BEST IN SHOW
GABRIELE GRACINE
** EMERALD ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2021**
* BEFORE COLOR REMEMBERS *
Digital
“I'm a self-taught digital artist. My process is a proprietary technique I constantly explore and enhance. I'm an intuitive artist, feeling guided by an inner muse leading me through uncharted territories of artistry as I spontaneously relinquish control, allowing ideas to flow naturally and freely, unconditionally trusting the process. I begin each artistic exploration with anticipation and enthusiasm, pursuing shapes, patterns, colors, light, shadow and texture as my images gradually evolve. I invite mystery, surprise and delight to my artwork. I hope to surpass mere visual appreciation and leave a powerful lasting impression. I strive to connect with the viewer, evoke emotions, provoke thought and inspire introspection and personal interpretation. I seek to challenge perceptions of reality and encourage others to see the world through a different lens by presenting a seamless blend of cutting-edge technology and creativity.”
— GABRIELE GRACINE
GOLDEN TRIO AWARD
MICHAEL WAGNER
* TALES OF COLORS AND IMAGINATION (CLOSELY) *
* TALES OF COLORS AND IMAGINATION (ATTACK) *
* TALES OF COLORS AND IMAGINATION (HOLD THE LINE) *
Photography
“After years of studying colour and its effects, I have now been able to develop an approach that shows colour in an unusual role. Through the combination — the synthesis of my experience as a painter and my knowledge as a photographic artist — I create pictures that assign colour a special expressive value. This means that colour is not only chromatically effective but also through its physical, essential appearance, it has an all-encompassing material, tangible effect, almost as if it were following an organic choreography. I see further research into this potential as an important, enriching task for the future, because colour is light, colour is life and its diversity can hardly be surpassed.” — MICHAEL WAGNER
DIAMOND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
KENNETH RICCI
* SHOPPING IN RED *
Cut/paste paper collage on board
"I work in a sort of literary/philosophical framework so within that context my reference points are the parables of Kafka and the aphorisms of Kierkegaard. Because elements determine content, the process of creation is both constrained and liberated by the available elements at any given time and it is the improvised procedure of choice, assembly and judgment that settles the argument" — KENNETH RICCI
DIAMOND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
JOHN DIEPHOUSE
** RUBY ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2024**
**CRYSTAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2023**
* ROTATION *
Photography
“I am a self-taught photographer and digital collage artist and am attracted to a wide variety of subjects ranging from natural landscapes, botanicals and wildlife to images that provide either abstract expression or social commentary. I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection.” — JOHN DIEPHOUSE
RUBY AWARD
ETIENNE MARQUIS
* JOAB *
Oil on linen
“My work delves into the twisted and visionary world of contemporary surrealism. It embodies a gateway between the physical realm and that of the mind alongside the shifted landscapes of my upbringing in the Channel Islands to my independence on the Cornish coast. I take from traditional academic techniques — such as the chiaroscuro which allows me to illuminate a world of my own creation — and I pursue a warped realism that blends the lines of my physical and psychological worlds. Many of my artistic inspirations derive from biblical, social and cultural iconography which I appropriate and weave into the narrative of my work.” — ETIENNE MARQUIS
RUBY AWARD
ANNITA APOSTOLIDOU PLATIS
* THE CURTAIN KNOWS *
Mixed media digital collage
“Beneath the striped grandeur of a circus-tent crown, The Curtain Knows unveils a silent performance where light reveals as much as it conceals. The central figure — balanced between innocence and revelation — is both ringmaster and secret-keeper, guarding emotions that share the same painted smile. Lamps and parasols stand like quiet witnesses, their glow playing deliberate tricks, uncovering fleeting truths behind the façade. This is no spectacle of noise but of introspection, where identity becomes a dreamlike theatre and the curtain remembers everything we try to hide. Part of my series The Luminous Abyss, the work explores the emotional tension between light and darkness, between what we reveal and what we keep in shadow. Lighting forms — chandeliers, lampshades, glowing bulbs — serve as portals into the soul’s hidden architecture, bridging retro opulence with timeless human vulnerability.” — ANNITA APOSTOLIDOU PLATIS
RUBY AWARD
LILLIANNE DAIGLE
* BLOOMING RED *
Digital
“I find joy and excitement in capturing and communicating the essence of a moment, whether it be the energy of a situation or the nostalgia of a memory. I strive to create a sense of “being there” for the viewer. My artistic journey has evolved from painting and traditional printmaking to photography and digital art. In my digital prints, I either begin with a clean slate or use scanned fragments of my artwork or photographs that I have taken and then modify, blend and manipulate them with various computer graphics programs.”
— LILLIANNE DAIGLE
RUBY AWARD
KATARZYNA DICKINSON
* VEINS OF MAGMA *
Collage
“In this series I explore the decades of experiences that burn brightly and fade slowly. It is intended as a study of intensity — of love, loss, rage and transformation. I used multiple layers of oil and cold wax built up and scraped away to mimic the way memory distorts and distills with time. The fiery palette evokes destruction and warmth, perhaps suggesting that pain and beauty often coexist. The textured surface invites touch, hinting at scars that remain beneath the surface. Through abstraction, I aim to communicate something visceral, a feeling rather than a narrative; something that speaks directly to the body and mind.” — KATARZYNA DICKINSON
RUBY AWARD
ERIN ZATRINE
* POPPIES AT DUSK *
Photography
“Flower photography has become my passion. You will find me at flower festivals as well as garden tours taking any opportunity I can to capture floral beauty. I derive inspiration from Georgia O’Keefe and Frida Khalo who made an enduring way in a male-dominated field of art. I’m also inspired by Immogen Cunningham who said, ”The best photograph I will take is the next one”. I strive to bring the joy and happiness I feel when I’m taking pictures to my images.” — ERIN ZATRINE
CRYSTAL AWARD
(in random order)
AWARD OF MERIT
(in random order)
(in random order)
HONOURABLE MENTION
(in random order)
**WINNERS VIDEO**
FINALISTS
