Thank you & Acknowledgements

Once again, we would like to thank all of the artists that entered, sharing their work and their artistic passion with us. It was such a pleasure to immerse myself in the work of so many creatives from all corners of the globe and read their inspirational stories.

As Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief I have the pleasure and honour of curating each issue of the magazine and our yearly exhibitions. The many wonderful and talented Art Prize entries we received continue to give me a plethora of new ideas and choices to pursue in future. So thank you again for your interest in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, I very much hope to see how your work has grown and developed in next year’s Prize.

I would also like to sincerely thank the 2022 Jury Panel, particularly the Digital Art Category Judge Dan dos Santos, who gave his time and expertise to the panel. Additionally I warmly thank the other Category Judges: Martin Wittfooth (Traditional Art juror), Joan Coderch and Javier Malavia of CODERCH & MALAVIA (Sculpture jurors), and Bella Kotak [1st Prize winner of the Photography award 2021] (Photography juror), as well as the Directors of Modern Eden Gallery, Kim Larson and Bradley Platz, and Founder of Quirky Fox, Vicki Fox.

I would also like to thank our major partners: INPRNT, RAYMAR, Yasha Young Projects, iCanvas and ArtStation; the Beautiful Bizarre team for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the prize and winners all-year round, and of course to my partner, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine‘s Co-Founder Richard Purssey. The judging process was extremely difficult with an incredible amount noteworthy entries, so thank you again!

Our sincere thanks to this year’s Digital Art Award sponsors listed below. It is through their generosity that the Digital Art Award Winners will be able to enrich their practice.

iCanvas Digital Art Award

The iCanvas Digital Art Award 1st prize winner will receive:

• US$3,000 cash, generously donated by sponsor iCanvas, printers of high quality canvas art prints, priced for every lover of art.
• US$1,500 cash, generously donated by digitalprintmaker, prints and services for photographers & artists by Master Printmaker with over 20 years experience.
• A Wacom One, Creative Pen Display.  It comes with all the essentials to spice up your digital life. There’s the natural pen feel on the 13.3” screen, the included creative software – even the ability to connect to certain Android devices.
• Receive a beautiful, specially commissioned glass art Award trophy.
• A coupon to enjoy Linktree PRO for free for 12 months.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery, in San Francisco, CA USA, alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• 3 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 1 million+ followers across all socials platforms).
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared on social media.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
• + most importantly, receive worldwide exposure!

2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive:

• A coupon to enjoy Linktree PRO for free for 12 months.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery, in San Francisco, CA USA, alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• 2nd Prize: Wacom Intuos Pro Medium which offers you more natural creative control than ever before. Combined with the super-sensitive Wacom Pro Pen 2, Wacom’s sleek new tablet looks and feels amazing.
• 3rd Prize: Wacom Intuos, with a light, super-accurate pen and free downloadable software to suit your style; Wacom Intuos is built to bring your wildest ideas to life.
• An exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
• + most importantly, receive worldwide exposure!

Congratulations to the 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize iCanvas Digital Art Award Winners: Juliet Nneka, Marcela Bolívar, and Jennifer Bruce!

3rd Prize Winner: Juliet Nneka

3rd Prize Winner

Juliet Nneka

Born: Nigeria. Currently resides: The Netherlands.

“Aftergrowth”, Procreate and iPad Air

Juliet Nneka – a.k.a. NK Jules – is a Nigerian born artist living in the Netherlands. As a digital painter, her work addresses escapism and navigates femininity through the use of surrealistic florals, biomorphism, portraiture, and figuration. She makes use of textures and some elements of mark-making to preserve the traditional feel within her digital paintings. Furthermore, she feels that the connection and emphasis between blackness and gentleness is rare in western art circles. She does not let this bother her; Juliet simply ensures that she comes as she is.

“Aftergrowth“: This is a painting that served as a confrontation between the past and the present. It is obvious when a surface has been damaged. Yet, leaves can grow through the cracks and continue the song of life through the partition. With hope, we slowly become entangled within new blooms.

2nd Prize Winner: Marcela Bolívar

2nd Prize Winner

Marcela Bolívar

Born: Brazil. Currently resides: Germany.

“Chthonic Tide”, Wacom Intuos Pro, Nikon750, Photoshop, Painting, Textures

Marcela Bolívar is digital artist from Colombia, currently based in Germany. Currently she works as an illustrator for various international publishing houses while developing further her personal work. Her images aim to disengage photomontage of its technologic and automated nature, pushing the technical limits of photography and digital media as they are merged with a variety of pictorial expressions. The mixture of diverse media such as painting, photo, 3d elements and sculpture brings forth a personal interpretation of the world that lingers between reality and fiction, disguise and truth.

“Chthonic Tide”: An artwork about the creative force incarnated in the tarot figure of the Magus. She is a servant of the Great Work and her influence touches earth and air.

1st Prize Winner: Jennifer Bruce

1st Prize Winner

Jennifer Bruce

Born and resides in: USA.

“A Particular Blindness”, Procreate, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil

Jennifer Bruce is a Creative and detail-oriented professional artist with a passion for storytelling, experiencing new adventures, and learning new ways to bring beauty to the world. Her style of art fuses her experience working with traditional art with the flexibility of digital painting. Skilled and hardworking with 4+ years of experience as a professional artist creating book covers for independent fantasy authors and focused personal work in pursuit of a career in book cover illustration for middle-grade and young-adult fiction publishers. A graduate of The College for Creative Studies in 2019, she received a Bachelor’s in Illustration (and a minor in Concept Art), with honors and currently resides near Detroit with her husband Steven and their pets Misa (adorable kitty) and Suki (tiny gremlin-cat).

“A Particular Blindness”: This painting portrays the common unwillingness to seek professional therapy when needed. The woman holds her injured heart close, not realizing that by keeping it so protected she is preventing her own healing through the help of caring people.

The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is administered by Australian based, international contemporary art magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

The 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize