Kathryn Maple John Moores Painting Prize

As winner of the prize Kathryn follows in the footsteps of artists such as Patrick Heron (1959), David Hockney (1967), Peter Doig (1993), and Rose Wylie (2014). Judges said the work struck a particular chord because it showed people doing what, at that moment amid Covid restrictions, they could not. “The painting resonates with movement and communality and embodies the deeply social nature of humans,” said Michelle Williams Gamaker, one of the judges. “It fills me with hope and longing to be part of this form of connection again.”

Shortlisted for the same exhibition in 2018, Kathryn painted 'The Common' before anyone knew what lockdowns would mean, spending six months on the painting in 2019. The painting is based on two worlds – Ueno Park in Tokyo, a verdant oasis of calm away from the city, and the people she sees near her home in London. She describes the painting as a “meeting place, an intersection, people seemingly aware of each other, but minds elsewhere, all sharing an open space”.