News / 29 Jun 2026
Kenneth Armitage Prize awarded to Fine Art student
BA (Hons) Fine Art
Final yearĀ BA (Hons) Fine ArtĀ student Rosaline Zipporah Bailey has been awarded this year'sĀ Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize.
The Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize is a prestigious prize awarded annually to two final year students specialising in sculpture at art schools with which Armitage had a close association.
"After careful consideration we have decided to award this year's sculpture prize to Rosaline Zipporah Baily in recognition of her installation that combines her interest in ritual, ornamentation, letter forms, urban signage and the alchemical potential of joining metal with brass (Brazing).Ā It was clear that she is responsive to the poetic ideas that her work generated, and it is evident that she is committed to developing her art practice in the future."
Trustees, Kenneth Armitage Foundation
Rosalineās sculptural practice is founded in materiality. Each work has grown from a fascination with metalworking, with a continued return to the hardness of metal. Its resistance and often uncompromising nature drives their commitment to understanding the ways in which it can be softened and transformed.
Their degree show installation, āX Series Burningā explores ideas of artefact, unearthing, and preservation. While fabricating 26 steel Xs, they discovered ways to combine scrap brazing filament with varying levels of heat to create flourishes reminiscent of decay and ageing. They began wrapping the Xs in hay, evoking objects that had been unearthed or reclaimed by overgrowth. The installation acts as evidential remains of this recent Burning, endeavouring to preserve movement within stasis. The act remains present in the objects rescued from it: sooty Xs engulf the walls, while charcoal detritus litters the heat-stained copper bowl.
āI am delighted to have been awarded the 2026 Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor award. There is meaning in making, in the labour of sculpture, and I am grateful my commitment to my practice has been recognised in this way.ā
Rosaline Zipporah Baily, BA (Hons) Fine Art student
The undergraduate award comes with a Ā£3,000 prize to support the graduating student to develop their practice beyond their university studies.