Vincent Deighan won the Stern Award for his 2024 tufted ‘The Laden Land’.

“In the style of a mediaeval tapestry, drawn from ‘I CARE NOT’, The Laden Land tells of a kingdom in turmoil. A horizontal triptych and vertical diptych, the lower half shows the state within its walls: left, political jesters crowd the bereaved king; right, a mob of drunkards spill from a local tavern. Between them, Brother Death burns at the stake, blamed for leading plague victims to the prophetic Valley of the Sun. By royal decree, all ships seek this fabled glen, none return. Smoke from the pyre rises into the sky, forming one of Sister God’s stormy eyes: the left, veiled in smoke and lightning, signals wrath; the right, weeping over wreckage, her grief. Her third eye, a wheel of death and fate, crowns the scene; a symbol of the valley born where the last tree parts. Atop the image, the prince reaches for salvation. But, along with their scapegoat, the Prince and the kingdom’s future will fall with that final tree.” @funomenology.art

Awarded for exceptional figurative work.

Photo: @robin_mair_photography