Marvene Ash

Local Contemporary Art Prize 2026 – Finalist

Image courtesy of the artist. Photo by Christine Hall, Myphotomotion.

Marvene Ash | Studio furniture (hare hiding) | 2025 | oil on Belgian linen | 108 x 92cm

Over three generations a humble print of Dürer’s most humble hare has found its way onto our walls, changing homes and even crossing seas.

These days the print is most often in my studio reminding me of art’s ability to collapse time and place and connect directly with the viewer across five centuries. I do not know the secret of this magic - the ‘facts’ of Dürer’s extraordinary observation become beauty but they also carry love.

This painting, an expanded still life, settles the hare within my studio furniture and reminds me of the foundation on which I make art.