Magnificent mushrooms, slimy snails, and a handsome heron feature in RSB’s 2023 BioArtAttack 2D competition
Date: 17 Oct 2023
The winning entries for this year’s BioArtAttack 2D competition (formally known as the Nancy Rothwell Award) have been announced, with an array of colourful and detailed artistic pieces depicting many different species.
BioArtAttack 2D celebrates artwork that captures the wonder of biology and encourages children aged 7-18 years old to draw or paint their favourite animal, plant or fungi. The Nancy Rothwell Prize is now a sub-category for specimen drawings entered into this competition.
Submitted entries span three age categories (7-11, 12-14, and 15-18) and awards include a winner prize, a UK-based winner prize and the Nancy Rothwell prize, which were judged by a panel of biologists and illustrators.
Winners
7-11 category
Alexis Ng – awarded the BioArtAttack 2D Prize winner for ‘Chinese Red Panda’.
Freya Gibson – awarded the UK Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘Fungi And Mushrooms’.
Ottilie Dovar – awarded the Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘African Grey Parrot’.
12-14 category
Sarvini M – awarded the BioArtAttack 2D Prize winner for ‘Mother And Child (Kangeyam cattle)’.
Leonardo Falcone – awarded the UK Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘The Axolotl’.
Vanessa Ho – awarded the Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘The Purple Heron’.
15-18 category
Amy Mackintosh – awarded the BioArtAttack 2D Prize winner for ‘Amur Tiger’.
Aanchal Kumar – awarded the UK Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘Pangolin (Manidae)’.
Asmi Agarwal – awarded the Nancy Rothwell Prize winner for ‘Theba Pisana (White Garden Snail)’.
Commenting on the BioArtAttack 2D entries, Lucy Maycock, the Schools Learning Manager at Horniman Museum and Gardens and one of this year’s judges, said: “Wow! I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the entries to this year’s BioArtAttack competition. It was such a privilege to see so many talented young people’s artwork, and to see how many people are connecting with the natural world through their art!”
The competition was also judged by Dr Grace Sim and Andrew Crook MBE FRSA from the Royal Veterinary College, and Andrew said: ““As usual I was amazed by the standard of this year’s entries. Not only with the variety of techniques used to produce such wonderful images, but of the variety of animals chosen as subjects. From giraffe to siphonophore, it was great to see what is inspiring young people to sit down, sometimes for hours to draw these creatures. This gives me much hope for the future.”
The Royal Society of Biology wishes to thank the Royal Veterinary College for its continued support of this award.