Mansell Awarded First Place Prize in Nonrepresentational Art

June 14, 2025

Catherine Mansell”s  latest work, Ice, Still Life, a compelling exploration of transformation, stillness, and the forces of nature, earned the first-place award last weekend in the non-representational category at the prestigious Lyme Art Association (LAA) “Expanding Visions” exhibition, an honor that affirms Mansell’s mastery of technique and her unique artistic vision.

Juror Douglas Degges, Assistant Professor at University of Connecticut chose the work for LAA’s First Place Award, non representational art.  Professor Dugges said this about the painting:

“Materials, applied with brute force and in improvisational ways, layer to reveal beautifully understated shifts in tonality and color in Ice, Still Life. This gives the work so much of its power— the tension born out of deft handling–foiling really, of subtle formal elements…”

A painting that is based on a complex subtrate such as authentic fresco is a technique with detail and complexity does need to be applied with skill and force.