“I think that’s what I’ve always lacked, a belief in myself” - Angela Lizon, Jackson's Art Prize

Angela Lizon won Jackson’s Art Prize 2026 with her oil painting, Essex Emerald, which you can see in person at our upcoming exhibition of finalists at Bankside Gallery. We visited Angela in her studio to find out more about her move from minimalist abstraction to eight-foot white kittens, her supportive studio setup at Spike Island, and the disappointing world leaders that inspired her winning work. 0:00 “It’s taken me a long time to find myself in my art” 0:05 “It was part of that thing about taking really cheap ornaments and making them something valuable.” 0:47 “I don't deliberately try to subvert things. I'm just using elements that I have and that I'm interested in, like the part of me” 0:58 Introduction 1:21 “We used to spend the summers going to the museums, which were all free.” 1:38 “My father was a carpenter and worked for a building company…if you asked him what he was making, he always said the door to the forest.” 2:36 “Artists don’t have friends” 3:29 “I always knew I wanted to be a painter, but it was suggested to me that I could maybe do sculpture, but I didn't feel it. I have only ever wanted to be a painter.” 3:41 “I specialised in figurative painting, and I combined that with studying the use of colour. We had a tutor who gave us lessons on mixing colour, which was very useful.” 4:18 “Horses and carts were being used in the streets; it was absolutely gorgeous to see, but very, very hard for the people to live there.” 5:10 “In Bristol, at the time, there were lots of deserted warehouses, because there was a lot of bombing that happened during the war, and it hadn't been redeveloped.” 5:56 “I found it too expensive to hire a model. So I started working from still lives. 6:36 “My youngest daughter had an image of a white kitten on a pink background with badly pasted ballet shoes in front of it. I thought, that's a really great image, but it needs to be eight feet.” 7:32 “I liked the idea of interspersing items from my background into what some people would consider better taste.” 7:49 “I don't mind if they're animals or people, but it's something about the face and the expression.” 8:40 “I'll just choose an area that I want to start on - maybe they're the brightest flowers.” 9:07 “I like that seductive quality the flowers have.” 10:03 “I used his paintings, and I adjusted the colour, and I put fairies in them.” 10:30 “And it was the idea of what happens in the garden at nighttime when you're not looking.” 11:46 “I make a digital collage on the computer” 12:06 “You know, that kind of macho stance like Bolsonaro, Boris Johnson. I said, there's a whole load of really nasty male leaders.” OR “So I've taken the machismo and made it harmless, neutralising it.” 12:43 "It's not a critique of bodybuilding as an art form; it's just the fact that it has to do with showing off your muscles and strength." 13:33 "Although I am making the paintings of the fairies in a slightly disparaging way, I also feel quite fond of them." 14:32 "I think that colour is more precious when you use it in small quantities, like a jewel." 16:26 "My preferred surface to work on is an oil-primed surface, because it has a bit of resistance." 17:04 "That’s the process that I use – painting, smoothing it, painting, smoothing it, sometimes over and over again during the day." 17:51 "At some point, you do have to give up on a painting, and I have occasionally, but I quite like to rescue them if they're going wrong." 18:39 "Velázquez is the artist I admire most for his technique – they look so realistic from a distance, but when you look close up, they just break up into loads of blobs of paint, and it's just a kind of magic." 19:24 "I don't know when to leave things, so I do tend to fill in everything and bring everything up to a total finish." 20:24 "There's a great benefit to working in what can be quite an isolating practice, but having a studio within a really vibrant environment like we are." 21:56 "I'd rather follow my own path." 22:51 "So I couldn't believe it when I had the phone call, and I was told that I'd won." 24:27 "Just paint and don't overthink things." 25:10 Credits Shop art materials on our website: https://www.jacksonsart.com/colour/oi... Read the article on our blog: https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/ Visit the Jackson's Art Prize website: https://www.jacksonsart.com/artprize/... Follow Angela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelalizon...