If I were to receive the Dover Prize, I would use the bursary to deepen and expand my interdisciplinary fine art practice, which currently merges fine art, performance, and video projection. The award would allow me to build on existing bodies of work exploring movement, feminine power, and the tension between fragility and strength—while taking a bold step toward more ambitious, collaborative installation-making. A portion of the bursary would go toward paying dancers I regularly collaborate with, as well as performers and sound artists. I would also allocate funding toward materials for large-scale sculptural elements, studio space for filming and rehearsing choreographed sequences, and hiring a venue or securing access to a public site in Darlington where the work can be presented. The installation will involve a wide range of materials—both industrial and handmade—to create a vibrant, immersive environment. Costs will accumulate across fabrication, labor, transportation, and technical needs; a detailed budget breakdown can be provided upon request.
I hope to make art more accessible to the public—creating immersive experiences that evoke emotion and leave a lasting impression. I want to invite people into spaces where they can connect with the work on a personal level and recognize the value and necessity of art in our lives. Through my practice, I aim to highlight the power of the feminine as it’s expressed through movement and dance, celebrating female autonomy, resilience, and strength. In a political climate where our rights over our own bodies continue to be questioned or taken away, I want this work to be a space of empowerment—a reminder of our agency, our force, and our right to take up space. My hope is that these installations offer support, solidarity, and a sense of shared power for women and femmes, reinforcing the importance of bodily autonomy and collective expression.
Ultimately, the Dover Prize would give me the time, resources, and support to consolidate recent experiments while initiating a significant shift: moving my practice from studio-based outputs toward full-scale experiential installations that invite audiences to move, feel, and question the spaces we inhabit—both physically and culturally.
Rooted in movement and collaboration, my installations create spaces that are both visually striking and emotionally resonant—offering something new to audiences who may not regularly engage with contemporary art. By presenting a final installation in Darlington that incorporates large-scale projection, set design, and sound, I hope to transform a local venue or public space into an experiential environment that draws in diverse audiences. The theatrical and accessible nature of my work—often inspired by dance, music, and club culture—could engage younger communities, emerging creatives, and those curious about performance and visual art hybrids.
I would also be eager to connect with local dancers, musicians, and artists from the Darlington area to collaborate with during the development process, helping foster creative exchange and offering new perspectives on what contemporary art can be. By working closely with the local community, I hope to contribute to Darlington’s growing cultural identity and position it as a site for vibrant, forward-thinking artistic production.
I’m a London-based artist working across painting, choreography, video projection, and set design to create immersive installations that explore the relationship between movement, material, and emotional expression. I build environments where still images, bodies, and surfaces interact—spaces that feel charged, alive, and in motion, even in the absence of a performer. My background in musical theatre, dance, and club culture informs how I approach space: like a stage where everything plays a role. I often combine gestural mark-making with projection, using painted and photographic surfaces as sites of transformation. Collaboration is central to my process. I frequently work with dancers, musicians, and performers, allowing their energy to shape the rhythm, composition, and tone of the work. I’m drawn to contradiction—between the digital and the handmade, fragility and strength, glamour and grit—and I use this tension to explore how we see, feel, and experience the body. In Cellular, a recent exhibition at the Cookhouse Gallery, I experimented with scale and the contradiction between presence and absence. I staged photography, objects, and painting in relation to digital projection and performance. The space suggested traces of the body—its movement, its breath, its residue—without showing it directly. It was theatrical, tactile, and emotionally charged. I’m particularly interested in lipstick feminism and the idea of self-expression as a form of autonomy. Dance, for me, isn’t just something to look at—it’s a way of thinking, feeling, and reclaiming space. My work invites people to engage with those ideas physically and emotionally. I want viewers to move with the work, to feel held or disoriented by it, to become aware of how we occupy space—not just physically, but culturally.
I hold both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in visual arts. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Painting with a minor in Art History from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. During this time, I developed a strong foundation in traditional fine art practices, while also beginning to experiment with mixed media, installation, and performance.
After relocating to the UK to further my artistic career, I completed a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, which allowed me to expand my practice into new media and interdisciplinary approaches. I’m currently completing my Master’s in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London. My postgraduate studies have focused on developing large-scale immersive installations that integrate video projection, choreography, and set design. This has been a space for experimentation, working closely with dancers and musicians, and pushing the boundaries between traditional fine art, performance, and technology.
I am co-founding a new collective called The Amy Collective, launching in summer 2025, to create a dedicated platform for early-career artists. This initiative responds to the limited access many emerging artists face when trying to exhibit and connect within established gallery spaces. Our collective aims to provide a supportive, inclusive environment where artists can showcase work, collaborate, and engage with diverse audiences.
The space we envision aligns closely with my artistic practice, which centers on immersive environments that invite active audience participation and exploration. By facilitating exhibitions and events, the collective will foster meaningful interactions between artists and the public, encouraging dialogue around contemporary art’s role in community and culture.
This project reflects my commitment to collaboration, visibility, and building infrastructures that nurture emerging talent. It represents a natural progression in my career toward creating spaces and experiences that extend beyond individual artworks, emphasizing collective empowerment and shared artistic growth. Moving forward, I hope to continue developing projects that integrate curation, community-building, and performance, all rooted in creating dynamic spaces that resonate with both artists and audiences alike.
My work has been featured in several curated art platforms. Most recently, I was included in Aedra Fine Arts Publications’ Artist Feature in 2025. The feature offered insight into my process and the conceptual frameworks that inform my practice, including lipstick feminism and theatricality.
Earlier this year, my work was also featured in Titan Contemporary Journal (2025), a platform dedicated to critical writing on emerging contemporary practices. The article focused on how my installations merge traditional fine art techniques with performance and digital media, situating my work within a broader conversation about performance in the contemporary art scene.
Email: amychka1@gmail.com
Address: 4 Ash Avenue Maurice House, LONDON, southwark, SE17 1GJ, GB
Local Authority: Southwark London Borough Council
