2006 Winner - Françoise Dupré

Born in France, Françoise lives and works in London. She studied Sculpture at Camberwell School of Arts and History of Modern Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Françoise exhibits widely in the the UK and abroad. In 2000 she began spool knitting (French knitting) exploring the simplicity and universality of the technique and its association with home crafts and childhood.

Françoise's residency took place in the Feto-Maternal Medicine Department at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Her sensitive interaction with patients, visitors and staff provided an uplifting experience for everyone.

"The concept was a novel one to us," said Mr Lawrence Impey, Consultant in Obsetrics and Fetal Medicine, "but Françoise Dupré's medium and her personality were ideally suited to a department like this. The feedback from patients was very positive: many have travelled a long way for their appointment and have great anxiety: Francoise relaxed and interested them and the final artwork that we have has vastly improved the appearance of the department."

Of her residency Françoise said "The project had several highlights for me, but one was being able to change people's perception of what 'art' is. When I did my introduction to the department I told them I was going to be working on a knitting project, and their faces dropped! Over the course of the residency they came to understand better and I think that in the end many people were intrigued by the nature of the creative process and art-making."

Françoise Dupré - Cells No. 3, 2006

Françoise Dupré - Spiral, 2006

Françoise Dupré - Flowers, 2006