UK &
International
Emerging Artist
Awards
VAO25 JUDGES
The VAO appoints members from the contemporary art world to join our expert panel to judge our artist's applications. These members can be artists, writers, art critics, professors, collectors and curators. If you would like to become a VAO judge for our Art Awards then please contact us here.
Sofía Ruiz
Sofia Ruiz is a Costa Rican visual artist with over 18 years of experience. She holds Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Painting and Printmaking and a Master’s in Education. Her work has been exhibited internationally in more than 35 exhibitions, including venues such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and MEAM in Barcelona, as well as through residencies at the MOSAM Art Museum in South Korea and the EPI Experimental Printmaking Institute in Pennsylvania, USA. She has received multiple recognitions, including the Boynes Artist Award, the Women in Art Award, and was the Overall Winner of the Visual Art Open 2024 in London.
Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Her debut book Queer Art; From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between was published in Spring 2024 by Frances Lincoln and has been highlighted as a must-read by Them, Dazed, Timeout, The Guardian, Cultured and the FT. Her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. Gemma has curated for a range of international galleries and institutions, most recently Carl Freedman Gallery, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, Somerset House, the Tom of Finland Foundation, London Art Fair and Kkweer Arts. In 2022 she curated the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the UK, for Soho House Brighton. Gemma has taught at numerous institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths. She co-chairs the board of trustees for the charity Queercircle, sits on the Courtauld Association Committee and the Leslie Lohman Museum Acquisitions Committee.
Gemma Rolls-Bentley
Erin Remington
Erin Remington brings over a decade of expertise in the art world to her role as the Director of Sales and Curation at Saatchi Art. Holding a Masters in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism, alongside a B.S. in Business Administration from Azusa Pacific University, Erin furthered her studies in Art and Art History at the American University of Paris. She is also a member of the International Society of Appraisers focusing on 20th Century Fine Art.
With a profound passion for exceptional art, Erin is dedicated to collaborating with collectors in the selection of pieces that inspire and elevate their spaces. She firmly believes in the transformative power of art to inform, inspire, educate, and reshape our perspectives on the world. Erin's commitment to excellence has earned her recognition, with features in CNBC and Yahoo Finance.
Elizabeth K. Garvey
Elizabeth K. Garvey is the Co-founder and Director of Garvey|Simon NYC (Previously she was President and Owner of EKG Art Advisory, (1999-2009), and Co-Director of Schmidt-Bingham Gallery (1989-1998). Liz is a member of ARTTable, a distinguished national network of leading women in the visual arts professions, and a founding member of the New York chapter of the Association of Women Art Dealers.
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With over 30 years of experience in the fine art industry, Liz leverages her professional relationships with other galleries, auction houses, private dealers, and artists to offer boutique art advisory services and an exhibition program championing mid-career artists.
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Liz received a B.A. in Art History from Indiana University, Bloomington (’88) and then moved to New York City in 1989 to attend Hunter College in Manhattan for a Masters in Art History. After completing her graduate coursework, Liz was appointed Co-Director of SBG where she remained for 10 years. Garvey started her own fine art advisory firm, EKG Art Advisory, in 1999. She assists collectors nationwide to establish and build art collections, and helps many individuals purchase their first piece of fine art. Her approach is down to earth, offering clients a relaxed entry into the New York art world.
Liz lives and works in New York City.
Cas Campbell
Cas Campbell is an artist based in London and Brighton. Originally from New Zealand, shereceived a BA in Painting from the University of Brighton (2018) and an MA in Painting fromthe Royal College of Art (2022). Campbell's art has been exhibited in the UK andinternationally, shortlisted for the Chaiya Art Awards and the Visual Open Art Awards, and isin public and private collections, including the Soho House Brighton Beacon collection.In 2021, Campbell received DYCP funding to explore natural ceramics and sensory processing disorders. This experience inspired her to begin supporting other disabled andneurodivergent artists and those with mental health challenges in applying for Arts Councilfunding and develop a second strand of her work focused on supporting artists workingoutside the mainstream.
CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Lynx, an international online magazine founded in 2013. Since 2024, she has been the sole owner of Contemporary Lynx, an arts organization she co-founded. Under her leadership, the organization transitioned from simultaneous online and print editions (2015–2023) to fully embracing the digital era with an online magazine.
Beyond publishing weekly articles, Contemporary Lynx offers a rich educational and artistic program, including Lynx Academy, panel discussions, events, and art prizes, in collaboration with partners across Europe and beyond. She also serves as President of the Contemporary Lynx Foundation in Warsaw, which she co-founded in 2017.
Sylwia holds an MA in Arts Policy & Management (specializing in curating contemporary art) from Birkbeck, University of London (2012) and an MA in History of Art from Jagiellonian University in Kraków (2008).
With 15 years of experience in the art field, she has held roles at Philips de Pury, Saatchi Gallery, Barbican Art Gallery, and Zderzak Gallery. She also co-founded a pop-up art gallery in London (2012).
She is the author of workshop programs “Storytelling for Creatives” and “How to Make a Magazine”, supported by Arts Council England. A seasoned conference speaker, workshop facilitator, and jury panel member, Sylwia writes on art and culture.
She is currently based in Paris.
Sylwia Krasoń
Olivia Mason
Olivia is the Director of Artists Futures Fund (AFF), where she leads the charity’s strategic vision to support some of the UK’s most talented emerging visual artists. AFF’s focus is on supporting artists to overcome significant socio-economic, mental, and physical health barriers to developing their professional practice. Olivia oversees the Fund’s annual grant programmes, including the Breakthrough Artist Fellowship delivered in partnership with Higher Education Institutions and other cultural partner organisations across the UK. Previously, Olivia was Senior Development Manager at TATE and Head of Development at the Holburne Museum, where her work supported innovative contemporary exhibition and education programmes. A passionate advocate for the arts and access to culture, Olivia is dedicated to driving initiatives that empower artists and broaden participation across the sector. She is delighted to be involved in this year’s VAO25 Prize.
Claudia Ross
Claudia Ross is a Los Angeles-based writer whose fiction and criticism have been featured in prominent publications such as The Paris Review, Frieze, ArtReview, The Baffler, VICE, and LA Review of Books.
She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis, and a background in Art History from Oberlin College.
In addition to her writing, Claudia serves as a Teaching Artist in Creative Writing at the Barnsdall Art Center under the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
Her work often explores the intersections of art, culture, and society, contributing to critical dialogues within the contemporary art scene.
Shumaiya Khan
Shumaiya Khan is an artist and writer based in London. Raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, within a British Bengali family, she earned her BA Hons in Design from Goldsmiths, University of London, and will begin her MAFA at City & Guilds of London Art School in September 2024. Although always connected to painting, she fully resumed her art practice in 2020, embarking on an expressive and experimental journey.
Khan’s work is rooted in emotional and metaphysical storytelling, exploring themes such as feminine identity, spirituality, morality, and societal dynamics. She uses oil, charcoal, and poetry across various media, including canvas, paper, and organic materials like fruit and plaster, tying these elements to religious and political ideologies surrounding women. Her textured abstract expressionist works often feature cosmic and natural patterns, creating immersive and atmospheric pieces.
Khan’s practice combines full-color, richly layered paintings with fast-paced, raw studies that capture native bodily movement. Her poetry often accompanies her visual art, written on the backs of her canvases to further deepen the narrative. Through her work, Khan invites viewers to look inward, prioritizing emotional connection over visual interpretation.
Her art has gained international recognition, with collectors in the United States, South America, and Australia. In addition to her solo practice, Khan collaborates with the beauty and fashion industries on commissions and creative projects.
David Reisman
David Reisman is an artist and writer who lives in New York City. He has exhibited his paintings and drawings in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Berlin, and has screened his videos at Millennium and the Museum of Modern Art. Reisman has written about art since the late 1980s, most recently for Texte zur Kunst and Frieze.
Reisman has a doctorate in education from Teachers College Columbia University, an MFA in painting from the University of Illinois, and a BFA from the University of Kansas. His dissertation examined questions related to the sociology of art, particularly the educational experiences and intentions of six practicing social activist artists. He also studied the history of art at Reading University in England during a junior year abroad, where one of his favorite professors was Neil MacGregor.
Emma Crichton-Miller
Emma Crichton-Miller is a freelance journalist, critic, and author writing on fine art, design, ceramics, collecting, textiles, books, and a further wide range of subjects, for the Financial Times, The Sunday Telegraph, ArtReview, RA Magazine, Prospect Magazine, Crafts, and other publications. She writes a monthly column on the art market for art magazine, Apollo, and has been since 2018 the founding Editor in Chief of The Design Edit, an online magazine dedicated to collectable design.
Emma has also worked in television for the BBC and for a range of independent production companies, including Rosetta Pictures where she was a company director. She produced films about Balthus, Norman Foster, Tricky and Alfred Brendel for the BBC, a six part series, Mind Traveller, about neuropsychology with neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks for the BBC and other factual programmes about neuroscience for the BBC, Channel Four and Arte.

In 2014, Emma authored the celebrated monograph of potter/writer Edmund de Waal published by Phaidon. She also provided text for the book "London Secrets: A Draughtsman's Guide" (20,000 words) about the architecture of London, working with the designer Tim Gosling and published in 2012. In 2022 Lund Humphries published her book, “The Pottery of John Ward”, and she is the co-author, with James Fox, of the monograph “Force of Nature: The Art of Kate Malone”, which was published by Skira Editore in May 2024.
Addi Aegisdottir
Addi is the Sales Director at Mall Galleries, home to the Federation of British Artists, the UK’s leading art societies, specialising in diverse artistic mediums, including oil, portrait, marine, wildlife, watercolour, pastel, printmaking and sculpture. As a visual arts charity founded in 1961, Mall Galleries is dedicated to empowering artists through a not-for-profit programme of exhibitions, events, prizes and awards with a strong focus on figurative art. Serving on the senior leadership team, Addi works closely with the CEO, Chair, and Board of Trustees to provide artists with exceptional learning and engagement opportunities. With a specialisation in the culture and heritage sector, sales development, e-commerce, marketing, and brand development, Addi possesses a genuine passion for empowering artists at all stages of their careers. Over the past three years, Addi has successfully launched Mall Galleries Art Consultancy, a bespoke service catering to private and corporate clients seeking to commission and curate art by both emerging and established artists.
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In addition, Addi has extensive knowledge of the primary and secondary art market, having built collections for high-profile national and international private collectors and institutions featuring Nelson Makamo, El Anatsui, Joshua Reynolds, Edvard Munch, Eugéne Delacroix, Emil Nolde and Joseph Wright of Derby. Prior to working with Mall Galleries, Addi held positions with Everard Read, Africa’s oldest commercial art gallery representing over 60 contemporary artists from South Africa and Europe and the UK’s leading private Fine Art Dealers travelling extensively for clients and placements of artwork within leading art fairs, including Tefaf Maastricht, Frieze and The Armory Show.
