The World Illustration Awards is a global competition, hosted by the Association of Illustrators, in partnership with the Directory of Illustration. The annual awards receive thousands of entries across ten categories aligned to either Professional or New Talent.
Kayla’s winning work Ama No Inori: Prayer of the Ama is a book and companion artefact inspired by Ama, a Japanese tradition dating back 2,000 years. Ama, meaning women of the ocean, are divers who search for pearls and seafood, descending 30ft without oxygen tanks and relying on their own strength.
The narrative for Kayla’s book is based on the prayer spoken by Ama before each dive.
The book was created by first drawing the line-work with pen and paper. Kayla then added tones digitally using Procreate, produced the book in Adobe InDesign, and then printed with two colours using a Risograph printer. To finish, the book was hand-bound with thread matching the inks. Kayla has since produced an animation of the story, using the same Risograph machine to produce each Frame.
On winning the award, Kayla said: “I feel very happy about winning the awards, it’s unexpected for sure. But I also feel very lucky because I was always encouraged and supported by the illustration staff.
“I had the best time at Hallam, everyone was so passionate about what they do, and Hallam has all the facilities that you need to create amazing things. I’m currently working in an organisation as a creative designer, and I plan to save up to create more personal work about my home country, Indonesia.”
World Illustration Award judges described Kayla’s work as sophisticated, thoughtfully resolved and designed to a professional standard with inventive use of two colours.
Lecturer and one of Kayla’s tutors at Sheffield Hallam University, Jo Breese, said: “Kayla has consistently wowed us with her dedication, enthusiasm and diligence to make beautiful things, and with this particular outcome, we knew we had to submit it to the World Illustration Awards. It’s extremely exciting that the judges agreed, and we couldn’t be more proud. She’s an exceptionally hard-working, humble and talented illustrator, and this is only the start.”
Alongside Kayla, illustration student Luca Furniss was longlisted in the Advertising category for his animated film poster for Ghost in the Shell, and Lola Grainger was shortlisted for Publishing for her zine about Bolivian skateboarding girl-gang, Imillaskate.
Kayla wins an award, a cash prize of £1000, a copy of the Directory of Illustration and a year-long AOI membership.
