The winners of the artsdepot Open, a diverse exhibition of work by emerging and established artists from Barnet and beyond, have been announced.

This year’s first prize winner of £750, sourced with the support of the Milly Apthorp Charitable Trust Continuation Fund, was Kirsty Kemp for her work On a Wire.

Kirsty is a working scientist living in North Finchley who has always had a passion for creating. On A Wire was produced in response to the current refugee crisis, particularly the current situation in Calais, and Kirsty’s winning work was created from laser cut fin board.

The figures were painted in a black acrylic base and covered in rust and she then laser cut the hearts from the figures’ chests and inserted iconic images of the Syrian refugee crisis printed on acetate.

She says: “The news coverage in the UK, and the UKs response to this immense humanitarian crisis - the biggest of my lifetime - has been nothing short of heart-breaking. I wanted this piece to give the visual impression, from a distance, of birds on a wire. They all look identical, as black silhouettes. A swarm. They may even look intimidating. But as you come closer you see that each one is individual, and carries in their heart the full depth of human life, family, past experiences and present experiences.”

The second prize winner of £250 was Mill Hill’s Michael Lee with his photography work, London’s Pouring V, a painter’s response to capturing images.

“I have a unique technique for taking photographs that relies on movement, intuition, skill and sheer luck” Michael explains. “This image was captured in camera, with a swift lens movement in a magical moment on the top of a moving London bus during a very wet day in late summer.”

This year the artsdepot introduced the artsdepot Open Prize of £500, awarded to an artist who does not live, work or study in the London Borough of Barnet. This was awarded to Alison Griffin from Stoke Newington for her work The Land of No Shadows Part 1 & Part 2, which were created using oil based carbon pencils and took around four months to complete.

There is a final prize for young artists aged 13 to 19. This year’s winner was Jade Duncan-Knight from Whetstone who is currently studying towards AS Levels in Sociology, English Literature, English Language and Fine art.

“It's very intense having to balance the time between my academic courses and my creative ones,” says Jade. “I need to spend a lot of time and focus in my free hours towards preparing a portfolio and showreel. This is really important to me, as I hope to enter the creative industries as a concept artist or 3D/2D artist in either the games or film industry.”

Inspired by her love of fantasy and video games, Jade, created A Dragon’s Flight in around 12 hours using a 3D modelling program ZBrush, which in principle works the same as sculpting clay.

Their work can be seen in North Finchley’s artsdepot, 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 0GA, until September 1. Details: 020 8369 5454