Four million two-Euro coins have been produced bearing an image created by a Northumbria University student.
Dylan Shields, a final year BA (Hons) Fine Arts student, won a European-wide competition to design an official commemorative two-Euro coin after visiting Holland as part of an Erasmus exchange.
The 27-year-old, who creates detailed sculptures using cardboard and sticky tape, entered the competition with his sculptural reinterpretation of the artist Hans Holbein’s portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, the great Dutch humanist and writer of The Praise of Folly – one of the most influential works of western civilisation.
Dylan then created a scan of the sculpture using a rapid prototype printer, provided by Northumbria’s School of the Built and Natural Environment and entered it into the competition.
Dylan’s concept was chosen from among 60 European artists who were asked to enter the contest, part of the European Commission’s celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Euro and European Monetary Union.
He was invited to give a presentation about his entry, and after impressing the competition judges, Dylan reached the final stage, where his work was assessed alongside that of two other finalists.
The Dutch Minister of Finance and the competition commission chose Dylan’s work as the winning design, which has now been made into the official commemorative two-Euro coin. The Royal Dutch Mint has now produced four million units of the coin.
Dylan flew to Holland this week to be presented with the first coin to be minted with his design as well as a cash prize.
“I was very surprised to have won,” he said. “The whole experience has been surreal. The judges told me that they were happy with the design.”
Dylan, originally from Preston Park in Brighton, studied at a London-based arts school for a year before taking time out to train as a croupier and work on cruise ship casinos. Four years later he applied to study Fine Art at Northumbria’s School of Arts and Social Sciences. He added: “I hoped that having some life experiences during my years out would feed into my work. The gap years have made me more focused and driven in terms of my degree.”
The BA Hons Fine Art programme is a three-year degree designed to guide students towards establishing an independent contemporary art practice that is critically informed and technically proficient. Students work within a lively studio environment, within the School of Arts and Social Sciences, that supports a wide range of different media and creative practices. From painting, sculpture and printmaking to photography, video, installation and performance, the course embraces the broad spectrum of contemporary art practice.
Keith McIntyre, Reader in Fine Arts at Northumbria, said: “We are very proud of Dylan’s achievement in reaching the final short list. His design reflects the playful constructions in his studio practice, which are paradoxically monumental in comparison with the size of a two-Euro coin.”
Members of the public will have the opportunity to see Dylan’s work during the School of Arts and Social Sciences’ Fine Art Degree Show in June.
