The artists we proudly feature on our labels

Ozymandias Wines announces our fourth recipient of the Ozymandias Wines Scholarship with the New York Academy of Art in 2020, with Irina Lakshin's piece, “Warrior.”

“Warrior” stopped us cold, mostly for the care in every line of it. This label means a lot to us for another reason too: it is the first time a sculptor has appeared on one of our bottles.

“Awhile back, I read a work of fiction where the main character was a warrior who possessed ancient secret combat techniques. It was a fascinating novel that painted a story of duty to country, personal growth, military triumphs, and, of course, love. A few months later I began making this sculpture without knowing exactly what I was going to create. My work moved slowly, and the final image was born during the creative process. When the sculpture was finished, I realized that I'd sculpted the image of that same warrior who was born in my head after I'd finished reading that book.”

Ozymandias Wines announces our third recipient of the Ozymandias Wines Scholarship with the New York Academy of Art in 2019, with Young Lim Lee's piece, “Pigeon.”

In “Pigeon,” Young set out to catch the inner sensations she lives with, and the charge that comes off them, and hold them in paint where the rest of us can see them.

“I often encounter complex moments that bring me into sensations that cannot be fully articulated with words, yet urge me to explain. They are primal and visceral; the sense of hearing, smell, touch, sometimes disarmingly ecstatic, sometimes chaotic. I attempt to bring out the incorporeal feelings physically with my painting.”

Ozymandias Wines announced our second recipient of the Ozymandias Wines Scholarship with the New York Academy of Art in 2018. Jay Miriam's “Mozzarella Spread” was selected as the new label for Ozymandias Wines in 2018.

Miriam's paintings pull from dreams, invented stories, old lore, and the plain everyday lives of women you can't quite read. Food and drink keep turning up in them, always with a real, physical pleasure. In “Mozzarella Spread,” the subject stretches out over a plate of earthly delights, keeping whatever is on her tongue to herself. It is a painting that knows how to sit beside a glass of our wine.

2017 marked the beginning of a partnership between Ozymandias Wines and the New York Academy of Art, with Ozymandias Wines awarding a scholarship for students at NYAA. The first recipient of this annual scholarship was Mary Ball.

Mary grew up on the coast, raised by southern women she still looks up to, and you can feel both in the work. She paints strength into femininity through the figures themselves, using body language, color, and pattern to give each one a clear character and let the whole composition settle. The scenes she imagines let her question the world and find her own footing in it at the same time.

The piece she chose, “Folly,” sits on the front label of the 2017 release of Ozymandias Wines' Chardonnay blend. The feeling in the painting matches the wine almost too well: it is like drinking summertime in a glass. Mary paints women in their natural state and surroundings, which is exactly what we are after with our grapes and the way the land speaks through them. She finds strength in truth, and we go looking for the same truth in the sandy loam soils you only get on the North Fork of Long Island.

Mary Ball was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Briana Navarro, with “Burning River,” is the Ozymandias Wines featured artist for 2017. She is a painter and an environmental activist, and she wants people to take cleaner, more responsible ways of making energy seriously. What her wine earns goes toward large-scale paintings that carry that argument further.

Sophy Holland is a British-born photographer, director, and creative director. She studied at Central St. Martins in London and began as a painter before moving into art direction for editorial and advertising clients in New York City and London. When we chose her work for the front label of our very first release in 2016, she stayed on, joining the selection committee that picks the artists we support. She also had a hand in designing the Ozymandias Wines logo.

“I've always been a fan of Sophy's work, so when I heard she was exploring shooting a documentary film in ’16 I knew the timing would be perfect for Ozymandias' planned launch. Thankfully Sophy shared my enthusiasm for being a part of the wine project and welcomed support for her film. I love the way Sophy incorporated the Ozymandias logo into the wine label which almost represents the premise of her documentary on the patterns and disorders of sleep rhythms. The placement of the logo on the third eye, and the her decision to display grapevine roots (which lurk below the fruits and vines, but play such a vital role in the taste of wine) on the bottom half of the label, to me are symbolic of the unseen yet vital role sleep plays in all of our lives. Whether that is actually the case, you'll have to ask Sophy. Nonetheless, we are so proud and excited to have Sophy's work featured on our inaugural wine label and are equally excited to see Sophy's film.”

Rafe D'Amico, Founder, Ozymandias Wines