The German city of Speyer in the Rhineland-Palatinate, announced on February 8 that the Düsseldorf- and London-based artist Kristina Buch has been awarded its Grand Hans Purrmann Prize and will receive around $22,600, reports Monopol. The award’s jury lauded Buch for producing work that creates unexpected dialogues between the cultural, natural, and social sciences.

Born in 1983, Buch earned her master of science degree in biology and studied Protestant theology before she began pursuing a career in art. She received her master of arts degree from the Royal College of Art in London and, in 2013, became Rosemarie Trockel’s student while taking classes at the Academy of Fine Arts Düsseldorf. Her work can be found in the collections of the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; the Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf; and the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul.

The city also revealed that artist Ugur Ulusoy, who was born in Oberhausenn, Germany, in 1984, received Speyer’s sponsorship award, which is endowed with approximately $6,780. Both awards commemorate the painter Hans Purrmann (1880–1966), who was born in Speyer and was a friend and student of Henri Matisse. They were first inaugurated on the artist’s eighty-fifth birthday and are backed by the Hans Purrmann Foundation.