Past winners among finalists of 2019 Fieldays No8 Wire Award
12 April 2019
The 2019 Fieldays No.8 Wire Art Award will be hotly contested with two past winners, four recent place-getters and a previous People’s Choice Award recipient among this year’s finalists.
The annual award, managed by Waikato Museum and partnered by rural supplies co-operative Farmlands, showcases the value, versatility and symbolism of No.8 wire (or 4mm gauge) through the creation of artworks made from this iconic material of Kiwi agriculture.
Twenty-five artworks by 23 artists have been selected by the award judge, University of Auckland Associate Professor Linda Tyler, to be exhibited from May 11 to June 9 at Hamilton’s ArtsPost Galleries & Shop.
“This exhibition really showcases the versatility of No.8 wire as a material for making art,” says Ms Tyler. “This year’s entries show how it can be braided, twisted, tied, wrapped, woven or just left in coils as it comes, and be expressive of both strength and delicacy, energy and line.”
The finalists include past winners Jill Godwin (2017) and Dagmar Elliott (co-winner in 2014), as well as Fiona Clark (runner-up in 2018), Gaye Jurisich (runner-up in 2017), John Mulholland (3rd in 2017), and Bev Goodwin (3rd in 2018). The 2018 People’s Choice Award winner, Ricks Terstappen, is a double finalist in 2019.
The winning artworks will be announced at an awards ceremony on May 10. The overall winner will receive $7,000, second and third place-getters will receive $1,000 and $500 respectively from the NZ National Fieldays Society Inc. Society President Peter Carr will award the Fieldays President’s Choice Award, and visitors to the exhibition can vote for the People’s Choice Award.
“It’s fantastic to see the talent among this year’s finalists and we look forward to seeing the masterpieces they have created for this year’s competition,” says Mr Carr.
The 2019 finalists are:
Reginald Laurie, Kaukapakapa
Donna Leanne Cormack, Wellsford
John Mulholland, Warkworth
Jill Godwin, Auckland
Sophie Prendergast, Auckland
Sue Nelson, Auckland
Tanya Ankersmit, Auckland
Katrina Millington, Auckland
Bev Goodwin & Jeff Thomson, Auckland and Helensville
Gaye Jurisich, Hamilton (two entries)
Elwyn Stone, Hamilton
Sue Rhodes, Hamilton
Sylvia Sinel, Waikato
Kathryn Engebretsen, Tamahere
Mike Moss, Raglan
Dagmar Elliott, Te Awamutu
Anett Pilz, Katikati
Anna Gedson, Opotiki
Sharleen Gamble, Napier
Ricks Terstappen, Hastings (two entries)
Fiona Clark, Waitara
Aaron Frater, Lower Hutt
Jasmine Clark, Arrowtown
Image: Jill Godwin, Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award winner, with her work The No.8 Wire Lettering System: Fences vs Walls.
For more information, contact:
Dan Silverton
Communication and Engagement Advisor
021 056 9810
dan.silverton@hcc.govt.nz