Four Art Students Awarded $2,500

Four Art Students Awarded $2,500.

Four fine art students have been selected to receive $2,500 each in this year’s RT Nelson Emerging Artist Awards. The awards are open to students studying towards a visual arts degree or diploma at an established New Zealand art school.

The four award recipients are:
• Tyler Jackson from Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Wellington
• Tessa Ma'auga from Toioho ki Apiti - Maori Visual Arts, Massey University, Palmerston North
• Donna Marie Patterson from University of Canterbury, Ilam School of Art, Christchurch
• Harry Culy from Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Wellington

The four students will be presented $2,500 each on Friday 3rd at 5.30pm at the NZ Art Show. In addition to the prize money, the recipients receive the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work at the NZ Art Show.

A body of work from each recipient will be on exhibition and for sale at the 2016 NZ Art Show. Over 10,000 people will view their work over a 4 day period offering wonderful exposure to an art loving audience.

Established in 2012, the awards, formerly the NZ Art Show Emerging Artist Awards, recognise and encourage emerging artists and the role of New Zealand’s art schools. These awards are the result of the generosity of Wellington philanthropist Richard Nelson, who is a trustee of the NZ Art Show and the awards’ official sponsor. This year the name of the awards was changed in recognition of Nelson’s contribution.

Jo Hughes, NZ Art Show selection panel member said, ‘There was a broad range of media presented and the standard was, as always, very high, making it difficult for the judges to settle on just four. These four artists are a testament to the fine work that New Zealand’s art schools are doing: producing our future stars.’

The Awardees

Tyler Jackson, Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Wellington. Tutor: Simon Morris
His primary interests are sculpture and installation art, but he also pursues photography and videography.
His artworks are studies of light and colour, enquiries into their immateriality and how they react to each other and with their surroundings. Tyler’s installations create ambient spaces that immerse viewers in a sensory experience.

Tessa Ma’auga - Toioho ki Apiti - Maori Visual Arts, Massey University, Palmerston North. Tutor: Saffronn Te Ratana
Tessa’s art draws on her experience working with community groups and she seeks to explore and utilise art as a tool for community building. She is currently in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts Degree where she is exploring aspects of the Maori concept of mana.

Donna Marie Patterson - University of Canterbury, Ilam School of Art. Supervising Lecturer: Louise Palmer
Donna’s artworks are driven by a deep personal connection with New Zealand’s landscape. This interest is primarily centred on rivers, forests, and disused mining sites near her family’s farmland at Kaiata, West Coast.
The Colonial implications within the landscape are strongly acknowledged in her site-responsive sculptures, as her art practice examines the ecological past, describes the present, and imagines the future.

Harry Culy, Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Wellington. Tutor: Shaun Waugh
Harry’s photographs bridge the worlds of documentary and art photography. He aims to portray the space in-between, and the moments in everyday life where the lines begin to blur between fiction and reality. Inspired by the history of painting, he works with a traditional 4x5 camera using negative film, as a way to slow down his practice in today’s fast paced digital world.

The 2016 NZ Art Show takes place from June 3 – 6 in the TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf on the Wellington waterfront, with the Show’s opening Gala Evening being held on Thursday, 2 June.

The Art Show is open to the public by general admission. The art displayed is constantly changing so there is always something different to see. Tickets cost $10 each, concessions $7, with children 12 years and under free. Tickets can be purchased online until May 25th at http://artshow.co.nz/buy+tickets and door sales will also be available.

More information can be found on the NZ Art Show website: http://artshow.co.nz/
ENDS

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