Auckland artist Gina Ferguson and West Coast artist Dale Cotton have taken out the top prize of $7,500 in the 2022 Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award 2022 at a function held in Hamilton yesterday evening.
Their award winning work, ‘It never rains but it pours’ was found to be both ‘beautiful and stunning’ by this year’s judge, Eugene Kara.
The Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award competition is held annually and challenges artists from across New Zealand to transform the iconic agricultural product, No.8 wire, into inspiring artwork and compete for a prize pool worth nearly $10,000.
Gina and Dale have been collaborating for the past 18 months, most recently having their sculpture on display in the Auckland Botanic Gardens over the summer.
Gina, who also won the top award in 2021, also took home the second prize($1,000) for her art work, Cluster Buster Bath Bomb.
Two-time award winner Gina was surprised and overjoyed to have been recognised again this year for both of her creations.
Auckland-based artist, Alexandra Ryan, was placed third for Giggle!, while the NZNFS President’s Choice Award went to Morrinsville-based Heather Olesen’s, Rising Tensions.
NZNFS President James Allen said he is always blown away by how the artists manipulate a hardy farming product like no.8 wire into stunning art.
“Believe me, I’ve tried fencing with no.8 wire – it’s not an easy metal to tend with!” Allen remarked.
He thanked the Waikato Museum for the Society’s longstanding tradition and history with the Museum that “has allowed us to bring together town and country”.
First established back in 1997, the annual open call to artists and creatives across Aotearoa continues to provide a platform to reinvent an everyday farming product into art. It also helps to forge a stronger connection between urban and rural communities.
The winners were selected from among 28 finalists.
The finalists’ artworks will be on display and available for sale, in an exhibition at Hamilton’s ArtsPost from today until 24 May. Entry to the exhibition is free.
– from NewsViews
