OBJECTive Art Awards Winners Announced

Winners of the 2009 OBJECTive Art Awards were announced at Manurewa’s Nathan Homestead on Friday 30 October.

Held as part of the Manukau Festival of Arts, the awards and exhibition opening night saw many of the exhibiting artists in attendance, along with Manukau Arts manager Leisa Siteine and Councillor Colleen Brown.

Ms Siteine says that the design theme for 2009 was inspired by a quote from designer Shimon Shmueli, “Design is art optimised to meet objectives”.

Guest judge Carin Wilson had the task of selecting the works in the exhibition as well as the recipients of this year’s OBJECTive Art Awards.

Wilson, an Auckland-based sculptor and furniture designer with extensive experience in his own art practice, kept in mind three criteria when making his decision.

“First, I considered the concept and energy behind the piece,” he explained. “Then the level of application in the work.

“Finally, I was looking for an indefinable quality. Something suggesting that the artist had moved out of their comfort zone to create something that challenged their own process.”

The winning work In the Beginning by Lilach Paul from Kumeu, Auckland was a timber piece inlaid with bone.

Second prize went to Terri Te Tau’s work Kiki – exploring the limits of nylon thread, adhesive tape and glue.

Third prize was awarded to Waitakere’s Sofia Athineou for Amfitriti an expressive work in cast glass.

The Manukau Designer Award went to Carolyn Milbank for Retreat, a cluster of baches made of polyester resin, wax and mixed media, evoking “solitude and daydreams”.

Sixty artists from throughout New Zealand submitted a wide range of work into this year’s awards. The awards exhibition contains a variety of object art works, from the well-crafted and hand-built to the technically-designed and highly-finished. The exhibition will be showing until 22 November. An accompanying exhibition at the Mangere Arts Centre includes submitted works that were not successful in the final selection, and is showing until 7 November.

ENDS

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