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Entries are open for the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award, which challenges artists to transform the iconic number eight wire into inspiring art.
Hosted by Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato and supported by the New Zealand National Fieldays Society, this year’s event will be judged by carver, sculptor, and multi-disciplinary artist Eugene Kara.
Last year’s winner was Auckland artist Gina Ferguson with Wear ’n’ Tear, a work that reflected on life during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gina says the initial idea came to her when she was thinking about the correlation between the way a fence delineates a boundary and the regional and international borders during the pandemic.
“These structures have become paramount in our response to Covid-19,” Gina says. “This made me want to use wire and gorse in combination with soap. Using soap to clean and protect remains in our psyche.
“Once the soap is used up, the gorse barbs within it will scratch the skin so fundamentally our protection is lowered. I also wanted to express the sense of loss and sorrow being experienced throughout this pandemic, so Wear ’n’ Tear also refers to the grief worn and the tears shed by many.”
Gina says submitting her work to the No.8 Wire National Art Award competition was “a hell of a lot of fun and a challenge”.
“My main advice would be to just do it. Enjoying what you do and having something meaningful to you to say in your work is a good place to start. Enabling the materials and processes to guide you is also fundamental.”
This year’s winner will take home $7000 in prize money. The runner-up receives $1000 and third place gets $500.
There are also prizes for president’s choice and people’s choice winners.
Entries close on Monday, March 14, at 1pm and winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on April 21. An exhibition of the finalists will be held at ArtsPost, 120 Victoria Street, Hamilton, from April 22 to May 23.
To read the competition criteria and access the entry form, go to www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/no8wire.
