Donna Sarten wins the Fieldays No. 8 Wire National Art Awards 2011

High art and agricultural products are not things which are normally associated with one another but that is the beauty of the Fieldays No. 8 Wire National Art competition.

No. 8 wire is not easily malleable, it’s a difficult material to work with and it takes months to create a sculpture, but when an artist can create something faced with such complications, you can be sure it’s something spectacular. No. 8 Wire National Art Awards takes the humble kiwi invention and asks artists to put an innovative spin on it.

Judge Carole Shepherd chose Donna Sarten’s work from amongst 14 other finalists; Shepheard said she found ‘Unsolved’ to be beautiful and mesmerizing.
“It is a work that that genuinely stirs the imagination and challenges ones understanding of both art and the law. It is successful in a way that most influential political work is. It raises the issue, creates the structure to best explore the idea and leaves some questions for the viewer to resolve.”

Shepheard commented on the obvious attention to detail that Sarten had given and labour intensity that the piece took in its construction; “It shows a real tenacity, doggedness and commitment to the clear uncompromising concept. This work speaks of justice and conscience as much as it does contemporary art. It also goes beyond speaking of a specific event in New Zealand’s criminal history to the more pressing concern of child abuse and neglect."





Unsolved

41 years ago there was no bigger story in New Zealand than the killing of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe.

Killed in their Pukekawa farmhouse and dumped in the Waikato river, the murders cast a shadow over rural life in a country proud of its farming heritage.

The Crewe's daughter Rochelle was found crying in her cot 5 days after the couple died. An innocent man was jailed for the crime and then pardoned.

The case remains unsolved.

Viky Garden - BlueGirls

Don't miss out on these limited addition prints from Viky Garden. More information here

In conclusion

Rachael McKinnon reviews Selene Simcox: In Residence

After completing her BFA at Whitecliffe College Arts and Desgin, Selene Simcox is now in the
second year of her Masters of Arts Management.

The exhibition on March 11 was the culmination of her period as artist in residence at the Manthel van Reijn Studio. And it was her residency in the studio that was key to her artistic output.

Simcox's pieces negotiate the space within which she worked. There is a sparse, breeze-block, concrete and steel interior area and a modern courtyard with large concrete slabs on the exterior. Simcox collapses these boundaries by bringing textures from each area respectively into the other space.

By applying duraseal to the courtyard tiles and using a squeegee of warm grey paint to capture the surface, she is able to bring the surface inside and adorn the walls of the studio space. Inevitably, through the vehicle of Simcox herself, a human, organic and kinetic element is transferred onto the industrial texture. This also occurs as she paints onto vinyl on the breeze-block brick surfaces. The brick outlines are clearly visible but so is the curving of the squeegee held by the artist's hand; so is the dripping of the paint and the inconsistencies of pressure.

Simcox's work derives its meaning from the materials and processes that, in creating it, are employed. The Duraseal creates painterly illusions that cover adhesive factory-made building materials. The process creates dynamism and aesthetic, visual texture. The exhibit is not tactile, but serves to satisfy aesthetically. The sewn pouf installed outside on the courtyard as a means of creating some indoor space outside, invites touching and invites collapsing into - and yet its purpose is derived from the way it has escaped its boundaries as a indoor household item. More so, I think it becomes a significant element of hand-made labour nestled amongst the rigid lines of modern architecture.

There is a transience in the works. By imprinting - a nostalgic act for many people who have made rubbings of various textures when they were children - there is a documentation of textures that may one day be destroyed or changed. The imprints capture these surfaces as they were in one particular moment and then they are solidified as documented art. The textural repetition, created by her squeegee impressions of the various textures, prompts the viewer to consider the spaces they occupy and the textures that surround. These are textures that may once have resided in many people's blind-spots and are now being elevated through process. Yet, in repetition there is an emphasis on Simcox's role as artist - the way her hand is at work through each application of paint and the naturalistic movements juxtaposed against modern industrial and commercial spaces.

Selene Simcox in Residence at Manthel van Reijn Studio 2011

Selene Simcox Jump 2011 Acrylic on vinly 1220 x 300mm

Selene Simcox Repeat Repeat & Sideway Glances Acrylic on vinyl 1080 x 1240mm

Selene Simcox Repeat & Jump 2 2011 Acrylic on vinyl

Selene Simcox Sidewalk 2011 Acrylic on Duraseal on board 800 diameter

Selene Simcox Sidewalk 2 2011 Acrylic on Duraseal on board 570 x 600mm

Selene Simcox Untitled 2011 Acrylic on vinyl, polystyrene balls 1300mm diameter

SELENE SIMCOX IN RESIDENCE

Manthel van Reijn Studio presents - SELENE SIMCOX IN RESIDENCE

Monday 21 February – Friday 11 March 2011
OPEN STUDIO: Monday 7 March – Thursday 10 March, 10am – 6pm
ONE NIGHT ONLY EXHIBITION: Friday 11 March, 5.30 – 7.30pm


Auckland artist Selene Simcox is in residence at Manthel van Reijn Studio (Mt Eden) from 21 February to 11 March and continues to explore the relationship between paint and vinyl and the role that performance plays in her work.

“There are workman-like approaches in this work, rules and boundaries evolve like a fairytale or narrative around the development of each artwork. These rules and boundaries are given form by measurement, time and props that provide the framework for creativity to move through”.

The vinyl surface allows for the fluid movement of painting-in-performance to act upon it. The paint is moved with a squeegee, tracing the artist’s performance, stripping painting back to the barest moment, leaving a mark that becomes the only evidence that the artist has been there.

Selene Simcox graduated from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in 2009 and has exhibited at The Bluecoat (Liverpool, England), Massey School of Fine Arts (Wellington) and recently at Corban Estate (Auckland). This is her first solo show.

Selene Simcox at Manthel van Reijn Studio, Banklink House, 12 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, 21 Feb-11 Mar 2011. Entrance through Normanby Road Foyer or the Edwin St Carpark.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Selene Simcox, selenes@clear.net.nz, mob: 021 169 9084, www.selenesimcox.wordpress.com

UPDATE:
Selene Simcox was recently interviewed by Amy MacKinnon from The Aucklander,and by Karley Feaver.

Margaret Lewis wins Style Pasifika 2010 Street Wear Award

Special congrats to Margaret Lewis for her winning Street Wear design in Westfield Style Pasifika 2010. Margaret has shared the story behind 'Rattle your Daggs' here . She also came runner-up in Resene Asia Pasifika with an entry called 'She was a Skater Girl' inspired by Avril Lavigne going Harajuku. Among Margaret's many talents she's also The Big Idea Marketing and Business Development Manager.

CEAC Studio Artists Upcoming Exhibitions

CEAC Studio artists Tony Brown, Donna Sarten, Bernie Harfleet and Ingrid Dubbelt are exhibiting work in various galleries & sites around Auckland this month. Invites are below.

Leah

Tony Brown at the Upstairs Gallery Titirangi

10 June - 4 July

Bernie Harfleet & Donna Sarten
Waitakere City Council Chambers 4 - 10 June
Waitakere Central Library 11 - 17 June
New Lynn Library 18 - 24 June
Glen Eden Library 25 June - 2 July

Ingrid Dubbelt at Uxbridge Arts Centre
4- 17 June

Bears' and Smack Images

Bears by Bernie Harfleet

Bears

Smack by Donna Sarten

Bears’ & ‘Smack’

Bernie Harfleet, Donna Sarten
Tauranga Art Gallery
14 May – 11 July (Floor talk 29 May 1.00pm)

Corban studio artists, Donna Sarten and Bernie Harfleet have work at Tauranga’s public art gallery for the next two months, after being invited to show by gallery director Penelope Jackson.
Both works reflect these artists concern for the treatment of children in New Zealand, and both works are award winners.
Donna’s piece ‘Smack’ won first prize in the Lincoln Green sculpture award, as part of the trust awards in 2008.
Bernie’s work ‘Bears’, of which this is the gallery version, won best sculpture at Waitakaruru sculpture park last year.
The Tauranga Gallery has been open since Oct 2007 and has received an architecture award for its design. It is built on the site of the cities first BNZ bank, and still retains the old vault where this work is being shown.
Further information can be found at-
www.artgallery.org.nz/index.php/‘ps_pagename/latestnews/news/197

'Bears' by Bernie Harfleet

Bears (detail)

'Smack' by Donna Sarten

'Chaise Lange' - A new commission by Peter Lange

On Friday 28th of May at 461 Karangahape Road, a new work by Peter Lange, studio artist at Corban Estate Art Centre, will be unveiled to the public. 'Chaise Lange', the title typically tongue-in-cheek, is a public bench atop an undulating ‘flax’ mat comprised of thirteen hundred hand-made tiles. It replaces the organically inspired ferro-cement seat and accompanying plant bed which has been a familiar sight for over two decades.

Jointly funded by the K’Road Business Association (KBA), Western Bays Community Board, Auckland City Council, Uptown Arts Trust and Caluzzi Bar and Cabaret, the seat will be officially gifted to the city by the KBA. Lange gives particular credit to the vision of Barbara Holloway (KBA) and Nora West (formerly of KBA) and commends them and the Auckland City Council, for their “positive approach”.

Lange, chiefly known for his playful brick sculptures, was commissioned four years ago to replace the “much loved” crumbling street furniture outside no. 461. The fixture’s iconic status was in part because of its close association with Caluzzi Cabaret Bar and its role as prop in drag queen performances. Lange comments that “…that part of K Rd is fairly flamboyant with a lively night life...I wanted to make a seat that had a certain exuberance... (and) perhaps a slightly camp feeling to it.” 'Chaise Lange' is playfully illusionistic and sinuously dynamic. It has also been built to withstand the weight of three substantial dancers.

The thirteen-hundred hand-made tiles which replicate the look of woven harakeke (flax) are bolstered by 300 – 400 kilograms of steel reinforcing. Working in steel was a new approach for the ceramicist. He is thankful he called on the services of other specialists to assist with the steel structure.

The individually shaped tiles were designed on a computer program. Although subject to shrinkage and changes to curvature though firing, he says “...I didn’t have too much trouble on the way”. Ending up with too many left hand tiles and not enough right hand tiles was also a problem easily resolved. With help from his daughter Jenny, the bespoke tiles were successfully fitted into the myriad of curves in the design.

Lange has used the concept of woven fibre before. It features in brick, as seen in, ‘Brick Bag’ on Waiheke. Another piece is the ‘woven tent’ at Auckland Botanical Gardens, made with fired tiles over a fiberglass structure. Lange states, “I love the illusion of flax weaving – there is nothing too profound about it, (it) is simply a surface I enjoy reproducing. I enjoy the kind of double-take it can induce in the viewer”. Playing with illusion and the contradictions possible between materials versus subject has always been rich with potential for artists. This is certainly the case for Lange. 'Chaise Lange' is a continuation of that exploration and is a striking piece of street furniture with an important role to play on one of Auckland’s most colourful streets.


Kyla Mackenzie