19 Feb 2010
Two recent Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology graduates have been selected for this year’s New Zealand Portrait Gallery Adam Portraiture Awards.
Out of a record number of 311 entries, two recent Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology graduates have been selected for this year’s New Zealand Portrait Gallery Adam Portraiture Awards.
Sandy Paterson and Lisa White, who graduated from NMIT’s Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design in December 2009, will join between 80 - 100 other contestants to have their original works presented for final judging which started last Friday at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in Wellington. Both their works were produced as part of their study at NMIT.
This year’s judge of the biennial competition is the Director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Andrew Sayers. He has said he will be looking for 'interpretation in its widest sense of images concerned with the portrayal of people with emphasis on their identity as individuals'. ‘Painted’ includes oil, watercolour or acrylic.
Both Sandy and Lisa say they are thrilled by the opportunity to have their portrait paintings entered into this prestigious national competition and are looking forward to the Gala opening and Prize-giving on February 24th.
Sandy Paterson’s entry is called ‘Considering Confidence’ and is a portrait of her father.
“In the past I would always avoid drawing faces, however, last year while I was studying at NMIT my studio focus was my father’s struggle with dementia, and it forced me to draw and paint him. I was emotional and it drove me.
“My inspiration was a concern with the relinquishment of personhood and the loss of self as it related to my father. The series explores notions of body memory, dislocation and familial relationships in the context of loss and recollection. The painting comes from reinterpreting two of my own photographic images, one of my father and one of my daughter. For me working from an original photographic source gave the painting much more potency.”
Lisa White’s painting is called 'About Face' and she says it is one of a series of portraits that are all based on images of herself.
“I was interested in creating portraits of people often marginalized in our beauty obsessed culture, the obese, the anorexic, the physically ill, the mentally handicapped, the mentally ill etc. I painted them larger than life to give them a presence and a sense of power over the viewer.
“As my passion and specialty is portrait painting, being selected for this competition is a dream come true.”
Including the awards selection, both have an exciting future. Lisa has opened her own studio called ‘Lisa White - Studio/Gallery’ (at Hidden Café) in Tapawera and will be working on commissions, while Sandy plans to teach in some way and explore research options.
"My time at NMIT has been the best three years, an amazing journey. It has given me a broader outlook, understanding of history, life and complexities of the human race. The tutors were dedicated and hard working,” says Sandy Paterson.
Suzie Peacock, Head of the School of Arts and Media at NMIT, says, “It is incredibly rewarding to see the works that were developed at NMIT make it into a top national art competition.”
“Both Lisa and Sandy were talented and dedicated students who tackled controversial subject matter and created very arresting images. To be recognised by being selected for entry in this important national competition is a huge boost not only to them but to our current students,” she says.
For the first time, this competition will see the public being able to participate in selecting their favourite portrait. The artist of the most popular portrait will receive a $2,000 prize, while the overall winner receives $15,000. The top 100 of the best entries will then be showcased in the Portrait Gallery’s Shed 11 from February 24 – 11 April 2010.
A smaller selection of the finalists will be touring NZ throughout 2010, with these being placed on show at the Millennium Gallery in Blenheim from 30 Nov 2010 – 30 Jan 2011.