Auckland’s Jill Godwin is the overall winner of the 2017 Fieldays No.8 wire national art award with her topical entry The No.8 wire lettering system: Fences vs. Walls.
The annual competition, partnered by Farmlands and managed by Waikato Museum, challenges artists to forge No.8 wire and other agricultural products into sculptural artworks.
Fences vs. Walls was one of 28 finalists in the running for the major prize of $7,000, with the judge, art academic and sculpture expert Dr Robin Woodward, praising Godwin’s “down-to-Earth Kiwi-ness”.
“It tells the world where New Zealanders stand and what we are all about as a society,” says Woodward. “We need No.8 wire for all sorts of things not least of all is a fence. But in New Zealand, we don’t need a wall.”
Gaye Jurisich from Hamilton was the runner-up for her sculpture For Suzette, while Warkworth-based John Mulholland placed third for his work. It’s a bloody lifesaver.
Woodward says the exhibition is a reflection of what matters to New Zealand artists and communities.
“Competitions such as this are barometers of the health of our communities. They are indicators of what New Zealanders are thinking about as well as being an expression of creativity. What we see here in the finalists of the Fieldays 2017 No.8 Wire National Art Award is art that taps a deep well of creativity in New Zealanders.”
New Zealand National Fieldays Society President Peter Carr says he was impressed with the high calibre of artworks and pleased to see artists from previous years returning.
This year’s President’s Choice Award has gone to Cambridge artist Terry Pluck with his artwork Size No.8 Gumboots.
“Synonymous with farming and the Society’s founding objective, the piece brings town and country together,” says Carr.
The No.8 wire national art award is the first of this year’s Fieldays festivities, with the exhibition featuring all 28 finalists running at Hamilton’s ArtsPost until 22 May.
ArtsPost is open 10 am to 5 pm daily, and entry is free.
Selected artworks will also be on display at Fieldays from 14 to 17 June at Mystery Creek.
