Estuary Art & Ecology Prize 2019 - a Merit Award!

The Estuary Art & Ecology Prize, 2019

Malcolm Smith Gallery

Uxbridge Arts Centre, 

Howick, Auckland, NZ

Exhibition of Finalists
13 July to 1 September 2019

Awards Ceremony
Saturday 13 July 2019, 2:30PM

I am thrilled that my artist book "Search & Rescue 

was awarded a Merit Prize for this year's award.

 

 

 

 Congratulations to the winners of the 13th Annual Estuary Art and Ecology Prize:
First Prize: Mo Stewart.
Second Prize: Roma Anderson
Merit Toni Hartill and Briana Woolliams

Many thanks to Judge Dr Janine Randerson, Uxbridge Centre Director Vickie Bowers and to everyone who contributed to making it a really special event and a stunning exhibition. 

For more info and images please visit Uxbridge Arts & Culture

Big thank you to Gordon Harris for sponsoring the Merit awards.

And a special thanks to family and friends who came a long way to show their support.

 Scroll on for some images from the awards ceremony.

(Sincere apologies for the lack of pics of the other prize winners' and finalists' works as I was somewhat focused on recording reactions to my own work at the time and doing a lot of jibber-jabber catching up with friends and meeting other artists - fabulous event!)

From Left to right: Centre Director: Vickie Bowers, Merit: Toni Hartill, 1st Prize: Mo Stewart, Judge: Dr Janine Randerson, Merit: Briana Woolliams, 2nd Prize: Roma Anderson

 

 

 

"Te Wai o Taiki" by Briana Woolliams (Merit)

Left to right: "Hangman" by Summer Shimizu, Blueprint for Tamaki" by Barnaby McBryde, "Echo" by Mo Stewart (1st), "Breath Carrier" by Roma Anderson (2nd).

 As mentioned in a previous post, my work is meant to be handled so, with a bit of encouragement, it was great to watch people enjoying having an explore amongst the pages. Some were tentative at first as its not usual that you are allowed to handle artworks in a gallery space but, once reassured, they had fun having a peek and a fondle. And yes, it is very tactile, adding to the experience.

 

 This work "Waterball" by Summer Shimizu is also meant to be handled revealing some lovely surprises.

 

 

  The exhibition has been beautifully curated and the works 

all seem to compliment each other perfectly in the space. So pleased to be hanging in the gallery with other such talented and skilled artists such as Neal Palmer and good friend and partner in "crime" Celia Walker.

"Pawson's Cylinder" by Neal Palmer

"Marginal" by Celia Walker

Judge: Dr Janine Randerson

Prize winners 2019

A final icing on the cake is that "Search & Rescue" was sold during the opening event which was both a surprise and a delight! Hard to let my "babies" go but I know it is going to a very special home and I couldn't be happier.

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The exhibition is open until September 1st 2019.

See website for hours.

https://uxbridge.org.nz/

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

Waiprint 2019 - Guest Artist

WAIPRINT 2019 

WAIPRINT is an annual exhibition of works by Waikato Society of Arts printmakers and I was thrilled to be invited to be this year's guest artist.

My exhibition of works is titled "Field Notes" and features a selection of recent botanically themed works including an artist's book which was the inspiration for the title of the show.

Works include linocut, monoprint, drypoint and collagraph techniques.

Opening preview: Thursday, 18 July, 5.30 pm

Exhibition: 19 July – 19 August 

ArtsPost

120 Victoria Street

Hamilton.

WAIPRINT Workshop: Unfolding Ideas 

Saturday September 7th, 2019.

I will be presenting a one-day workshop aimed at introducing participants to a variety of book structures and ways that these could be used to express their own ideas and concepts in tactile, 3 dimensional formats using reject and/or surplus print papers and images, and miscellaneous found materials and/or objects.

This workshop will be focused on ideas generation and experimentation culminating in a personal collection of samplers and mock-ups as a stepping stone for future developments.

It is hoped that participants will come with an open mind and be ready for free play and experimentation, to try something new and to be prepared to take their work in directions they may have never considered.

This introduction to various simple structures for books will be a chance to play around with a lot of ideas. Because there will be no printmaking involved on the day, this workshop will suit a variety of art practices. 

Please note: Due to my busy exhibition schedule at present, the workshop will be after WAIPRINT on Saturday, 7 September. 

If you are interested in attending please 

register your interest with Janice Meadows at:

jmeadows51@gmail.com

In connection to WAIPRINT there will also be the 

Ruth Davey Revisited 

exhibition on at the 

Next Level Gallery

upstairs at ArtsPost.

Opens Saturday 13th July 2 - 3.30pm.

Exhibition: 11 - 26 July.

WSA Life Member and printmaker extraordinaire,

Ruth Davey, exhibits a selection of her prints together with works collected from printmakers she has known and worked with in NZ and overseas. Many of these prints have not been shown here before and provide a window into her own artistic influences and printmaking friendships.

Much of the work in the exhibition, framed and unframed,

is for sale as Ruth aims to downsize her art collection.

Proceeds from the exhibition will go

toward a Merit Award for Printmaking at the 2020 NZPPA.

I would like to thank Janice Meadows for extending the invitation to me and for the ease with which we were able to coordinate making it happen amongst all my other current commitments.

I look forward to seeing my work presented alongside the works of the many talented and skilled printmakers of the WSA in Waiprint 2019.

Follow me on Instagram

for a more regular insight into my work

@tonihartillart

or visit me on facebook:

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Thanks for visiting!

Estuary Art & Ecology Prize 2019 - my entry at last!

The Estuary Art & Ecology Prize, 2019

Malcolm Smith Gallery

Uxbridge Arts Centre, 

Howick, Auckland, NZ

Exhibition of Finalists
13 July to 1 September 2019

Awards Ceremony
Saturday 13 July 2019, 2:30PM

I am very pleased that my 

 work has been selected for this year's award.

The brief:

The only contemporary art prize in Aotearoa New Zealand with ecology at its core. Artists are invited to research and respond to the Tāmaki Estuary, to underscore the ecological value of this vital waterway and encourage action against its pollution.

With a total prize pool of $8,300 the winning artworks will be intelligent and innovative responses to ecology in the field of contemporary art.

 Planning (well) ahead

The Tamaki Estuary is a major geographical feature and an important waterway in my home "town" of Auckland. Passing through many suburbs and almost severing the Auckland Isthmus to the west it is nigh on impossible not to have had some contact with the estuary while living in Auckland for most of my life. From the lush wildlife reserve at Tahuna Torea to the sludgy mud of Curlew Bay that is crossed by the Southern Motorway there are a huge range of habitats and environments, all of them vulnerable to pollution and damage.

The state of our waterways is a hugely topical subject, and becoming evermore so, so I have been very inspired to add my voice to helping to draw attention to this taonga (treasure) on our doorstep. It has therefore been a long standing intention of mine to enter this art award and finally I felt I was ready to give it a go with something that would hopefully measure up to the high bar set by previous entrants. I had loose ideas percolating for some time ( a good couple of years!) but I always left it too late to begin work in time for the next deadline. THIS time, however, I made the decision, probably a year ago, that I would enter this year's exhibition so actually scheduled in time to work towards it.

Knowing that my idea was to construct a multi-layered, multi-media work that was to be larger than the average artists book I knew I needed plenty of time to make, test and construct  many components all the while not having a clear picture in my head quite WHAT I was creating, just what sort of EXPERIENCE I hoped it would invite. (The size limit was that it could be no longer than 2 m in any dimension so... it is approximately 1.9m long).

"Search & Rescue" (detail) by Toni Hartill

"Search & Rescue" (detail) by Toni Hartill

 Initial idea

My original idea for an artwork in an artist's book format was for it to be an "angry timeline" referencing the length of time that the awards have been running, all the while the Tamaki Estuary has only become increasingly polluted. The book was going to tumble down the wall and as it reached the floor it would become all the more deconstructed and degraded.

I very quickly discovered, however, that I'm not very committed to making angry art. It doesn't inspire me to create when I'm angry PLUS I think it is much easier to inspire people to take action if they are engaged and encouraged to participate through a more positive, hopeful approach rather than be alienated by anger. Besides there is so much negativity out there and I am sure it doesn't help with our mental health statistics at ALL. Oh and one other reason, this work was going to take me quite some time to create and its very hard, and very undesirable for me to remain angry for a length of time, or to dredge up the anger each time, I think...

So, therefore, my "angry timeline" very quickly morphed instead into an expression of hope and an invitation to engage.

"Search and Rescue"

 

Artist's book "Search & Rescue" by Toni Hartill

 

 

 

Artist's Statement:

What began as an intention to create an “angry timeline”, referencing the continued degradation of the estuary despite the years that the award has been running, has morphed into an expression of hope and an invitation for engagement and discovery.

Through multi-layered, tactile details that speak of the Tamaki Estuary, I was drawn to create an experience that would impel people to be engaged with the artwork, to entice them to want to explore and discover the plethora of treasures hidden within, as they might if they were to interact more intently with the estuary.

Viewers are invited to search amongst the pages of this book and are encouraged to think about their own connections and engagement with the estuary. By looking more closely and taking care to treat it carefully, they might, in even a tiny way, begin to consider how they too can play a part in the future of the estuary’s wellbeing and of all its fragile components.

 

 

Details

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Stay tuned for a follow-up post 

where I will share images of more details 

and of the work in progress.

 

"Search & Rescue" - work in progress, by Toni Hartill

 

Follow me on Instagram

for a more regular insight into my work

@tonihartillart

or visit me on facebook:

facebook.com/tonihartillart 




The exhibition opening and awards ceremony is this 
Saturday 13th July at 2.30pm.

 

Thanks for visiting!