Congratulations to Leer Mao Year 11, Jaymie Baxter Wilson and Pragati Mohan Year 13 whose artworks have been selected as finalists for the 2023 Arts House Trust Secondary School Art Awards!
These awards recognise and celebrate emerging artistic talent in New Zealand. Students can submit work in any media including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. It is open to students in Years 11, 12 and 13 from around the country.
This is a wonderful achievement, and we wish them all the best for the opening of the exhibition at the Pah Homestead on Wednesday 20 September when the winners and people’s choice awards will be announced. The exhibition runs from Wednesday 20 September – Sunday 15 October.
Leer Mao Year 11
Artist statement:
My work is composed to honour what is considered the “colourful moments” of life against the normal “black and white” backdrop, at times when a sense of joy and hope could overpower disappointments. It’s name comes from the song “True Colours” which I was fortunate to perform as a part of the Big Sing festival. It’s remarkable that the name and lyrics resonate perfectly with my message.
Jaymie Baxter Wilson Year 13
Artist statement:
Urban Aura
This photography work called ‘Urban Aura’ is a representation of hip hop with the room’s presence creating a vibrant aura. Hip hop isn’t only what is on the streets or in the classroom, it’s a person’s outlook on life. This work captures how my model perceives herself (what she wears) and how hip hop shapes the world around her (shown through the vibrant light and colour).
Pragati Mohan
Artist statement:
My work is based on my imperfect memory of being a child and my sense of time passing, sometimes slowly. My ideas evolved from and are recorded in visual images framed within my mind of my home and the pictures on the walls that document different phases of family history.
I began exploring the relationship between perception and childhood, particularly in the context of how we see our surroundings as a child and how this changes as we grow up.
Our senses become less aware, colour fades, scale changes. What we once saw as wondrous, becomes worn, diminished and faded.
I see the people who occupy my memories passing through like shadows or impressions, here and fading into figures of light ghosting through my memories, always remembered but with less substance as time passes.
Oil on canvas. Family Portrait Series. ‘Ba na haath ma’
