Kunst Studium

$10,000 für Kunststudenten der "Elam School of Fine Arts at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries at The University of Auckland"

Outstanding students win $10,000 award for watercolour

Two outstanding students from Elam School of Fine Arts at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries at The University of Auckland have jointly received the largest scholarship given to young artists in New Zealand.

Postgraduate student Saskia Leek and second-year student Eunji Park have been awarded the Lola Anne Tunbridge Scholarship, a $10,000 prize given annually to an artist who excels in the exploration of contemporary themes in watercolour. This is awarded by the Henrietta and Lola Anne Tunbridge Charitable Trust, which is administered by trustee and wealth management company Guardian Trust. Lola Anne Tunbridge, who died in 1999, was an avid watercolourist who wished to support aspiring artists in this medium.

Guest judge for this year’s award was Michael Harrison, one of New Zealand’s finest watercolourists and a masters graduate with first class honours from Elam. Fellow judges were Associate Professor Nuala Gregory from Elam School of Fine Arts and Brien Mahoney from the Guardian Trust.

Michael Harrison and Nuala Gregory will lead a “Judges’ talk” at 1pm on Saturday 8 August at the George Fraser Gallery, 25a Princes Street, where the work of the nine finalists for the award are on display.

Saskia Leek, says Michael Harrison, is very sensitive to the medium, showing imagination and humour in creating works with “a lightness of touch and a quiet glow.

“She shows an extensive knowledge of contemporary and historical painting, which she is able to draw on while sustaining her own unique style.”

“In an environment awash with visual images”, adds Nuala Gregory, “Saskia creates a space for work that is very much her own.”

Strongly in contrast with Leek’s work is that of Eunji Park, whose paintings Michael Harrison describes as “more illustrative, more detailed, more closely aligned to photography”. The judges also praise it as showing high competence in the traditional techniques of watercolour.

Entitled “Trip to Japan” Eunji Park’s paintings invite a first interpretation as “a series of snapshots”, says Harrison. “However, the longer you spend with them, the more they reward your attention. With their precise detail and subtle changes of mood, they are works that (even more than most others) need to be seen in the original.

“The test of a work of art is if you can imagine taking it home and seeing new things in it a year from now. With both these winners, the more you look the more there is to think about.”