Melissa McMahon has been announced the winner of the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award Three Dimensional Artform 2022, and has collected her prize of $10,000 – sponsored by the Molly Morpeth Canaday (Whakatāne) Fund, presented by Arts Whakatāne with exhibition partners Whakatāne District council Museum and Library.
The award, in its 38th year, seeks to highlight and celebrate excellence in fine art throughout Aotearoa. The winners are selected from a pool of entrants by three preliminary judges – this year; Vanessa Mei Crofskey (kaitohu of The Pantograph Punch), Sorawit Songsataya (artist and winner of MMCA 3D – 2020) and Shirin Khosraviani (Director of Ashburton Art Gallery).
Melissa’s winning work ‘Pink Bats’ made from earthenware, terra sigillata, glaze, gold lustre and wool blend fibre was chosen by guest judge Robert Jahnke as the winner from an impressive 294 entries nationwide and 62 finalists at the Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre on Saturday 12th February.
Reflecting on the winning artwork, Jahnke said….
“This work really made an amazing impression on me – there is something compelling about ceramic urns beyond their funerary function and that is their earth-bound materiality and inherent fragility. The artist imprints the urn with memento mori including bats; one with an ear pierced by a gold ring, a neck adorned with flowers, a breast with cross bones and the tour de force of the piece, a tiered plaited looped, and knotted cap fabricated from batts insulation transforming the mundane into a sumptuous crowning of the urn…there is a Gothic playfulness in the base with corner ring and 16 minimal golden conical caps that introduce a sense of tactility. The title ‘Pink Bats’ sums up the artist’s playful demeanor.”
Melissa, who hails from Maungaturoto, accepted the award, paying respect to her tutors as the work was an outcome of her newly completed Master’s course: “I’m really delighted… the calibre of work in there is just phenomenal.”
“My practice is concerned with memento mori – reminders of death. Through the use of urn forms, a category of vase specific to funerary practices, I create referential or potentially real repositories for ashes or, more correctly cremains. The potential function of a funerary or cinerary urn creates the site for a memorial or place of remembrance. Bat imagery features large in the material culture of death, yet this is at odds with their role as sole pollinator of over 500 flowers. Darkness, death, joy, and good fortune are all said to be represented by the bat. These notions of duality are important to my art making.”
Robert Jahnke also awarded eight other prizes. The recipients are:
Akel Award runner up ($4,000) joint winners Andrew Rankin (Auckland) for his work Turnaround and Wendy Hannah (Auckland) for her work Maumahara – Memories
Arts Whakatāne Highly Commended ($1,000) Kereama Taepa (Pāpāmoa) for Carved Histories
Robinson Law Highly Commended ($1,000) Donna May Dinsdale (Te Puke) for Girl Power Aotearoa
4Artsake Local Artist Merit ($500) Peter Radley (Ōpõtiki) for Te Arawa
The Incubator Merit ($1,500 exhibition package) Sam Kelly (New Plymouth ) for Standing Sculpture #3
CReW Community resources Merit award ($500) Birgit Moffatt (Ōtaki) for Balancing Act
Frames by Daniel Merit ($500 product) Jann Lenihan (Masterton) for Tea Shirt
A final award will be decided by visitors to the exhibition. The People’s Choice ($500) is arguably the most popular Molly Morpeth Canaday Award. Sponsored by The Whakatāne Society of Arts & Crafts, Anne Tolley and Diverse Graphics, this award is decided by popular vote and announced at the end of the exhibition – so make sure you get your votes in for your favourite!
The Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D – 2022 finalist’s exhibition runs until 9 April at the Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, 49 Kakahoroa Drive, Whakatāne. All the artworks are for sale giving art lovers and collectors the opportunity to purchase some extraordinary artworks.
