Miki Nozomi
I created ‘Soothsayer’ via a reference picture I had taken of a friend. Being able to draw friends as my subjects adds a unique depth that I can't achieve when drawing a stranger. Knowing them extends beyond their outward appearance, allowing me to capture not only their physical likeness but also my personal perception of them.
Through these drawings I'm able to explore my own relationship(s) to the body, femininity, racial fetishism, and the general feeling of walking through the world as a woman. The piece only hints that there is a figure crouching underneath layers of tulle; and I can only say that, sometimes, I feel just like that.
Gavin Chai
I first entered the Waitakere art awards in 2015 as a final year high school student with a small portrait painting of my mother. It was all a little murky and uncertain at the time, and I felt very encouraged to be given a third prize at the youth section with some essential pocket money to spend. Two years later, out of some miracles in the air I won the overall prize for a larger painting depicting people at the construction site.
The painting was part of a series inspired by my experiences working and learning at the construction site. It was wonderful. If there was ever a moral boost aside from all the compliments I received, it would be the advice and encouragement from one of the judges to further my art education at the university. I did, and by the end of 2020 I have finally graduated from AUT with my Bachelor of Visual Arts. A small seed from winning an award can indeed generate a larger boom, and now I’m a full time practicing artist showing at the Föenander Galleries in Tamaki Makarau Auckland and the Page Galleries in Poneke Wellington. I’m exploring the sensibilities and meanings of painting and how it could create subtle impacts for the viewers.
Clovis Viscoe
The sculpture awards I received in 2014 and 2015 have been a truly beneficial spin off for my professional Artist career.
Terry Stringer endorsement from a highly regarded Artist to an emerging Artist was pivotal in enabling me to establish a firm foothold in an arts career landscape. Guiding lights from elder statesmen at the pinnacle of their career is encouragement that buoys an Artist's conviction in their own creative beliefs.
The Trusts Art Awards is critical in encouraging creative individuals to shine and be recognised for their gifted achievements.
