A leading New Zealand installation artist Joyce Campbell and a prominent Hawke's Bay textile artist Clare Plug are the recipients of the 2006/07 Artists to Antarctica programme, offered by Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.

"This scheme gives New Zealand artists a rare opportunity to experience the greatest wilderness on earth. " Elizabeth Kerr CEO CNZ

Image: Silver gelatin print titled Jetty 12, 2005 by LA-based New Zealand artist Joyce Campbell who is off to Antarctica sometime soon.A leading New Zealand installation artist Joyce Campbell and a prominent Hawke's Bay textile artist Clare Plug are the recipients of the 2006/07 Artists to Antarctica programme, offered by Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.

"This scheme gives New Zealand artists a rare opportunity to experience the greatest wilderness on earth. " Elizabeth Kerr CEO CNZ

Image: Silver gelatin print titled Jetty 12, 2005 by LA-based New Zealand artist Joyce Campbell who is off to Antarctica sometime soon."We are thrilled to have had such a high calibre of candidates for this year's programme and it's fantastic that we have been able to select two artists with strong science backgrounds," said Antarctica New Zealand CEO Lou Sanson.

"This scheme gives New Zealand artists a rare opportunity to experience the greatest wilderness on earth. The Arts Fellows interpret that inspiration and share their unique experience for the benefit of other New Zealanders," said Elizabeth Kerr, Chief Executive of Creative New Zealand.

Joyce Campbell, born in Wairoa but based in Los Angeles, is internationally renowned for her sculpture, photography and time-based media works. She has exhibited extensively in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Europe, and received critical acclaim for her ability to portray difficult and obscure environments through her work.

Textile artist Clare Plug is the other Antarctic Arts Fellow for 2006/07. Clare's work reflects an affinity with her natural environment and critics often refer to her intriguing, almost poetic ability to capture the essence of a particular environment and to lure her viewers to it. Clare has exhibited her quilts - abstract and often enigmatic - both in New Zealand and in the United States.

"Both artists were an obvious choice, given their knowledge of science and their desire to explore scientific principles and images in their work," said Mr Sanson. "In terms of providing education and understanding of the continent, they will use their scientific knowledge to tell the story of the Antarctic environment and its role as an indicator of the health of the rest of the planet."

The Artists to Antarctica Programme is a joint initiative between Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand, and is open to all established New Zealand artists and writers.

"Creative New Zealand's partnership with Antarctica New Zealand has been in place for 10 years," Miss Kerr said. "It's a working example of how science and the environment can inspire the creation of innovative New Zealand art."

Click on the link below for more information.

www.antarcticanz.govt.nz