The finalists have now been selected for the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award 2012. This year’s judge, Jeff Thomson, has chosen 17 entries for the award.
 
Thomson, better known as the iron man of Australasia for his corrugated iron sculptures, found the task of choosing the finalists challenging due to the high quality of the entries submitted this year.
 

The finalists have now been selected for the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award 2012. This year’s judge, Jeff Thomson, has chosen 17 entries for the award.
 
Thomson, better known as the iron man of Australasia for his corrugated iron sculptures, found the task of choosing the finalists challenging due to the high quality of the entries submitted this year.
 
“It was great to see the variety in terms of how the wire was used to create innovative and imaginative sculptures that will hopefully surprise and at times mystify the viewer,” he said.
 
The Fieldays No. 8 Wire National Art Award is sponsored by NZ National Agricultural Fieldays, supported by Waikato Museum and hosted at ArtsPost Galleries & Shop. This year’s winners will be announced on 7 June at an awards ceremony before the exhibition opens to the public from 8 June until 16 July.
 
The winner will receive $4000, with second place and third place getters receiving $1500 and $1000 respectively. There is also a President’s Award and visitors to the exhibition can vote for the People’s Choice prize.
 
The art award which has demonstrated the versatility of No.8 wire, taking it off the farm and into the art gallery, was founded by NZ National Agricultural Fieldays in 1987. This is the sixth year Waikato Museum and ArtsPost have co-ordinated and hosted the award.
 
This year’s finalists have met the challenge creatively with more than a dash of Kiwi ingenuity.
 
“I've always been fascinated by what comes out when limiting oneself to one material and the work in this exhibition will not disappoint. It is a testament to the New Zealand No.8 wire mentality,” said Mr Thomson.
 
Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award 2012 finalists are:
 

Mia Hamilton - Wire Quilt
Rory Savage - Cactus
Asaki Kajima - Circulation
Donna Sarten - The Price of Milk
Rob  Kear - Reaching to Find a Source
Marti Wong - Bull Headed
Karaka Special Treatment Unit Art Group - Odyssey
Arthur Mahutariki - Red Stag
Julian Rennie - Moon Phases
Max Deutschle - The Hollow Tiki
Philipp Meier - Wire Doodle
Barbara Bourque - Medals of Dawn
Ross  Mackay - Highly Strung
Percy Goldfinch - Kiwiknots
Rick Terstappen - Where's Brian?
Rick Terstappen - Red Loop
William Jameson - What Lies Beneath

The Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award will be exhibited from 8 June until 16 July at ArtsPost Galleries & Shop, 120 Victoria Street, Hamilton. The exhibition is open from 10am-4.30pm. Admission is free and the artworks are offered for sale.

Media Release: Hamilton City Council