Celebrating Women /
The Zonta Ashburton Female Art Award (ZAFAA) is a unique art award in New Zealand which by its very existence acknowledges the need for substantial support of female artists aiming to pursue full-time careers in art. We take a look at the 2020 award win
The award-winning artists from this year’s Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards
Ihave coveted Christchurch artist Janna van Hasselt’s work for a good decade and had it reaffirmed that her work is something I need to invest in at the recent Zonta Ashburton Female Art Award 2020 (ZAFAA20). Taking out the Premier Award with her sculptural piece Totter, the work spoke to me as not only an art lover, but a mother.
‘ Totter plays with the way porcelain slumps and subsides at high temperatures,’ she explains. ‘It has been taken from a series of slumped pieces inspired by the myriad challenges I face daily as a mum to two small children [18 months and four years]. Losing the ability to control the work’s final structure is akin to parenting – plenty of frustrations and failures along with joyful exuberance and delight.’
The work is made up of individual pieces glazed separately and precariously stacked; their final form determined by the firing process.
For judges Sarah McClintock, Cheryl Lucas and Lydia Baxendell, selecting a Premier Award winner presented a challenge. ‘There were a lot of strong contenders and the decision making wasn’t easy,’ shares Lydia.
Sarah agrees. ‘The quality of the work was so high that we asked if we could choose more than one winner, but sadly there can only be one. We were all immediately drawn to Janna’s work. Its energy, tension, joy and the immense skill it displays made it incredibly memorable. The honesty of the artist statement, which matched the intention of the work, impressed us and we clearly saw the potential for an amazing exhibition of her work.’
No stranger to art competitions, Janna was drawn to ZAFAA due to it being the only art competition in New Zealand open solely to female artists. ‘I was really excited to enter a competition that celebrates and empowers women – and am completely overwhelmed to have won!’
Open to emerging and mid-career female artists residing in Canterbury, the awards encompasses all artistic disciplines including video, sculpture and new media works, which are first presented through photos for the preselection process. Twenty-six of this year’s 69 entries were selected to be exhibited as finalists for the Premier Award and an additional 15 for the Young Generation Award, for female artists between ages 16 and 20.
Taking out the Young Generation Award was first-year Massey University student Catherine Anderson. ‘My high school art teacher [Mark Soltero, Papanui High School] was always encouraging us to enter ZAFAA and I am amazed I won,’ she laughs. Entitled Power over Forest, her photography piece works to illustrate ‘the power that men in suits have over our forest lands’.
Inspired by the way in which her father runs a sustainable forest block in comparison to corporate forestry, the work looks into the subject of deforestation. ‘It is often obvious that there is a passing of blame. I have covered the corporate man’s face to show the idea of hiding, yet he is still in his money-making attire.’
For judge Sarah McClintock, the work ‘displayed the whole package. We were impressed by the strength in its
Totter by Janna van Hasselt plays with the way porcelain slumps and subsides at high temperatures.
composition, the clarity and thoughtfulness of the artist statement, its uncompromising viewpoint and the promise it shows for her future as an artist.’
‘The Ashburton Art Gallery has had a long history of supporting female artists in Mid Canterbury,’ explains Gallery Curator and Manager Shirin Khosraviani. ‘Becoming a finalist in ZAFAA is a remarkable achievement, it requires a level of excellence and the skill to demonstrate concepts both visually and through written text.
‘ZAFAA’s distinctiveness is also magnified through its prize; it gives the Premier Award winner a cash reward, but also – and more importantly – the opportunity to work towards a new solo exhibition to be shown with us in 2021.’ The Zonta Ashburton Female Art Award 2020 exhibition is being held at the Ashburton Art Gallery until 12 April and is running alongside the exhibition of Melissa Macleod’s The
Trappings of Ghosts. Melissa was the 2019 ZAFAA Premier
Award winner.