2024 WINNERS OF PORTAGE CERAMIC AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Image: Wendelien Bakker, Sea of Grass. Premier Award Winner.
Photo credit: Samuel Hartnett.
Te Uru is thrilled to announce the 2024 Portage Ceramic Award last night went to Wendelien Bakker for her work Sea of Grass. This year’s Merit Award winners are Terry Bell for The Clay Pulls You In, Ted Kindleysides for Figure Bottle Form (set of two) and Raukura Turei for Nau mai e hine.
The Portage Ceramic Awards is Aotearoa’s best-known survey of contemporary ceramic activity. Established in 2001, the award is now in its 24th year and celebrates the diversity of contemporary ceramics. The Portage Ceramic Awards exhibition, a presentation of the 40 finalist works, will be on display at Te Uru from 22 November – 23 February.
This year’s entries are judged by internationally recognised artist Kate Newby. Newby says on Wendelien Bakker’s winning work Sea of Grass,“What I love most is the sense of impermanence. The piece doesn’t demand to be preserved or fixed in time. It embraces the ephemeral nature of materials and the environment, echoing cycles of creation, decay, and renewal. It’s refreshing to encounter a work that isn’t trying to outlast its surroundings, but instead integrates itself into them.”
From the Netherlands and Ōtautahi, Wendelien Bakker is currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She completed her BFA at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and returned to Aotearoa to complete her MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts, the University of Auckland, in 2016.
Image: Terry Bell, The Clay Pulls You In. Merit Award Winner.
Photo credit: Samuel Hartnett.
2024 sees three artists presented with Merit Awards, including Terry Bell. “This is sculpture that doesn’t sit still—it’s lively, raw, and wonderfully unpredictable.” says Newby on Bell’s work The Clay Pulls You In. Terry Bell lives and works on Waiheke Island. She holds a Diploma of Ceramics from Dunedin Polytechnic, and her graduate works were displayed at Waiheke Community Art Gallery in 2023.
Image: Ted Kindleysides, Figure Bottle Form (set of two). Merit Award Winner.
Photo credit: Samuel Hartnett.
The second Merit Award recipient is Ted Kindleysides. “What struck me about these works was how they seemed to be doing a lot without having to shout about it. There is great restraint shown in the use of texture and glaze, yet they are anything but conservative.” says this year’s judge. Ted Kindleysides, born in Ōtāhuhu and based in Huia, has been a full-time potter for fifty years. His work is held in the collections of major institutions, including at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Image: Raukura Turei, Nau mai e hine. Merit Award Winner.
Photo credit: Samuel Hartnett.
The final Merit Award winner is Raukura Turei. “There’s a strong sense of belonging woven into the textured surface, as if each material holds a story and a connection of the artist to her whānau.” says Newby on the work, Nau mai e hine. Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kītahi) is an artist, practising architect, and mother of two. Turei’s work is centred around the use of whenua, and its connections to her whakapapa and whānau histories. Her work has recently been exhibited at The Dowse Art Museum, and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
This year 257 works were submitted to the Portage Ceramic Awards from all over Aotearoa, with 40 finalists.
PORTAGE CERAMIC AWARDS 2024 WINNERS:
2024 Premier Portage Ceramic Award:
Wendelien Bakker, Tāmaki Makaurau
Sea of Grass
2024 Merit Award:
Terry Bell, Waiheke Island
The Clay Pulls You In
2024 Merit Award:
Ted Kindleysides, Huia
Figure Bottle Form (set of two)
2024 Merit Award:
Raukura Turei, Tāmaki Makaurau
Nau mai e hine
More information about the awards can be found at www.teuru.org.nz/whats-on/portage-ceramic- awards/
PORTAGE CERAMIC AWARDS 2024 EXHIBITION
When: 22 November 2024 – 23 February 2025
Where: Te Uru, 420 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Tāmaki Makaurau
Web: teuru.org.nz
ABOUT TE URU
Te Uru is a home for contemporary culture that is fresh, relevant, empowering, and essential to the wellbeing of our communities. With our unique perspective, located in the forested outskirts of Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Uru is a regional contemporary gallery with an international programme that reflects our place in Aotearoa and the wider Moana region, connecting new ideas and different practices with local and global networks. Te Uru receives core operational funding from Auckland Council through the Waitākere Ranges Local Board.
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