Now in its seventh year, the Zonta Ashburton Female Art Award exhibition presented by The Zonta Club of Ashburton in partnership with the Ashburton Art Gallery showcases the works of emerging and mid-career female artists based in Canterbury. The award seeks to raise the status of female visual artists working in the wider Canterbury area and acknowledges excellence in emerging and mid-career female artists as well as providing a platform for female youth.

This year, 29 finalists were selected from 74 entries for the Premier Award, and 13 entries were featured in the Young Generation Award category, for those aged 16-20 years.

This year’s Premier Award was won by Christchurch artist Jo Burzynska and her work What Might We Find When We Stop Looking? (Mechanised Quarter). In this work, the elements of a city are captured in both sound and scent, highlighting the often overlooked sensory experiences of everyday life. A soundscape of city noises ranging from traffic to birdsong is played through headphones, accompanied by a pumice block evoking the urban smells of coffee and concrete dust. Burzynska’s sensory interplay between sound and scent encourages a nonvisual understanding of space and aims to foster alternate connections with urban environments.

The ZAFAA23 Young Generation Award went to Vivien Silver-Hessey for her photographic entry Reach.  The judges “were incredibly impressed with how carefully considered and constructed the work is, both materially and conceptually. The combination of media is well planned and executed, communicating the symbolic references within it in a smart and successful way.”

The ZAFAA awards exhibition will be on display until 23 April 2023.  Visitors to the Gallery are encouraged to choose their favourite artwork for the People’s Choice award.

Judges for the 2023 awards are:

• Professor Jane Venis, contemporary practicing artist
• Lauren Gutsell, Kairauhī Curator at Dunedin Public Art Gallery
• Caroline McQuarrie, contemporary visual artist and Senior Lecturer in Photography at Whiti o Rehua School of Art Massey University

The Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards Finalists for 2023 are:

Alix Ashworth, Sarah Beal, Kate Beatty, Amie Blackwell, Jo Burzynska, Kate Cairns, Ynes Guevara-Doyle, Claudia Du.XZ, Charrette van Eekelen, Monique Gooch, Jessica Hamilton, Katie Hayles, Edwards + Johann, Ina Johann, Claire Johnson, Heather Jonson, Carol King, Ira Mitchell, Elizabeth Moyle, Marie Porter, Hazel Rae, Jane Reid, Jennifer Rendall, Hope River, Rebecca Smallridge, Elfi Spiewack, Rebecca Stewart, Jane Whales, Hazel White

Finalists for the Young Generation Award are:

Molly Fitzgerald, Madeline Hann, Kate Harrison, Maiah Henderson, Monica Koster, Molly Mannering, Jorgia McAllister, Roslyn McLean, Emma Nicholson, Gemma O’Neill, Vivien Silver-Hesey, Jorja Shadbolt, Jenny Wang

A generous grant from NZ Creative Communities has enabled the creation of a free catalogue which will include details on all the finalists, along with judges’ and sponsors’ profiles.  ZAFAA23 is proudly supported by Zonta Club of Ashburton, CNZ Creative Communities Grant, Barker’s Foodstore& Eatery, Forsyth Barr, ANZ Bank, Bushey Park Trust, Everist Gilchrist Lawyers, Straight 8 Estate Wines, Scorpio Books, Samantha Rose Flowers and Frame-Co.

Exhibition Details:

ZAFAA23

Opening | 10 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 11 March – 23 April 2023

Audrey Baldwin

Opening | 10 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 11 March – 05 May 2023

Gallery Hours:

Open Daily 10am – 4pm

Open Wednesday 10am – 7pm

The ZAFAA 2023 Premier Award recipient will win a cash prize of $4,000, along with a special opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Gallery in the following year. This opportunity to create a new body of work for a fully curated and professionally installed exhibition will be greatly valuable to the recipients artistic careers.

The awards will also have a separate Young Generation category open to female artists between the ages of 16 and 20. This award will acknowledge the creative youth in Canterbury with a cash prize of $500.

Images |

Main | Audrey Baldwin, Art Chemist, 2021. Winner of the Premier Award – ZAFAA 2022. Photo courtesy of Khye Hitchcock.

Image One | Vivien Silver-Hessey, Jo Burzynska, Lauren Gutsell, Jane Venis and Caroline McQuarrie with Jo’s winning work What Might We Find When We Stop Looking? (Mechanised Quarter)

Image Two | Caroline McQuarrie, Lauren Gutsell, Vivien Silver-Hessey and Jane Venis with Vivien’s work Reach