Now in its eighth year, the Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards 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, 35 finalists were selected from 60 entries for the Premier Award, and 26 entries were featured in the Young Generation Award category, for those aged 16-20 years.

This year’s Premier Award was won by Marie Porter for her work The Rocks. In this work, Marie combines found rocks from Horomaka Banks Peninsula with handmade rocks cast from bronze, clay, papier-mâché, and more, to create a collection that she encourages viewers to touch. An accompanying notebook that visitors are also invited to handle contains poetry and sketches. Withstanding turmoil through tectonic shifts and eruptions over millennia, Marie sees rocks as foundational and constant. She describes them as a metaphor for community in their beauty and collective resilience, and calls them “the DNA of our natural world.”

Judge Ruth Watson, speaking on behalf of the judges Paerau Corneal and Hope Wilson, explained that amongst the finalists’ works there was “excellence in execution across the board, as well as some experimental ideas and approaches”. She described Marie’s winning work as an act of “highly pleasurable material experimentation”, and expressed her delight in seeing visitors interact with the work.

Along with a cash prize of $4,000, Marie Porter has also won the invaluable opportunity to create a solo exhibition at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum in 2025.

The ZAFAA24 Young Generation Award went to Jenny Wang for her sculptural entry Flicker. The judges described the work as “materially ambitious and intriguingly resonant, addressing heritage both physical and cultural”.

The ZAFAA awards exhibition will be on display until 14 April 2024.  Visitors to the Gallery are encouraged to choose their favourite artwork for the People’s Choice award.

Judges for the 2024 awards are:

• Paerau Corneal, a senior practicing artist.
• Ruth Watson, Senior Lecturer in Fine Arts at Elam Te Waka Tūhura.
• Hope Wilson, Curator Art, Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago.

The Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards Finalists for 2024 are:

Karen Boyce, Coral Broughton, Sarah Brown, Kara Burrowes, Kate Cairns, Amy Couling, Wonhee Deuart, Lucy Dolan, Virginia Ferguson, Polly Gilroy, Katie Hayles, Anna Heasley, Kim Hennessy, Ella Hickford, Mikyung Jang, Ina Johann, Vicki Mangan, Kathryn McCully, Suzanne Joy McDonnell, Sandra McLintock, Estefania Mondaca, Allette Ockhuysen, Lisa Patterson, Marie Porter, Hazel Rae, Hope River, Cheriene Singer, Elfi Spiewack, Rebecca Stewart, Gemma Syme, Madeleine Thompson, Rachel Thornton, S Van Tuinen, Susan Waterson, Jenny Wilson.

Finalists for the Young Generation Award are:

Heilee Amonelo, Anzu Burgess, Ella Clark-Powell, Monique Ellis, Elodie Gordon, Scarlett Giffin Munn, Madeline Hann, Maiah Henderson, Mana Hiramoto, Claire Langlands, Zelle Logan, Estella Loughlin, Emma Marshall, Darcy McCully, Roslyn McLean, Malia McLellan, Amy McMillan, Aya Nichols, Emma Nicholson, Keisha Power, Lily Reeves, Jorja Shadbolt, Ayanna Swann, Nao Tsuchida, Jenny Wang, Elise Waterson.

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.  ZAFAA24 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, Kate Murney, Terrace Croft, Cates Grain and Seed, and Rosebank Lifecare.

Exhibition Details:

ZAFAA24

Opening | 01 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 02 March – 14 April 2024

Jo Burzynska, Scents Take up the Ringing

Opening | 01 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 02 March – 21 April 2024

Image | Jo Burzynska’s ZAFAA23 Premier Award winning work What Might We Find When We Stop Looking? (Mechanised Quarter) at the ZAFAA23 exhibition opening.