Two Year 13 Visual Arts students - Cale Hooper and Temima Rigg - were acknowledged for their creativity at the prestigious Pat Hanly Creativity Awards held on Thursday 8 September.
The awards recognise Pat Hanly’s outstanding contribution to New Zealand contemporary art and his passion for art education and supporting young artists, and reward students who have demonstrated outstanding creativity, imagination and commitment to the visual arts.
Recipients were honoured at a gala event at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki last week.
The evening began with all award recipients participating in a creative workshop with Gallery educators, followed by the awards ceremony where 60 students from across Auckland schools were honoured, presented with a certificate by Hanly's granddaughter Lilian Hanly and Art Gallery Director Kirsten Lacey. They then moved on to the regal Mackelvie Gallery for more food, drinks and mingling.
Congratulations, Cale and Temima!
"To me, creativity is an outlet, a way to transfer thought and emotion from a mental state to a visual one, while also adding to the world. It is also a sort of encyclopedia, a way of answering your most perplexing thoughts. My mind is never still, I am always thinking, whether it be about something cavernous and philosophical, or something shallow and essentially meaningless, such as my plan for the afternoon. It is when my thoughts are most inquiring, that a creative attempt is most successful, in that it provides or at least pushes me towards an answer. In general, I think of creativity as a utility that guides you towards a desired state of conclusion and content "- Cale Hooper
"Art and creativity are important to me because it is how I express myself and how I learn more about myself and the world around me. Through my art I have been able to step outside of my comfort zone through experimenting with different materials, colours, painting styles and subject matter. Art for me is a safe space, where I can have fun, try new things and not feel restrained or judged. In terms of what I am most proud of in my artwork, I would say I am proud of the way I can clearly express my ideas, and how I've learnt to use colour to convey a mood, for example, in this artwork, the bold, contrasting primary colours that I've used create a feeling of tension and unease." - Temima Rigg
