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POTTERS
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COLUMBIA
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New Zealand’s 2013 Portage Ceramic Awards

(or, my excellent adventure down under. . . .)
by Amy Gogarty

In January of this year, I was invited by
Lesley Smith, then Director of Lopdell House
Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, to jury
the 2013 Portage Ceramic Awards. Supported
by the Trusts’ Community Foundation, The
Portage exhibition and awards have been
presented annually since 2001. Each year, a
juror from outside New Zealand is invited to
select work from digital entries. The concept of
a single juror occasionally causes controversy,
but the basic premise is that the exhibition
reflects the sensibility and perspective of a
single professional individual. I was honored
to be invited and approached my task with
anticipation tempered by a strong sense of
responsibility.
all New

Zealanders, ensuring a diverse pool and

Applications are open to
extensive “snapshot” of studio production
across the country. In August, I received a
digital file of images, which was followed up
with printed images and artist statements.
To maintain anonymity, individual works
were identified by an alphanumeric code. I
wrestled nearly 200 entries down to a more
manageable 60 or so, and organized them
loosely around six themes. Open-ended
and. designed to accommodate the diversity
on offer, the themes were Serious Play; The
Materiality of Time; Intimate Narratives/
Domestic Truths, Chimeras, Cameras and Weird
Science; The End of History and Ecology and the
New Nature. When I arrived in Auckland at
the end of September, I viewed actual works
prior to making final selections. While digital
images are poor substitutes for the real thing,
I was relieved to discover that all but a few
works lived up to their photographs and that
my preliminary organization still held.

As Lopdell House Gallery is currently
undergoing seismic upgrading and expansion,
the exhibition was presented in a collection
of abandoned silos at Auckland harbour. The
Silos, as the venue is known, has become a
popular site for staging art and other cultural
events. Six adjacent concrete silos connected
by arched doorways created individual rooms,
suiting my organizational plan perfectly. The
industrial architecture lent a sophisticated
“grunge” atmosphere, complemented by
supports consisting of clamped pipes and
Perspex tops designed by the exhibition

ee ea

Trailing Skirts Tails 1 & 2, (foreground) by Kim Henderson, paperclay. The Portage Exhibition
was hosted by the Lopdell House Gallery at the Silos in Auckland, New Zealand. Phozo

courtesy of www.artsdiary.co.nz.

team of Kenny Willis and Greg Smith. The
effect was that of works floating throughout
the exhibition, which established a sense
of intimacy. Short wall texts described the
themes, helping viewers see the exhibition as a
whole rather than a group of unrelated works.

One of the exciting additions this year
was the awarding of two residencies, one,
organized by Dr. Paul Scott last year, for
Guldagergaard, Denmark, and one organized
by me in conjunction with Aaron Nelson for
Medalta. The opportunity to travel abroad,
hone their skills and compete on a world
stage enables New Zealand artists to return
home with confidence and experience to
share. I selected Richard Stratton, who creates
elaborate

figurative works incorporating

historically important techniques such as
agateware, for Guldagergaard, where he will
have ready access to museum collections and
international colleagues. Mel Ford, whose
work incorporates industrial ceramic shards
reclaimed from landfills and shaped by ocean
currents, seemed the perfect candidate for
Medalta, where she will have access to the
industrial heritage of that site. I anticipate
that both of these young artists will garner
international attention as they go forward to
make innovative and exciting work.

The Portage makes available a sum of
$6,000 to be distributed as the judge sees

Continued on Page 5

Himalaya Serves the World 1949, by Robert Rapson. Paperclay, glass. Photo courtesy of www.
artsdiary.co.nz.

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - December/January 2013/14