Four Whanganui artists in running for Parkin prize

Jutta Humpfer with some of her nylon works in the Sarjeant on the Quay shop. Photo/Stuart Munro.

Four Whanganui artists have made the shortlist for the coveted Parkin Drawing Award this year.

Andrea Chatenier, Katherine Claypole, Margaret Silverwood and Jutta Humpfer are among the 72 finalists chosen from 463 hopefuls.

"I have entered before but this is the first time my work has been selected for the shortlist," says Humpfer.

Being selected for the 2018 award is a special achievement for Humpfer, who specialises in "drawing" with coloured pantyhose.

"I am exploring the intrinsic qualities of stretched nylons and its use as a drawing medium," she says.

It sounds absurd until you see the work Humpfer has created with clever placements of seams, gussets and stretching.

The works really do look as if they have been "drawn" with coloured pencils to produce misty landscapes.

"My work attempts to bend the traditional definition of what is a drawing by stepping away from formal drawing materials," says Humpfer.

The Parkin advisory panel of Gow Langsford Gallery director John Gow, art curator and writer Emma Bugden and Ngāpuhi artist Darryn George agreed that Humpfer's work meets the selection criteria.

The national drawing competition, attracting a major prize of $20,000, was launched by philanthropist and arts patron, Chris Parkin six years ago.

There are also 10 highly commended prizes worth $500 each to provide artists with an added incentive.

Humpfer's selected work Runner-Up along with Silverwood's I Think I'll Make an Exquisite Corpse Some Day, Chatenier's Big-fat-dotted line and Claypole's 5000 French Knots will join the other short-listed works in the Parkin Drawing Prize exhibition at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington.

The winning submission will be selected and announced by artist Kelcy Taratoa at the July 16 opening and the exhibition will run until August 19.