2023 National Youth Art Awards

Introducing our two Judges for the NZPPA 2023.

  Hollie Tawhaio-   Ko Taupiri tōku maunga. Ko Waikato tōku awa. Ko Tainui tōku waka. Ko Ngāti Tiipa tōku hapū. Ko Te Kotahitanga, Maurea nga marae. Ko Tapaue rāua ko Teresa ōku matua. Ko Hollie Tuhi Mareikura Tawhiao ahau. Nō kirikiriroa au.   I am a Kirikiriroa based multidisciplinary artist, writer, and toi advocate. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from Elam, Post Graduate Diploma (Dist) in Museum Studies from Massey University and am currently completing my Masters in Contemporary Art with Wintec | Te Pūkenga under the supervision of Leafa Wilson and Tony Nicholls. I am currently Kaitiaki Mātangireia at the University of Waikato. My art practice stems from my lifetime of living with and learning toi whakairo in my father’s shed and from the unwavering support of my whānau. Currently my research looks at the development of our toi from the perspective of cumulative cultural evolution and the reality that our current practices as they stand are the foundation of future movements that could influence artistic and sociological cultural shifts. I enjoy exploring intangible boundaries, assumptions and conveniences and pulling them to the fore to reflect on the way they shape our experience and what they say about who we are.                                         Tonia Geddes – is the director of the Wallace Gallery in Morrinsville with many years prior experience teaching Visual Art at secondary school level. She holds a BFA from Canterbury University and was recently a finalist in the Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award 2022, the 2021 Fieldays No.8 Wire Competition and the 2020 NZ Painting and Printmaking Award. Tonia’s art practice includes both printmaking and painting and she has recently created ceramic pieces, as one half of Memento Mori Ceramics, for New Zealand film projects.