National Youth Art Awards 2021

Diane Scott graduated from Elam with an MFA (first class honours) in 2012. She was awarded the Elam prize for Painting and was the winner of the Glaister Ennor Masters Graduate Art Award. Prior to Elam, Scott’s practice was primarily sculptural. Sculpture continues to inform her current work, with shared concerns of space, illusion, materiality and light. Drawing as installation is an increasing part of her practice. She is interested in the qualities that make work atmospheric and visceral, seeing the work as both image and object. Seeking spaces that oscillate from one state to another and resists a singular reading. The search for this atmospheric vibration drives the work. “If you want to find out the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration” – Nikola Tesla Diane lives and works from her studio in Onewhero, Waikato. James Ormsby (b.1957), is a recognised national artist who has over 20 years of Visual Art practice in New Zealand & overseas including 20 solo shows and over 80 group exhibitions. He has received two major Creative NZ Grants for practice-based research at University of Oxford (UK), and resulting exhibitions in London, Melbourne and Auckland. Ormsby has a “Bachelor of Education (Visual Art)” (The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1990), and a “Master of Fine Art” (The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Victoria, Australia (2002). His work can be found in numerous collections including: Te Papa Tongawera, The Wallace Trust Art Collection, Auckland City Art Collection, The Waikato Museum of Art and History, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, The University of Melbourne, (Victoria, Australia), and private collections throughout New Zealand and overseas including The Benetton Collection (Geneva, Switzerland). Drawing is a passion for James Ormsby. He describes it as his first language in an era when artists are increasingly experimenting with new technology. He carries out a huge amount of historical research to extend the visual symbols his ancestors chose to depict. Ormsby lives and works from his family home in the Bay of Plenty. Ngati Maniapoto, Waikato, Te Arawa and Katimana (Scotsman). I was raised and educated in Hamilton (NZ), leaving the local Teachers Training College in 1981. I spent over thirteen years in Melbourne (Australia), working and then studying for a Degree in Education. I graduated in 1990, and then tutored in Design at the University of Melbourne. In 1995, I returned to New Zealand to help establish the first tertiary Indigenous Art School with Crown Status – Te Kura Toi, at Te Wananga o Aotearoa. I tutored in Drawing, Painting, European and Maori Art Theory; producing work for group exhibitions and Marae commissions. I finally managed the Visual Arts within the national Te Kura Toi Management Team (with Jacob Scott, 2003 – 6). In 200l, I achieved my Master of Fine Art from RMIT (Melb., Aust.), and started to exhibit at dealer galleries – Whitespace and Paul Nache. I monitor degrees for NZQA and guest lecture and deliver Drawing workshops at various universities, polytechnic and wananga throughout New Zealand. My wife Betty Witehira and I live at Mount Maunganui. We have four adult children and one beautiful grand-daughter ! Nga mihi – james o.