Winners of the 8th Annual Wallace Secondary Schools Awards have been announced.
First prize went to Clarisse Esguerra, a Year 13 student from Westlake Girls’ High School. Her painting, Swimming in rubbish is so fun and fresh lol (2019) explores the idea of leisure activities amid global pollution. ‘It fascinates me how we can continue living our lives while Earth is in the process of deterioration. Here we see a girl cruising through a landfill as if she was on a holiday.’
Celestine Keki from Epsom Girls’ Grammar School came second with Paradise (2018), a photographic work about seasonal change.
Third prize went to Kerikeri High School student Eli Molloy-Wolt for Untitled Heads [series] (2019), ‘a playful and surreal landscape of colourful and slightly troubled characters, who are gathered together in search of their place in this world.’
A highly commended award was given to Overflowing Thoughts (2019), a painting by Aquinas College student Sera Won. Influenced by themes of vanitas, Sera ‘presented ‘the thoughts about life and death that everyone will face at some point of their lives.’
Wallace Arts Trust received 227 entries and 22 works were chosen as finalists. These and the winning works are on display at Pah Homestead until 13 October.