Nine Otago artists have been named as finalists in New Zealand's premier pottery and ceramic awards, to be announced on October 11.
Sixty works were shortlisted for the 2013 Portage Ceramic Awards. Prizes include the $15,000 Premier Portage Award, up to six $1000 merit prizes, a $1000 people's choice award and international residencies in Canada and Denmark.
Last year's premier award was won by Dunedin sculptor Jim Cooper, with his psychedelic 30-piece installation Millbrook Holiday (the league for spiritual discovery). The judge, writer and artist Amy Gogarty, of Vancouver, said she was looking for the unusual and ''quirky''.
''In all of the work, I looked for ambition. Something that went beyond ordinary studio and gallery work and that seemed to appreciate this is a premier award,'' she said.
The Otago finalists are.- Madeleine Child (Caramel, Buttery and Strawberry Candy and Popcorn Selection and Nature Series: Birds and Trees; Parrots and Poplars), Liz Fea (Long Black and Flat White), Katie Fitzharris (Here We Are Finding Ourselves In the Making), Peter Henderson (Stickin' Around), Bronwyn Mohring (Optimo Obscufra), Elise O'Neill (Windfall), John Paxie (Meltdown), Liz Rowe (Space Waste and other Cosmic Debris) and Marion Mewburn (Sand, in Time: Bowls Eroding).
