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Wellington’s Richard Stratton has been confirmed as one of this country’s most interesting artists working with clay, winning the 2017 Portage Ceramic Awards Premier Prize for his work Forced Turned Teapot.

The Award, with a value of $15,000, was presented to Mr Stratton by this year’s judge, Emma Budgen at a ceremony held in West Auckland’s Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery this evening.

Ms Bugden says Mr Stratton’s entry is “a teapot steeped in history, juggling an eclectic blend of craft techniques.”

“…this pot is not just a compendium of methods; it held my gaze with its sincerity and vigour, from its brutalist structure to the delightful whimsy of the handle.”

In his artist’s statement, Mr Stratton says Forced Turned Teapot is “based on [his] research of industrialised historical ceramic practices and formulas of European and English Basaltes wares c.1769.”

In 2013, Mr Stratton won the Portage Ceramic Award’s international Guldagergaard residency, which he took up in 2015.

Whanganui’s Andrea du Chatenier won this year’s residency at the International Ceramic Centre in Guldagergaard, Denmark.

Ms Budgen says of Ms du Chatenier’s work, Yellow Stack, which earned her the residency: “The casualness of this sculpture belies a deft mastery of technique; it takes a specific kind of energy to be this relaxed.”

“Here a stack of tubes incline together, seemingly at the point of collapse, propped up on each other and glued by their own glaze. It’s a sculpture that jostles and fizzes and revels in its formlessness.”

Three 2017 Merit Awards were also announced tonight. One to West Auckland’s John Parker for his work Uncut Penetration, which he describes as referencing science fiction cinema. “A seemingly benign innocuous object emerging from a wall contains a subtext of unanswered questions as to its probing intention. What more is yet to emerge behind this iceberg tip?" says Mr Parker In his artist statement.

Amanda Shanley from Dunedin took the second Merit award for her work, Colouring In, “a still life moment from the dinner table. A dialogue with one cup leaning towards another." Lyttleton’s Cheryl Lucas received the third Merit Award for her multi-piece domestic ware representation called Milkstock, which she says is a nod to things that change their character through use and circumstance: "A road worker inverts a traffic cone and it becomes a funnel. My dad ‘borrowed’ a kitchen jug and mixed concoctions for farm use... The land does this too as five million cows are out there doing their thing."

In a break from tradition, this year’s judge is a New Zealander. Since their inception 16 years’ ago, the awards have been judged by ceramic experts from overseas. 

“The unique perspective that each international judge has brought to the country has helped to keep the event fresh and keep us all on our toes,” says Te Uru Director, Andrew Clifford. “This year we wanted to try something different and see how it would work with somebody who has a closer understanding of local contexts in Aotearoa, but will still be able to offer fresh insights. Bugden has made a fascinating and rigorous contribution to the event.”

The 2017 Portage Ceramic Awards winners and finalist works will be on display at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery from 10 November 2017 - 11 February 2018.

The 54 works selected for exhibition range in style from eclectic and psychedelic to finely wrought multi-piece modernism; there are affecting intimate works through to activist exclamations. Some are metaphors with layers of imagery while others draw on this country’s fine domestic ware traditions. They were selected from 216 entries by clay artists all over the country.

Established in 2001, The Portage Ceramic Awards are New Zealand’s premier showcase for ceramic arts. Administered by Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery and funded by The Trust’s Community Foundation, the awards are the country’s best known barometer for developments in the field of ceramics.

The annual awards and exhibition provide a vital platform to showcase the diversity of ceramic artists nationwide.