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This year’s Portage Ceramic Awards, Aotearoa’s best-known survey of contemporary ceramic activity, will be judged by American artist Bari Ziperstein. Ziperstein is at the forefront of a thriving ceramic scene in Los Angeles. As well as gallery-based exhibitions and site-specific public installations, Ziperstein also produces functional ceramics through her company, BZippy & Co.

Ziperstein will select finalists and winners for this prestigious event, organised and hosted each year by Te Uru in Titirangi with support from The Trusts Community Foundation.

“We are excited about bringing a judge across the Pacific, from the American West Coast to Auckland’s West Coast,” says Te Uru Director, Andrew Clifford.

“Although Auckland has many close ties with Los Angeles, this is the first time the Portage Ceramic Awards have had a judge from California. This is an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the important history of artists working with clay from that region, and the lively Los Angeles scene that has become an important centre for the current ceramic revival. So, we are grateful for the assistance of Ceramics NZ for their assistance in selecting this year’s judge.” 

Working in different media and formats, Ziperstein’s work is focused on experimenting with ceramic materials but also has a strong conceptual dimension that addresses politics, propaganda and consumerism. She has been described as working at the crossroads of traditional craft, feminist critique, conceptual theory and historical research.

“Using the material and history of clay as a means to tap into a political narrative is of utmost interest,” says Ziperstein. “A part of my practice is driven by the classic vessel silhouette - but as a means to infuse the works with more problematic content, like carved images of 1980s propaganda from the Soviet Union about alcoholism, being a good mother, and being a good worker.”

Ziperstein was included in a 2017 Artsy article as one of the 20 artists “shaping the future of ceramics.” She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a certificate in Women’s Studies from the Ohio University in 2000, and a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts in 2004. For a decade she taught and ran workshops for children and adults in community and academic environments, including as Visiting Assistant Professor in sculpture at the University of California at Riverside. From 2007-11 she was a board-member for Pasadena youth-focused artist-run organisation, Side Street Projects.

“I’m thrilled to engage with the thriving international ceramic community in New Zealand for the Portage Ceramic Awards,” she says. “What an honour to explore and understand a community through its relationship to clay.”

The fresh insights offered by each year’s judge has been a signature of the awards since its inception. It is important for the vitality of the scene that it continues to reassess its own ideas and assumptions with diverse perspectives coming from as far and wide as possible, whether that be Jingdezhen, Wales, Sydney or Whanganui.

Established in 2001, the Portage Ceramic Awards is a hallmark event for the New Zealand ceramics community, showcasing some of the best work currently being made, and serving as a platform for dialogue about developments in the ceramics field.

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Entries are now closed for the Portage Ceramic Awards 2018. The selection of finalist works for
the awards is a two-stage process. Approximately sixty works will be chosen by judge Bari
Ziperstein from submitted photographs. Shortlisted artists will be invited to send their works to
Te Uru for final selection, where the judge will confirm the award winners and works for the
exhibition.

The Awards’ finalists will be announced on 27 October.

The Premier Award winner and Merit Award winners will be announced at a ceremony to be
held at Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery in Titirangi, West Auckland on Thursday 8
November.

The finalist works will be exhibited at Te Uru from 9 November 2018 – February 2019.
More information about the awards can be found at www.teuru.org.nz/portage
For an interview with Bari Ziperstein, or for further information please contact:

(09) 818 8087
info@teuru.org.nz
www.teuru.org.nz