NZ Artist Gill Gatfield Wins International CODAawards Merit Honors
MADISON, WI, August 28, 2019 – When artists and industry partners work together, common places are transformed into
spectacular spaces. CODAworx, the hub of the commissioned art economy, has once again partnered with Interior Design magazine to announce the winners of the 7th annual international CODAawards: Collaboration of Design + Art. The CODAawards recognize outstanding projects which successfully integrate art into interior, architectural or public
spaces.
Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) by New Zealand artist Gill Gatfield has received Merit honors in the 2019 CODAawards Public Spaces category,
recognising exceptional artwork in spaces designed for public use.
Inside an industrial silo on Auckland’s harbor, the artist created a monumental sculpture of smashed glass. Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) captivated audiences with its translucent beauty and powerful messages.
“Jurors were incredibly impressed with the goals of the project, the successful integration of the artwork into the
space, and the collaborative process between all of the parties involved. Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) is an outstanding achievement.”
“The CODAawards recognize the importance of collaboration and honor the design and art professionals whose collective
imaginations create the public and private spaces that inspire us,” said Toni Sikes, CEO of CODAworx.
In its seventh year, the CODAawards received 435 entries from 26 different countries around the globe, representing over
$118 million USD in commissions. Awarded projects include artworks in USA, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, China,
South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand. The merit winners exemplify the best of what can happen when artists and design
professionals collaborate to create artful spaces in our built environment.
An esteemed panel of 18 jurors from the design, architecture and art worlds judged the submissions. Jury members
included Robin Klehr Avia, Regional Managing Principal, Gensler; Jeremy Crandell, Co-Lead, Central Arts Team, Burning
Man; John Edelman, CEO, Design Within Reach; JoAnn Edwards, Executive Director, Museum of Craft and Design; Susan R.
Ewing, Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art; and Mark Zeff, President, Mark Zeff.
The CODAawards will be covered in August 2019 issue of Interior Design magazine, on CODAworx.com, and through eleven design + art partner organizations, reaching the largest, most qualified audience of art and design
professionals in the world.
The Artwork - Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa)
Presented at Silo Park on Auckland’s waterfront during the Summer of Sculpture 2019, NZ artist Gill Gatfield transformed
the industrial architecture of a disused Silo into a captivating and powerful public sculpture. Beneath a cavernous
ceiling, she smashed and carved 16.5 tons of glass into an intoxicating turbulent pool pushing against 30mH castle-thick
walls, reflecting light and recording the passing of time.
As idea and form, Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) explodes and re-imagines the metaphoric ‘glass ceiling’ - an invisible barrier preventing the advancement of women and
minority groups in public life. Commemorating 125 years since New Zealand women won the vote, the first nation in the
world to grant women’s suffrage, the monumental sculpture engaged diverse audiences visiting the popular waterfront
park, encouraging reflection, and generating discussion on the politics of equality in the 21st century.
The Team – Glass Specialists
Supported by Creative New Zealand, the project led by Gill Gatfield Studios involved over a year of planning and close
collaboration with New Zealand glass manufacturers, fabricators and installers:
5R Solutions, glass recycling industry leader
NZ Glass, specialist glass manufacturers
Glasshape NZ, curved glass innovators
Art Workshop, professional art installers
The Artist – Gill Gatfield
Artist Gill Gatfield (LLB, MFA Hons) creates abstract sculptures and installations that combine sensory materials with
narratives about humanity, nature and place.
Since her first solo exhibition in 1999, her artwork has been exhibited widely in NZ, Australia, USA and Europe, is held
in public and private collections, won national and international recognition, and commissions for place-making
artworks.
Recent exhibitions include: Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 ‘Time, Space, Existence’ curated by Global Art Foundation;
American Institute of Architecture A18 New York; International Sculpture Centre, Chicago Expo 2018; SCAPE Public Art
2016; Sculpture by the Sea Denmark 2015; 18th International Open Chicago
2015; Kvindemuseet / Women’s Museum Denmark 2015; ‘Squaring Up’ Melbourne 2015; Chicago Sculpture International 2014;
and Sculpture by Sea Sydney 2013.
Gill Gatfield was 2015 Artist in Residence at the national Women’s Museum Denmark commemorating the Danish suffrage
centenary; and sole Juror of 18th International Open 2015 Chicago, an open competition for women artists worldwide. Also
a human rights advocate, Gill is the author of a landmark text Without Prejudice: Women in the Law (Brooker’s 1996, Heritage Title 2011, Thomson Reuters 2018) reissued in 2018 in response to #Metoo. Gill is a member of
Global Women, a multi-sector organisation advancing diversity and inclusion; and was awarded a 2019 Sculpture Fellowship
at the international Vermont Studio Centre USA.
See: www.gillgatfield.com for information about Gill’s work, exhibitions, awards and publications.
Artist Gill Gatfield, Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) 2019
More Information about ‘Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa)’
http://www.gillgatfield.com/assets/sm/upload/6g/25/ho/68/Glass%20Ceiling%2C%20World%20Sculpture%20News%20Winter%202019.pdf More Information about ‘Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa)’ https://www.codaworx.com/project/glass-ceiling-nz-aotearoa-silo-park-auckland https://www.nzedge.com/news/artist-gill-gatfield-smashes-glass-ceiling/ http://www.gillgatfield.com/glass-ceiling-nz-aotearoa/http://www.gillgatfield.com/assets/sm/upload/6g/25/ho/68/Glass%20Ceiling%2C%20World%20Sculpture%20News%20Winter%202019.pdf
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