UCOL Design Graduate To Show In Times Square

27 September 2012

UCOL Design Graduate To Show In Times Square

Whanganui School of Design graduate Johnson Witehira is one of three student artists chosen to promote New Zealand in Times Square with digital art.

Johnson is one of three winners of the Chorus NZ national competition for tertiary student artists. He studied Computer Graphic Design at the Whanganui school and is now completing a PhD in carving at Massey University.

Inspired by New Zealand, the winning works will be the centre piece of a digital exhibition showcasing the talents of New Zealand art students to the world on one of the biggest and most recognisable digital stages – Times Square New York.

The three winners and 10 finalists were chosen by an independent panel of local design industry professionals who said they were “genuinely overwhelmed by the quality” of the winners’ works, and said they “will do themselves and New Zealand proud.”

The other two winners were Elspeth Hoskin from Massey University and Hayley Heartbreak from the Media Design School.

Each of the three winners receives $5000 and will be flown to New York so they can see their artwork hit the massive digital displays in Times Square on Thursday 10 October.

Johnson, who has Maori and Pakeha heritage, combines Maori carving patterns and modern graphic design to create digital portraits of influential New Zealanders. He says he uses his art to explore the intersection between the two cultures in New Zealand, and how differing techniques and styles can be combined to create a unity between the two.

“Digital art in terms of Maori art has always struggled to get recognition because it doesn't have a whakapapa, it doesn't have a lineage, so it's not recognised in the same way as carving or ta moko.”

In creating the digital portraits, he has been able to explore his own identity.

ENDS

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