MIT arts student brings the outside inside with prize-winning Westfield work
January 2008
The natural environment of Counties Manukau will meet and merge seamlessly with the modern architecture of Westfield Shopping Centre through the prize-winning work of Manukau School of Visual Arts (MSVA) student Andrea Garton.
Andrea (22) is one of four Manukau Institute of Technology MSVA Year 4 students commissioned by Westfield New Zealand to produce work for the newly completed development at Westfield Manukau City located in the heart of Manukau. Plants and Water through Light and Abstraction will be acknowledged and unveiled in a celebratory event early next year.
"I love how the Manukau community highly appreciates and maintains pockets of nature, such as the Botanical Gardens and Murphy's Bush," she says. "I wanted to honour that appreciation by bringing it into the Westfield Manukau City Shopping Centre using natural images of plants and water. My hope is to create a work that is easy and refreshing to look at, yet intriguing."
Andrea's creative insight not only won her the prize of hanging her work at the new shopping centre with three other MSVA students, but her brief has grown significantly - to billboard proportions.
"I remember jumping around the kitchen with my mum in celebration when I heard I had been selected for the original exhibit. Then I was asked to make an additional artwork for the outside of the shopping centre and I was awestruck!
"It took a couple of hours to sink in that I was going to create billboard size artwork. And then I jumped around the kitchen with my brother and sister in celebration for that one," she says.
This recognition is significant to Andrea as she says it allows her to give something back to her community. "It is just awesome for me to be connected with the shopping centre on a more personal level as (having grown up in Manurewa) I have been going there for nearly 10 years," she says.
As a long-time art lover, Andrea says her interest in photography as a traditional medium began in high school when she made the decision to become a professional photographer while exploring ways to extend her individual artistic style.
"It has been fantastic to gain first-hand experience at MSVA through studying towards my Bachelor of Visual Arts degree. By challenging me in certain areas the lecturers have allowed me to continuously re-evaluate my style and see it evolve it into something that I am very proud of."
Looking ahead, Andrea plans to focus on creating appropriate publicity for her work and to build her creative entrepreneurship profile and experience. "The recognition by Westfield has boosted my confidence as a photographer. I hope that in having my work displayed in such a public forum it will attract more people who will want to use my services or buy artworks from me."
Andrea cites her main influences as the 'traditionalists' of photography such as Minor White, Jerry Uelsmann, Edward Weston and Julia Margaret Cameron.
Westfield New Zealand General Manager, Design, Rod Marler is pleased with the initiative. "Westfield is proud to be involved in this partnership with Manukau Institute of Technology's School of Visual Arts. Their students have produced art work of the highest calibre, which we are only too proud to have on display in our shopping centre.
"People from Manukau have a strong tradition of over achieving in their chosen fields, and we are proud to support the development of future leaders from the region."