Ella Jones from Lower Hutt has been announced the winner of the 2024 Parkin Drawing Prize and has been awarded $25,000 sponsored by Chris Parkin, arts patron and philanthropist.

Jones’s winning piece, titled The Visual World is Inexhaustible, is a captivating graphite drawing of 120 paper drawings on graphite interwoven with steel wire that cascades elegantly down a wall. Chosen from a pool of 463 entries nationwide and 77 finalists at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts’ Academy Galleries on Monday, August 5th, this artwork stood out for its striking originality.

Justin Paton, Head Curator of International Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and this year’s judge, commented on the artwork:

“Ella Jones’s work kept me looking. It’s a cascading diary of 120 moments pulled from the flow of everyday life. It’s a work that seems curious about the world, and it makes us curious in turn. A kitchen sink, a black cat slinking by, a lumpy tumble of river stones, a dog looking dopily from a car window, a slice of landscape hanging in a rear-view mirror. Jones records all this and more using a constantly changing alphabet of graphite marks, lines, dashes, twists, gaps, knots, darks, and densities—a live drawing language which acknowledges that no one description can hold the world’s complexity. Though drawing is usually thought of as a way of bringing the world to order, Jones seems at least as interested in the gaps between things and the moments when we’re not quite sure what we’re seeing. In an era when most of us respond to interesting sights by photographing them to look at later (or, in reality, deleting them when our camera rolls fill up), her winning work reminds me of the potential of drawing as an act and process of physical noticing—a way of reacquainting ourselves, mark by mark, with the oddity and elusiveness of a world we often take for granted.”  

Jones says she is completely shocked by the win.

“It was an immense joy just to be selected as a finalist, so winning is beyond my wildest expectations. I’m truly honored—this is something incredibly special.”

Jones describes her work as a tapestry made from 120 individual graphite drawings.

 “This body of work addresses the fear of habitualization—the conscious acceptance of daily life. It focuses on the ephemeral sensations and fleeting moments of our surroundings. My piece draws from the work of the renowned NZ artist Joanna Margaret Paul, whose approach of being attuned to the world rather than just existing in it resonates deeply with me.”

Jones finds inspiration in Paul’s intimate and reflective approach to drawing, seeing it as a form of active meditation. 

“Each drawing represents a window into my personal life, capturing seemingly mundane moments that are profoundly intimate. For instance, a drawing of a cat that used to visit my old flat holds memories and stories that highlight the habit of daily life. It’s a reminder to slow down and be present in these small yet significant moments.”

Jones’s favourite reference is a piece by Joanna Margaret Paul, a process drawing of an armchair, which inspired her own outline of a similar chair.

At 24 years old, Jones grew up in Lower Hutt and developed her passion for drawing at St. Oran’s College. She recently completed a Master’s in Architecture at Victoria University’s School of Architecture and was a finalist in the NZ Institute of Architecture Student Design Awards in 2022 for her project Drawing Ground. She also exhibited her work at the artist collective she co-founded, Community of Practice, which encourages creative exploration beyond the conventional 9-to-5.

Currently working with the Wellington-based architecture firm Jasmax, Ella will soon embark on a new journey to the Netherlands to further her passion for art and architecture.

“As I’m half Dutch, I’m excited to connect with my Dutch whanau and explore my artistic and architectural pursuits,” she says.

10 highly commended prizes worth $500 each were awarded by judge Justin Paton. The recipients include:

Early days – Theodore Brookes (Wellington)

Eye opener by Felix Conlan (Timaru)

Tumour ballet by Nela Fletcher (Invercargill)

Freeling by Karl Fritsch (Wellington)

Awareness, the key to it all by Veronica Heber (Auckland)

no title by John Ward Knox (Waikouaiti)

Aether by Lisa Munnelly (Wellington)

Ted by Samuel Pepper (Featherston)

Ostinato by Morag Stokes (Waikanae)

Looking out through nine body holes drawn with my mother pen by Jarad Tom (Auckland)

All of the artworks in the 2024 Parkin Drawing Prize exhibition will be available for purchase, giving admirers and collectors the opportunity to purchase some wonderful pieces, as well as providing gallerists opportunities for new representation.

The competition, in association with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, promotes excellence and innovation in drawing in all its forms (processes, materials and ideas) and aims to play an important role in fostering New Zealand drawing practice.

Previous winners include Monique Jansen (2013) with AO Folded Moire Drawing; Douglas Stichbury (2014) with Observer, Gabrielle Amodeo (2015) with The Floor We Walk On, Hannah Beehre’s Catastrophe (2016), Kirsty Lillico’s carpet installation State Block (2017), Jacqui Colley for Long Echo (2018), Michael Dell’s Every Valley (2019), Poppy Lekner’s Forward Slash (2020), Mark Braunias’ work ‘In search of the Saccharine Underground’, Siân Stephens ‘Liam Cutting His Hair After An All-nighter’, and Connoh Podmore’s Street light (the room where your brother was born) (2023).

The Parkin Drawing Prize exhibition will run from Tuesday 6 August until Sunday 8 September at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington.