Elliot Collins has been announced the winner of the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award (MMCA) 2024 and will collect a prize of $10,000, sponsored by the Molly Morpeth Canaday (Whakatāne) Fund.

The award is in its 38th year and seeks to highlight and celebrate excellence in fine art throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. The winners are chosen from a pool of entrants selected by three preliminary judges, who this year were Darcell Apelu (artist and educator), Emily Hartley-Skudder (artist and major winner of MMCA 2023) and Dr. Jeremy Mayall (CEO Creative Waikato).

Collins’ winning work, Did you get the watercress I left you?, made from acrylic, wood and a shopping trolley was chosen by Guest Judge Andrew Clifford (Director, Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui) from 495 entries nationwide. This and 61 other winners and finalists are exhibited at the Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre from 18 February – 6 April 2024.

Reflecting on the winning artwork, Clifford said, “…this painting’s framing device, the structure that holds it all together, is an old shopping trolley bag. The kind favoured by more senior members of our community. It holds it all together but also holds it in suspension—it wants to walk away and disturb the fine balance of the elements. Who is the owner and where are they? The use of colour, as the work’s description reminds us, has external associations and connects us with the landscape and its occupants, as well as with elements of space and time. Through these narrative possibilities, Did you get the watercress I left you? evokes stories, memories and time, and encourages us to consider poetic relationships with the spaces we occupy and how we share them.”

Accepting the award, Collins, who hails from Taranaki, paid respect to his fellow artists and sponsors….”It’s a cool show to be involved in—thank you to the sponsors—sponsoring art is an amazing thing to do, also just buying art is a really good way of sponsoring! One thing is, art brings really strange and profound people together.”

Collins’ artist statement for the work reads: “Mātauranga. A beautiful kuikui who walks the beach every day, rain or shine, described the colour of the waves at a particular time of day, as worn light blue denim, and it’s changed the way I want to see the world. She sometimes has her mokos’ with her but sometimes she just walks the beach alone. She tells me that coming down to the sea is her medicine. But she also said, “If you see me fall over come pick me up”—she walked away laughing and said, “Did you get the watercress I left for you?!””

The eight other prizes, awarded by Andrew Clifford, are as follows:

Ming Ranginui, Till the Clock Strikes Five: Akel Award runner-up ($4,000)
Jonghyun Yun, A Dollar Fifty: Craigs Investment Partners Youth Award ($2,500)
Kate van der Drift, Esk River (after Gabrielle): Robinson Law Highly Commended ($1,500)
Llyr Williams, The Belisha Beacon: The Mayor’s Prize ($1,500)
Claudia Kogachi, Beluga whales swimming in the air: Merit Award sponsored by Our Place Magazine (a three-page feature and $3,500)
Karen Sewell, Stardust (from my back yard): Merit Award sponsored by Gordon Harris ($500 product)
Tim Wigmore, Tahi: Merit Award sponsored by Frames by Daniel ($500 product)
Bridgit Day, Green on Green: Merit Award sponsored by 4Artsake Gallery, Ōhope ($500)

The People’s Choice Award ($500) will be decided by visitors, and is sponsored by The Whakatāne Society of Arts & Crafts, Anne Tolley and Diverse Graphics.

The MMCA is presented by Arts Whakatāne with exhibition partners Whakatāne District council Museum and Library. The exhibition will continue through 6 April at the Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, 49 Kakahoroa Drive, Whakatāne.