Patent Attorney Wins 2011 Environmental Art Photography Challenge

Emerging Hamilton artist, Antonia Luz Ines, has been passionate about photography since she was eight. Her first darkroom was a toilet in her family home; the only room she could easily black out. Now, she has won a unique award – the 2011 Environmental Art Photography Challenge, with her elegant and evocative work, Glacial Landscape.

Antonia Luz Ines is a self-taught photographer and painter who never formally trained as an artist. Her primary profession is as a patent and trademark attorney, whose passion for the visual arts was rekindled after the birth of her daughter and a debilitating back injury when she was in her thirties.

With a preference for portraiture, Luz Ines only started practicing art 18 months ago. In that short time, she won the photographic section of the North Shore City Art Awards and was a finalist in several art awards. Luz Ines beat off stiff competition from many career artists to win the 2011 Environmental Art Photography. Her winning work, Glacial Landscape, nets her $500 and will be exhibited alongside images from 14 other finalists at a Hamilton gallery.

The 2011 Environmental Art Photography Challenge was judged by Margi Moore, head of Media Arts at Wintec, and a photographer in her own right. She said “this competition provides artists with the unique opportunity to explore the relationship between photography, the environment and sculpture. The winning work is a strong image that beautifully captures the tension between water and rock, plays with ideas of scale and shows a cohesive attention to colour, form and composition.”

Antonia Luz Ines will accept her award at a special ceremony to be held at the Arts Post Gallery and Shop, Waikato Museum, Hamilton on Thursday 28 April 2011 at 5.30pm. An exhibition of the winning and finalists’ works will preview that evening and be open to the public from 29 April to 06 June 2011.

The 2011 Environmental Art Photography Challenge is convened by the Waikato Sculpture Trust, whose mandate is to raise awareness of sculpture and the environment. They do this through a dynamic series of exhibitions held throughout the year, as well as the ‘Challenge’, which is now in its third year.
The Trust sees the consideration of the environment as a necessity and that fostering a close relationship with the land creates respect and understanding. With this in mind, the ‘Challenge’ offers a rare opportunity for anyone with an interest in photography or sculpture and the environment to create work in any international location.

For further information about Antonia Luz Ines visit www.picarto.biz; and about The Sculpture Park and the Waikato Sculpture Trust go to www.sculpturepark.co.nz