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I have winners to announce! so, here they are!

First place goes to…(drum roll)… Kelly Moynihan – Inflamed. “Dynamic use of colour and composition.  The image and technique is visceral and the abstraction of the form creates a double layer of the body inflamed and the inflammation itself.”

Second Place winner is  Hineraukura Norris - Manukarere. “Evocative and beautiful, detailed work.  The manu has mana and presents the qualities of the pheonix and also the kiatiaki (guardian), an expressive form of ownership and oneness with pain, which, whether intended or not, is present within the work”

Third Place winner is Jo Wright – Handmelt – A powerful, delicate and subtle piece.  Highly emotive, showing the fragility pain creates while also embodying the concepts of surrender and survival.

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First I would like to say a Huge Thank you to those of you that have entered, as well as those of you have voted – all of the pieces are inspirational and its touching to see such vulnerability and pain transformed into such and amazing collection of artwork.

Currently, we are working with the Judges to find our top Three – so stay tuned I hope to make an announcement Listing all of the 2012 winners in a week or so. There is some fantastic work this year, so please bear with us as we try and finalize these for you. Its exciting stuff.

Tomorrow I thought I would share my own story of how Chronic Pain has been a part of my life, as all of you have had the courage to do so by entering this competition. I have been living with Chronic pain for 5 years now, the last 3 I have also become a parent, which has been a journey all in itself. So I thought I would share a few of the skills I have had to develop to manage the balance of being a parent with chronic pain, so please check back tomorrow for that blog.

Thank you again for the wonderful art folks,

Anthea

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Artist Kelly Moynihan

Title of Piece Inflamed

About the Piece  Along the way I’ve used art to express the depths of feeling, human in a strange, visceral, paradoxical, emotional and wonderful world. I read a piece of interactive art once saying ‘my body is a battlefield’ which absolutely resonated. This is one digital artwork of many in a series.

About the Artist 

I have worked in various artistic mediums. Beginning with drawing and painting in my youth ,  and acting. Then studying tertiary film, working in filmmaking, multi-media, events, vj-ing. I have continued always to draw and paint and manipulate/layer images digitally.

My experience with chronic pain began with an injury to my coccyx at twelve years of age which proceeded to affect my pelvis from that time forward. Back then holistic thinking wasn’t in the equation-not relating my pelvis alignment with the coccyx injury. I was a gunny young person throwing my body around recklessly, with many falls in sports such as single waterski, mountain biking, snowboarding, trampolining. Somewhere amongst all that I began a relationship with pain and discomfort in my upper thoracic which was worse than my gummy right hip. No amount of yoga, osteopathathy, physio was really getting to the root of it. With some MRI scans in recent years revealed a tear in my shoulder labrum and just this month I have had arthroscopic labrum repair surgery to a tear in the joint cartilage which could well be responsible for much/some of so far at least twelve years of pain. Right now whilst healing I am mentally focusing on healing deep in the joint and diminishing old compensatory patterns. I’ve worked also through counselling and energy healing methods to heal mental and emotional issues relating to growing up in the world we live in, which I believe is a pretty harsh environment in many ways.

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Just a quick reminder that today is the last day we will accept entries into this art comp – so you have just over an hour to sneak in with your last minute entries!

and second, Congratulations to our Daily winners from Saturday who was Hinerukarere Norris, And todays daily prize goes to Sarah MacClure – well done to you both!

Anthea

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Artist Sarah MacClure

Title of Piece Lost/Clouded

About the Piece Pain and illness being such an influencing factor on a person’s decisions and directions, over time blurring the lines between the inner self and the suffering experienced. Pain becoming integrated into identity.

About the Artist I have been dealing with CFS for the past 3 years. While it may not be particularly severe, it weighs me down on a daily basis, and impacts every area of my life. Art has been one of the best ways of dealing with it for me, and has always been a good way of expressing myself.

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About the Piece This artwork has been created in Lightwave, and composited in photoshop.

Unlike my normal digital works nowadays, this is not a landscape. I wanted to keep the subject and theme more intimate, not so much about the interaction of the environment. A nice step out of my comfort zone.

The purpose of this image is hope, and freedom of the mind no matter the physical condition.

In composition I wanted an almost cinematic look. Sometimes it does feel like we are living out a movie from a viewers perspective, sometimes it is almost surreal.

The robotic nature of the body is symbolic of medicine and of the medical world. It enables the subject to function but it is artificial and weakened, I chose to portray this with thin limbs and lots of exposure of the inner workings. It is how ever a subtle armour, a form of protection. I wanted to give a sheen to the “armour” to connect things such as gel caps to this idea. This reflects the world within itself.

Despite this… the subject looks up. This is hope, and reaching forth we understand that the expression is not of sadness but of concentration. The mind bridled and leading the body upwards, as the light descends from above.

Lastly I wanted to symbolise freedom of the mind by staging the scene within the sky, at that a spiritual sky, the akasha, ether, quintessence etc. It is timeless and spaceless and here there is no limitations, free from the bondage on the physical plane.

The post James Bennet – In the Akasha appeared first on Pain Awareness Month New Zealand.

Title of Piece Manukarere

About the Piece Meaning – at first glimpse, it could be identified as a Phoenix rising out of the ashes. And so it is. But in the cultural context Manu/birds are also messengers between the physical and spiritual realms. This Manu represents both. Rising above our challenges to transformation and freedom. Also carrying our dreams and aspirations to the Heavens as a form of prayer. This is  the prayer of my soul within, and for each person living with their own challenges.

Doctors tell me to accept my condition. That is so easy for them to say. I cannot give up hope. That would be spiritual suicide. I hope this piece inspires others not to give up either.

About the Artist 

 Raranga/Weaving was once my world. I accumulated weaving skills and knowledge over 16yrs of experience with this art form.

It was my vocation, my passion, my connection to our Ancestors and our Earth. It was also my identity as a woman, Maori, and Artist. It sustained and nurtured myself and my children.

I enjoyed extending the technical skills to explore sculptural forms. This is one of the last pieces I made as Chronic Pain entered my life 6 years ago. My intention was to create many more of these “Manu” or birds, and exhibit them in flight across a large wall.

I have struggled many times over the 6yrs to achieve this goal, and have wasted a lot of flax, and cried a lot of tears.

Despite all of this I still aspire to achieve this goal. When I do, it will truly be a celebration that expresses the meaning behind this piece.

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First off, I’m Anthea – I’ve taken over the Art Comp as Nix isn’t up to it at the moment. All new entries etc are still sent to the same email address – but I will pick them up and reply I’ve been living with chronic pain for 5 years now, and seem to be collecting new pain conditions as the years go by – so It’s really inspiring to see all of this amazing art you guys are producing – keep up the good work!

Hope you all enjoyed the new entries from yesterday!

Now onto the exciting bit – Daily Prize goes to Anna Cull with her beautiful piece “On a good day, the soul within sings” which you can check out from the “Entries 2012″ tab up the top. You can view all of the entries here, and if I do things right – you are also able to click through to see the post where you can read about the piece and the artist – as well as comment “vote” for your favorite.

looking forward to seeing new entries over the rest of the month

Anthea

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Artist Ryan van Heerden

Title of Piece Tranquility of the Cross

About the Piece The acceptance of suffering… the perfection of a tranquil soul, within the flames.

About the Artist Building my skills in digital art, and photographic areas. Knowing a lot of friends who have chronic pain conditions, and seeing them cope and struggle to keep going is hugely inspiring. Me, not so much pain, just a distinct inability to breath occasionally.

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