Aaron Kong has won the Iris Fisher Scholarship from art gallery Te Tuhi.
Kong is currently completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at the University of Canterbury. Working in sculpture and performance, his practice is concerned with the representation and communication of gender, race and sexuality within digital spaces.
He has been a part of several group exhibitions and in 2019 he had a solo exhibition, a/s/l/? at The Casting Room in Otautahi, Christchurch.
The Iris Fisher Scholarship is a national award of $5000 to support an outstanding postgraduate student in their final year of a visual arts/fine arts course of study.
Since 2007, Te Tuhi, in partnership with the Fisher family, have supported the development of emerging Aotearoa New Zealand artists with this annual award. Past recipients of the Iris Fisher Scholarship include Emily Parr, Quishile Charan, Christina Pataialii, Kalisolaite ‘Uhila and Erica van Zon.
The scholarship is named after Iris Fisher, a founding member of the Pakuranga Arts Society and the driving force behind the creation of the Fisher Gallery, later to become Te Tuhi.
Her original bequest has fostered contemporary visual arts practice and art education. It is envisaged that these funds will be put toward fees, materials, travel or a purpose which will enable the recipient to successfully complete their final year of postgraduate study.
“Congratulations to Aaron Kong for this achievement; we look forward to watching as his art practice continues to develop,” a Te Tuhi spokesperson said.
