When Otago Polytechnic’s distance Ceramics teacher, Tatyanna Meharry, and her sister Natasha English, won this year’s Supreme World of Wearable Art (WOW) Award, they became the only artists to win the coveted top award twice.
Tatyanna and Natasha’s winning entry, WAR sTOrY, is a powerful reflection on the human costs of World War One, in which 128,000 New Zealanders served and 18,000 lost their lives. This year is the centenary of the war’s end.
WOW founder and head judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff said WAR sTOrY was "flawless in execution".
Tatyanna and Natasha previously won the Supreme Award in 2013 with their entry The Exchange, which represented the partnership created by the Treaty of Waitangi.
Tatyanna is also a graduate of Dunedin School of Art, holding a Master of Fine Arts.
And another Dunedin School of Art graduate, Stephanie Cossens, took out runner up in the WETA Workshop Emerging Designer Award for her entry, Kākāpō Queen. Her costume, featuring an oversized kākāpō-head mask, was created to highlight the plight of these critically endangered birds.
A record 17 countries were represented in this year’s 30th anniversary WOW Show held at Wellington’s TSB Arena.