Frances Stachl (centre) won the Pattillo Open Award presented by Anne Pattillo (right) at the 2025 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review which was judged by Abby Cunnane (left). Photo / Michael McKeagg
Frances Stachl (centre) won the Pattillo Open Award presented by Anne Pattillo (right) at the 2025 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review which was judged by Abby Cunnane (left). Photo / Michael McKeagg
Whanganui-based jewellery maker Frances Stachl has scooped the top award at the 2025 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review.
Stachl won $10,000 and a solo exhibition at the Sarjeant Gallery for her piece Lost and found in translation. Translations of ‘You and I are earth’. (A phrase from an English earthenware plate,c.1661).
Stachl received the Pattillo Open Award for her piece inspired by cultural differences in New Zealand.
“This work explores differences in the attitudes and understood responsibilities to whenua between both Treaty partners - Māori and the Crown,” Stachl said.
“‘You and I are earth’ is from a plate, held in the London Museum, made in London in 1661. I’ve seen images of it pop up on social media, blogs, and online magazine articles several times in the last couple of years.
“The phrase has stuck in my head, and I was thinking about how that phrase might translate into te reo Māori. Linguistically, it sort of translates, but I don’t think the concept translates culturally.”
As well as te reo Māori and English, Stachl said she used the “languages” of craft and font.
“The techniques in this piece can be a bit challenging, but they are processes I am familiar with. This familiarity allows me to concentrate on the guts of the work, I’m talking in a craft language I know, sawing and soldering, to work out ideas.
“Another language I have used is the visual language of the font. This font is called Matarongo atakau and was developed by Johnson Witehira and Kris Sowersby. I am very grateful to them for offering it to me to use.”
Lost and found in translation. Translations of ‘You and I are earth’. (A phrase from an English earthenware plate, c.1661). Photo / Michael McKeag
The Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review returned to the Sarjeant Gallery in May after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, bringing together more than 230 artists.
The Whanganui Arts Review is New Zealand’s longest-running regional open-call art exhibition and competition, with 2025 the 35th instalment of the event.
Artists of any age, any medium, and any region connected to the Whanganui River, are invited to submit a piece created within the past year.
Stachl created her piece specifically for the Arts Review, using it as an opportunity to experiment in her artistry outside of her usual wearable jewellery.
“I like making works specifically for the review because I think, generally, regional arts reviews are a reasonably good representation of the artistic state of a region,” she said.
There were 11 awards, including the Pattillo Open Award, with a total of $15,000 in cash prizes.
Stachl was shocked when she was announced the winner. “I’m really happy with the piece I made, but I wasn’t expecting it,” she said.
“When they announced my name, I wanted to melt into the wall, but my lovely mate Catherine Macdonald, also an exhibitor in the review, gave me a gentle nudge to make sure I didn’t sneak out the back door.”
Stachl said she planned to save the prize money or use it to pay her business insurance, but sponsor Anne Pattillo requested she did “at least one fun thing” with the money.
The solo exhibition will not be Stachl’s first at the Sarjeant Gallery. In 2016, she exhibited a body of work entitled Fiction in the Space Between.
Plans for the new exhibition are still in the early stages.
“It feels like a huge opportunity so I want to really consider it before jumping into anything.”
Stachl thanked Anne Pattillo and Maree Maddock, the awards judge Abby Cunnane, and Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery.
“At the core of it, this work is about relationships to whenua, and I don’t believe it is possible to think about that at the moment without calling to the current and future governments to honour te Tiriti and without calling for a free Palestine,” she said.
