Whanganui artist in the running for people's choice prize at IHC Art Awards

His love of music and his dogs served as inspiration for Cody Johnston's work 'Buffalo Soldier'. Photo / Supplied

Whanganui has a finalist in this year's IHC Art Awards, with artist Cody Johnston's work Buffalo Soldier up for the L'affare People's Choice Award.

The annual awards recognise and celebrate artists with an intellectual disability, with Johnston one of 33 artists to make the final round.

The winner will be decided by public online voting.

Johnston attends Whanganui Creative Space, an art studio working with diverse abilities and mental wellbeing, every week, and his art tutor Brydee Rood said Johnston had "a very intuitive, bold and expressive style".

"There's a great vitality of colour, and when you talk to him about what's going on, there's often a journey within that canvas," Rood said.

"He'll explain one narrative and as he works on it over a series of weeks it will evolve.

"Cody loves music, and he was pretty adamant at the end of the process that it would be called Buffalo Soldier.

"I think the combination of music and art is something he definitely thinks about when he creates pieces, as well as working in things from his everyday life."

Buffalo Soldier is one of Bob Marley's most well-known songs and, apart from the king of reggae, Johnston said he enjoyed listening to another legendary act, albeit a slightly heavier one.

"I really like Iron Maiden as well," Johnston said.

He said his artwork took around four weeks to complete, and as well as music his dogs served as an inspiration for it.

Rood said Whanganui Creative Space put forward 25 works for the awards, and Buffalo Soldier was one of two pieces from Whanganui Creative Space to make the initial top 88.

"I sat down with the artists one by one through May and helped them submit their pieces," Rood said.

"That was time-consuming, but we had great work and I wanted to get their stories out there. That was only going to happen if we actually put the artwork forward.

"It's the same for any artist, you have to put your work out there for it to be noticed."

The winner of the L'affare People's Choice Award will receive $1500, and people are allowed to cast one vote per day (every 24 hours).

Voting closes on Monday, September 27, at 11.59pm.

To cast a vote for "Codey J" in this year's People's Choice Award, go to www.ihc.org.nz/art-awards-2021