For some couples, romance might mean cooking dinner together, but for Karaka’s Erna and Karl Van Der Wat, it involves metal, aluminium, material and teamwork.
While rising to the World of Wearable Art (WOW) challenge each year, Erna is the ‘dreamer’ while Karl is the ‘creator,’ drawing on his construction experience to help ensure their dreams take form.
The pair has been entering WOW for 20 years and is once again set to see their work on the Wellington stage. This year, the event runs from September 17 to October 4.
“[WOW] means we spend time together and we thoroughly enjoy the process – it’s like couples’ therapy. Sometimes it gets a bit heated, but we just have to trust each other,” Erna Van Der Wat says.
“You might think that the thrill would’ve worn off by now, but we still experience the same level of excitement, if not more, every year.”
The couple has achieved some impressive results with 13 of their 15 entries reaching the finals. They were runners-up three times, claimed two section wins and two people’s choice awards among other accolades.
One of their garments even qualified for the Hong Kong Arts Festival through the contest.
But the competition is about more than winning awards or prize money.
“We’ve always used award money to treat ourselves, but the real reward is just in seeing our designs on stage, up there with others by some fantastic artists.”
After two decades in the game, the Karaka pair is among the longer-standing entrants.
“We call ourselves the ‘old trouts’ because we are the grey [haired] ones,” Erna laughs.
While some may be reluctant to take up the WOW challenge, fellow Frankliners would be more than welcome.
“I would love to get a local group together, as some of the other designers from [central Auckland] do,” she adds.
“People don’t have to be experienced designers or produce art on a regular basis to become involved, they just need to love amazing designs.”
Having Erna’s imagination and Karl’s can-do attitude probably helps quite a lot too.
Update: since this story appeared in our September 18 paper, the couple’s designs have met with the approval of judges. Click here to read more.
