A St Kevin's College pupil's artwork has been accepted for the 2015 National Youth Art Awards.
The National Youth Art Awards is an art competition run every two years, for New Zealand artists aged between 15 and 27 years old.
Forty-four entries from around the country were accepted for the awards, just eight chosen from the South Island.
For Dion Pope, from St Kevin's College, in Oamaru, the awards were an opportunity to exhibit in a professional gallery setting for the first time.
The Duntroon teenager spent about two weeks working on his entry and his art teacher, Peter Burton, said it was ''really nice'' to see Dion excelling in the arts.
''He has found something he is good at and is pushing his limits,'' Mr Burton said.
Mr Burton described Dion's work as ''expressionist, bordering on abstract expressionism''.
Dion, who started experimenting in heavy textures and bold colours, showcased these effects in his entry for the National Youth Art Awards.
His style has developed since he started studying art in year 9, and the creative pursuit had become his favourite subject.
Dion said he loved patterns and textures and creating movement in his work.
His NCEA level 3 portfolio also played with exploring man's impact on the environment.
The National Youth Art Awards are open to the public from August 7 and run for a month.
A Grand Prize of $2000 is being contested and the artworks entered in the contest will be available for sale.
