Oliver Cain’s work Shopping for Love picked up the Craigs Investment Youth Award at this year’s Molly Morpeth Canaday Award for three-dimensional art for the time second running - yet another accolade in a plethora of notable wins and critical praise for this ambitious Auckland artist. Judge Robert Jahnke praised Cain’s piece as being both ‘interesting and sardonic,’ a description perfectly fitting the playfulness and intellect of Cain’s very recognizable body of work. 
“Shopping for Love is kind of a reference to my previous practice, particularly Fruit Bowl (Cain’s MMCA 3D winning entry from 2020). It’s a modern development from that series, where I explore the popular culture of emojis in a much more light-hearted way. It’s more of an organic development of the very personal themes and historical references that went into Fruit Bowl.”
Cain’s large collection of awards and public recognition has been the result of a deliberate plan to get out into the art and business world to make connections and access opportunities. Described right from his graduation from Unitec in 2020 as an artist to watch in the future, Cain acknowledges he’s a bit more outgoing and self-motivated than most people might expect in such a young practitioner. He takes inspiration from other commercially successful and critically acclaimed artists such as Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst.
“I like to have some control over my life, really.” Cain laughs: “I do think that artists who say they don’t care about the money are – well, a bit of a liar. It’s ok to enjoy some financial success as well as satisfaction as a creator. I enjoy the business side of things, but it’s not the whole focus of my practice.”
2022 will be a big year for catching up on the Covid-affected art events of the last two years. Cain has always valued the creative experience over sticking to any specific media, so will produce work in paint, ceramics, and fabric amongst others. An artwork that was supposed to be part of the cancelled 2021 World of Wearable Arts exhibition and will now be shown this year is his pressing current project, and he is keen to develop his ceramics work in new directions.
Cain is also interested in expanding his own collection of contemporary art. “I like to buy recently graduated or emerging artists – if you find something you like, buy it. If you are passionate about the work, it doesn’t matter if it’s a good investment. Just buy it because you enjoy it.”
His advice for other young artists is to remember to take all the opportunities you can. 
“As an artist, you are your own best supporter. If you don’t put yourself forward, nobody else will do it for you. I’m really grateful for the opportunities that competitions like MMCA have given me. I’m a big believer in entering as many competitions, putting yourself out there as much as possible. It’s always nice to be appreciated.”