Artist crafts yet another Boardwalk show winner

VIRGINIA BEACH

Ummarid "Tony" Eitharong extended his record Friday: He won the Boardwalk Art Show & Festival for the fourth time.

Chosen from among 320 artists, he was awarded the $10,000 best-in-show prize during an evening ceremony at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, which runs the outdoor show.

The Orlando, Fla., artist won for "Postcard From Afar," a multimedia work measuring

6-feet-by-8-feet that he had priced at $10,500. The work will become part of the art center's permanent collection.

"We were both drawn to his work," said Sondra N. Arkin, a Washington artist and independent curator. She judged the show with Gene Koss, a sculptor and art professor at Tulane University in New Orleans who has several glass-and-metal sculptures on display on the art center's grounds.

Both judges said Eitharong's piece was beautifully designed with an interesting use of materials, including dominoes, toy soldiers and styrofoam that he carved and torch-darkened to resemble a charred landscape.

The judges said they came in without knowledge of any of the artists.

Eitharong, 56, won the first year he entered, in 2000, and again in 2004. In 2007, he became the first artist to win three times.

On Friday, before he learned he won again, the Thai-American artist discussed his prized piece at his booth between 19th and 20th streets.

"That one took almost everything out of me," he said.

He used old photos of a man and of children on opposite sides of the work, suggesting family members separated by war.

Across the bottom are toy soldiers atop sewing spindles set in niches carved out of old, blackened books.

"It's about something we never learn. We continue doing it," he said.

"We create and we destroy. The book is like a book of knowledge. Why can't we ever learn? Can we have more peace?"

Eitharong's prize was largely underwritten by the Virginia Beach Hotel-Motel Association. A total of $26,300 was handed out at the evening ceremony.

The show continues today and Sunday between 17th and 32nd streets at the Oceanfront.

Teresa Annas, (757) 446-2485, teresa.annas@pilotonline.com