HSC Art Exhibition 2022 by Reddam House Sydney

The HSC Artists of 2022 is a diverse and extraordinary group of students. These students have worked in a plethora of expressive forms from painting to film, drawing, sculpture, photography, graphic design and textiles and fibre. They have consistently evaluated their works to achieve ultimate material finesse and complex conceptual layers. This HSC Visual Arts Showcase is owned and curated by the students and we are highly impressed with the exceptional standard of the works the students have produced and presented. It truly has been engaging and exciting being able to teach and collaborate with these artists. Thank you Year 12 HSC artists for your determination, passion, commitment and ability to share your incredible creative minds.

Laurellen Symonds & Amy Bambach

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep

MAYA BIENSTOCK

Muddy Water is Best Cleared When Left Alone When a pond is clouded by mud, do you stir a stick through it? Or must you wait for it to settle at the bottom? Much like the act of waiting for muddy water to clear itself, the act of honing in on the breath during meditation allows for your thoughts to subside naturally and for your mind to clear up.

Inspired by this, my work attempts to “scratch an itch in the brain” of the audience as the solid shapes, clean lines, and balanced composition provides them with a satisfying sense of clarity and structure. Just as the breath serves as a focal point in meditation, the ambiguous black shapes also act as a focal point for my audience to fixate on and decipher, bringing them into the present and thus clearing their minds from distracting thoughts of past regrets or future plans. On the other hand, my film captures my form of meditation through movement. Like performance artists such as Marina Abramovic and Zhang Huan, my artistic process involved a high level of physical endurance that, over time, propelled me into a state of deep focus and awareness of how my body interacted with the negative space around me. In adding video effects post-production, my film resembles that of the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge, whose repetitious series sought to deconstruct fast-paced movements and investigate the separate details that made them whole. Using his frame by frame approach, I visualise the feeling of being clouded by thoughts and consequently losing clarity in my daily life.

JASMINE BIRKHOLD

Are You Hungry Yet?

Food is an enormous aspect of everyone’s lives and a big part of my personal identity. My work focuses on the food I have cooked for family and friends, with each piece correlating with the food I associate with important people in my life. Growing up, experimentation and expression were often conveyed through cooking. As I grew older, I began to understand the significance cooking has. Apart from simply making good food; it is a universal symbol of love. I may not get an award any time soon for my cooking, however, it will continue to be an important outlet for me. Dinner for my family is time we spend time together despite the vastly different lives we live. Food unites people, and I chose to paint it for that exact reason. This series has been painted in oil paint, and I have made and photographed all the food that requires preparation. The paintings are done on varying sized canvases to create variation. I have played with shadows and highlights in an attempt to produce semi-realistic still life paintings. The title is mainly for engagement through humour. The whole series represents my identity and the people significant to me through the ways I express my love for them.

DOMINIC CARTER

Edifice: Propaganda, Power and Misdirection My work explores the topics of politics, economics and philosophy, specifically, the philosophies of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and Antonio Gramsci. Thr work is rferencing theories of Cultural Hegemony, The Division of Labour and Dialectical Materialism. As the viewer of my work, you are taking the place of a member of the bourgaeoisie, staring down upon various intricate, nuanced and unique members of the working class, yet, all the various persons blend into one object, an object to exploit.

The use of found objects in my work is the result of a conscious connection to the average person’(s), discarded and donated objects make up each nuanced personality inhabiting each singular space in the full work. The structure of the entire work is intended to mimic that of a modern, cheap apartment block, those we see being constructed in places like Wolli Creek, Alexandria, Zetland and Granville. Each box acts as a window into those apartments, a viewpoint into each person(s) personality. The placement of one white bust in the work is the representation of the revolutionary, the member of the working class who is not seen as an object to be exploited by the bourgeoisie, but rather an individual to be feared and monitored extremely closely, hence the contrast of colour between the revolutionary and the willing subjects of capital.

GUSTAVO CANCERI

Silent Library

As a proud bookworm, I always find myself questioning the bounds for which we classify an object as a book. My body of work invites the audience to challenge their own classifications for when an object becomes a book. The collection of the books I have made at first glance may look like traditional hard and soft cover books, but as you flick through their contents you can find yourself staring at covid masks or even toilet paper. The work explores how a book is simply a collection of items bound together. The contents which make up the pages and the functionality of the object have no relevance. Once a cover is wrapped around the items and the collection is given a title the object instantly becomes a book. Despite the pages being silent, not being filled by pictures or words that are coherent from page to page, there are still stories and memories embedded within the books and within the items collected.

TALIA CHRISTELIS

A Symphony of Life and Death

The world revolves around the mechanisms within relationships, more specifically, familial relationships. Essentially, these connections prompt the world’s sustainability while maintaining a steady population. Why is it that death and decay are inevitable for all? Fate. Our lives may pave along differing pathways, but the one commonality between all is the final destination they lead to; death. Unavoidable and inexplainable. Following the Renaissance tradition of memento mori, my piece displays portraits of my immediate family with a dark twist. At first glance, they are indistinguishable; however, the elements surrounding them reveal their identities. I attempt to embody the world’s true construct, built upon memories and ideas rather than the people themselves. So there, that could be the answer. Maybe a lifespan is manufactured to formulate memories and internal connections? Ultimately, these are the remainders left behind by the deceased. However, through the skulls we call heads, these “remainders” can also be crucial initiators in the living world.

EDWARD CLIFFORD

Shadows of Self

Shadows, to me, entail an unmatched mystery in which my thoughts tend to rest, uncertain, unclear and unspoken. In order to understand the thoughts I can’t explain, I craft these rather frail, deprived and yet somehow elegant figures. Every aspect of the human form embodies infinite complexities, introducing us to deeply emotional characters. Accordingly, in creating works, I introduce figures just as I would myself to a stranger, though backwards. In each shadow lies a character without physicality. Rather than referencing an existing figure to cast a certain feeling, passion or sentiment, I represent emotions in figurative expression. In doing so, I unburden myself with an artistic perspective on whatever may concern me instead of an introspective one. Each figure is a shadow of self, a personification of my psyche, a collection of afflictions now solved. Hence, I now ask that you interpret each work with a unique perspective, as we are all individual, kindred, yet distinguishable, are we not?

SAM CLIFFORD

Social Rubbish: A Self Portrait

What should we throw out, and when should we throw it out? How does our waste define us? In an ever connected world where all eyes seem to lie on us 24/7, presenting an image of yourself is becoming more important than ever, whether around friends, family, and peers, and especially in public and social media life. However, our seemingly unbothered ignorance towards our rubbish is more prevalent than ever. We will spend long periods of time looking at a photo to post, but will throw away our old goods that often tell us more about ourselves, than an instagram post, placing what we consider trash outside our house for the whole world to see, yet no one would ever post an image of that on instagram. Old clothes, football boots, and furniture can tell us so much about someone, that they don’t even intend to show us.

WILL CLIFFORD

Ashes of a Once Promised Land

Upon seeing gunpowder works by Cai Guo-Qiang, I realised the artistic potential of fire and burning for the first time. The idea of using fire as a material immediately captivated me. However, through engaging with this material process, I also reflected on the symbolic qualities of this material. In recent years, the bushfires experienced across our country have left a harsh and destructive mark on the Australian people and environment. However, fire also brings regeneration to the landscape in its wake. I am trying to capture that dichotomy within my work. The danger and damage that comes with fire, in turn, create “art” and provide the observer with something that they might try to understand and see the beauty of. By letting fire have a creative effect within the world of art, I can use it to highlight the beautiful, not only destructive, impact it has on our planet.

AUDREY DUMER-ZENOU

Transparency of Truth

Do you ever look at someone and have a perfect vision, seeing right through them? Or others who stay in the dark, fractured from clarity? Some people have the strength to leave individuals in bewilderment, and others can be as transparent as a glass window As a natural human response, we all present and judge identities for presentation or true self without any realisation.

Concealed within the reality of human expression, I paint the visualisation of each person’s facade. Within my body of work, I present the captivating confusion and dissipation of one’s hidden expression. This is effectively expressed through the gradual diffusion of paint added to the canvas to reveal the truth by taking away the facade to reveal one’s true identity.

ASHER EMDUR

The Creation of Space

A space is what we make it. For without making, is it even a space at all? Whatever your connection to a space may be, it is something that engages with us, as much as we engage with it. When we create, or better yet, simply exist within a space, it tends to mould, and change with every action you take within it. To create within a space, is to create the space itself. Where the terms ‘create’ and ‘space’ overlap is the art studio. Painterly, Raw, In-Motion, creations here are boundless, full of the colourful vivacity and passion of the artist. There is an unrefined excitement in creation, of which my work can attest to in its unrefined nature, and in this case, I am both the artist of the space, and the one within it simultaneously. But ultimately, it is within this exciting act of creation, that life is breathed into the space, and the studio is born. The space has finally been created.

ZAC FOUX

Comfort in the Little Things With our lives turned upside down with the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to seek comfort in the little things in life. Two areas that provided immense comfort during the pandemic became online where we would shop for everything from groceries to clothing and our homes which became centres for school, work and entertainment.

In my HSC body of work, I wanted to explore these two areas in which I found myself turning to during the pandemic. Similar to others, my family and I turned to our house to provide us with comfort. It acted as a great shield during the pandemic and was able to keep us safe, provide us with entertainment and as well acted as a place in which we could complete work and online school. Further similarly to others, my family and I turned to online shopping as a way of purchasing groceries as well as other necessities and non necessities. In this way, I chose to utilise cardboard boxes to create homes and “shanties” in which were dilapidated and corroded on the outside. I did this to represent the protection in which our homes offered us, they protected us during the most scary and dangerous of times and therefore the rusting, corrosion, and holes on the exterior of the homes represents all that our homes shielded us from. The use of cardboard boxes which contained our online shopping orders further was used as the main material in the construction of the homes as online shopping became a crutch and almost acted as a “supporting pillar” of our daily lives. Therefore, I invite the audience to reflect and look back at what got them through the pandemic, what did they seek comfort in and what protected them?

JACK FUTCHER

Clarity in Thought

Have you ever begun with an idea, sparked in the mind, and thought to yourself, where do I go from here? This happens regularly when we as people want to create something or when we want to make a decision. The mind being a complex medium is not always easy to understand. Thought process stems from one concept, it begins foggy and distant, you will not have a full understanding of what it is or what it means until you break it down, deconstruct your ideas and begin making decisions about the path you wish to go down. Once conclusions are made, one is then left with a clear thought or decision that is sharp and defined. The process of thought takes time as reflected in a series of photographs that demonstrate how a brain’s creation is analysed and clarified.

MAYA GERTLER

Centennial Scapes

Inspired by early Australian Impressionism, my oil on canvas large scale series depicts where I feel at home; my local Centennial Park. Artists such as Clarice Beckett painted local scenery as a form of documentation, and this is how I view my work. A collection of memories inspired by photographs I took of the park over several years. It provided a place of tranquillity and comfort throughout the tedious Covid lockdown, a place where I could picnic, paint, play the guitar and clear my mind.

I had rarely experimented with oils before the HSC year began, yet I fell in love with the medium a few months ago and decided to approach my Body of Work through the lens of realism. Although not photo-identical in subject matter, my series communicates the serenity and belonging I feel towards Centennial Park that I’m sure audiences feel about a special place of their own.

LUKA GILLIBRAND

Scarred

A scar is a mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn. Scars aren’t exclusively a human burden. The landscape we depend on bears a growing number of scars. These marks of trauma are left from mining, cutting, scraping, and burning. Actions utilised to quench our escalating material thirst… My body of work represents a slow deconstruction of the landscape, displayed in a wounded, decaying and surrendered composition. Through this blemished and disfigured abstraction, I Intend to reflect the scarring inflicted on the environment around us. “Cuts” imposed through our self-serving industrial, pollutant, and artificial production methods. Products of our desire to consume. Though the series begins with an already tormented and struggling landscape, the work continues to digress, and decompose. Like the dwindling slashes of acrylic in my series, eventually the “Cuts” we lay too deep will never heal.

HATIZA GUAN

Light Source

My body of work “Light Source” contains four artworks that follow the theme of contemporary women being restricted by traditional expectations. The natural surroundings and background of each artwork is a reflection of the constant social pressure faced by women of both contemporary and feudal societies. The interactions between each female figure and their surroundings become reflections of the effects of those social pressures on women, where gender inequality is still a big issue in many countries. It is believed in many cultures that for a woman to be considered successful in life, she would have to get married, give birth and give up her career to look after her family. While most women in contemporary society are given more rights and opportunities, there are still some who are heavily affected by these intergenerational expectations. I was inspired by the impressionist movement where the presence of light was emphasised to further construct a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere. My artworks were drawn using procreate on my iPad, which is also a reflection of technological advancement and human development. The contrast between light and dark tones becomes a motif for the ideological world in relation to the cruel reality, constructing the inner struggle for women to break free from those “traditional values”.

NOAH HAMS

Up Above

The composition and tone of the sky above us often acts not only as an influence but also as a reflection of our moods. Emotions and feelings shown through the individual interpretation of the colours and clouds that fill the sky. Heavy and dark, or thin and wispy clouds representing the turmoils and wins in everyday life. The small patches of blue pushing through a thick layer of dark cloud representing hope, and thin strings of cloud stretched across a darkening, orange sky representing tranquillity and the relief of one’s stress. Each of my photographs provokes and encourages the audience to understand and determine their relationship between the aesthetic value of the sky above them and the influence and connection that it has with their feelings on a day to day basis.

MILA KARPES

Salt Chuck

The ocean is something that we are surrounded by but often take for granted. I portray the relationship between the human body and water through my work. The beauty of light and human movement changes with the motion and current of water beneath the surface. Light hovers over the ocean’s surface and brings down rays throughout the water creating contrast. Distortion occurs as the body navigates the depths of the water. Light dapples and reflects on the figure as it disrupts the stillness of the water. My photographs also capture the tension between the figure and the water - the delay of movement and the struggle to breathe. They are designed to be intentionally viewed as a snapshot of bodies swiftly moving underwater, inspired by Australian artists including Tamara Dean and Martine Emdur.

AIZA KHURRAM

Un-Stereotypical Perspectives

Vibrant traffic, crowded streets, the aroma of traditional delicacies wafting through the air, delicately embroidered garments being weaved, rickshaws racing from one end to the other, plains upon plains of mountains, sometimes draped in snow, other times in luscious greenery. Adorned camels and trucks, ancient calligraphy murals, cultural architecture. - Home. Surrounded by strong beliefs, ideologies and prejudices in this ever-changing world, I offer my perspective of my home country. Through hints of colour and life contrasted by the lack of colour among my collection of works, an idea of negativity and positivity is created; stereotypes and hidden jewels. By challenging preconceived conceptions of a nation, my work aims to break down stereotypes and portray this country as a whole: its life, landscape, and culture. The incorporation of sculptures into the work addresses the concepts of past and present; traditional and modern, and in company with the soundscape in the background, the audience is immersed in the work and its intended setting. Regardless of the fact that I wasn’t born nor permanently reside on the land I’ve portrayed in my work, through the use of my memory and camera on a recent trip home a few months ago; I endeavoured to create and capture several moments and perspectives of the country I call home.

MIA KLUGMAN

A Study of My Extension

My younger sister has been the subject of my works this year. I had an initial set of photos of her I wanted to paint, and I didn’t expect to deviate from this plan. I remember scribbling something down at the start of this process, something about portraits capturing personality, and never really understanding what that meant, or how I was supposed to go about doing that. I did find that after my first portrait had been mostly completed, I didn’t recognise the girl in the photo from the term before. And so, I began taking photos of her as the year progressed, and my works began to tell a story that followed my sister through the year. Not only did I track my sister, my own style and limits - when it came to size and colour and subject matter - were pushed, in the hopes that I could truly communicate who my sister is, and the role she plays in my life.

ALYANA KONDILIOS

Made in Australia

We have all experienced the anticipating wait for your latest online impulse purchase to arrive at your door, a package that has travelled across vast oceans in turbulent weather for a few seconds of your excitement. It’s easy to forget behind the first world problem of patience, the backstage workings that make this transnational delivery possible. My work reminds the audience of this, of the importance of our ports, container ships, and seafarers; an industry responsible for 98% of Australia’s trade. We’ve seen the immense delays and shortage of stock in our stores during Covid-19 as the efficiency of world trade through ports was impacted. Not just this but constant governmental setbacks, simple minds that don’t know the industry, trade union disputes, extreme weather, and other (un)foreseen factors, collide and compound exacerbating problems. My work represents these problems often subtly through the slight texture and sharpness of a wave or incomplete line work of cranes unloading containers. I hope to take the audience on a journey of their own through the backstage working of ports and vessels.

CLAUDIA LEES

Scratching the Surface

We are often judged solely based on our physical appearance, which we have no power over, an aspect of our identity that we cannot control. When we live in a world where each individual is multi-faceted and made up of unique characteristics, why is so much weight placed on desirable physical characteristics? Who is to make the judgement on what beauty is? Surrounded by the perfect facade of an individual, I force the audience to look past the surface to a whole other inner identity that is often disregarded because of the predetermined assumptions the world has made about who we are, as individuals, solely based on our appearance. Not a lot is known until we peel away the layers of a person, revealing their true identity. Each layer peeled back allows another aspect of one’s identity to be revealed, uncovering the distinct characteristics which make each unique. The monochromatic facial features depict an insufficiency of identity on the surface; to find a person’s individuality, one must scratch back the layers. We are all entirely different, made up of both the physical features of our exterior and the internal layers and characteristics that make up our interior. The distorted identities we fabricate in our minds fail to reveal a realistic sense of being. As we attempt to navigate our paths through life, we must figure out who we are and who we want to be.

RUBY LEWIS-MILLAR

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance: the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change. I’m a massive hypocrite and I’m always mentally contradicting myself; always playing the devil’s advocate in my head. As a part of growing up, I naturally constructed and developed my identity, values and beliefs. However, moving into my teenage years with expanding freedom, my perceptions of the world have been challenged daily, rapidly shifting and contradicting what I may have once believed. My thoughts are in a state of conflict and I’m never able to come to a definitive conclusion. Ask me any question and I’ll have twenty answers for you. The ways in which I perceive both myself and those around me seem to shift daily. My psyche is in a constant state of flux. While these oil paintings do serve the intent of sharing a slice of my mind, they also worked as a means for self-reflection in my process of creating. Featuring a series of distorted portraits, my body of work aims to physically manifest and share the contradictions of my mind and my changing self-perceptions; my cognitive dissonance.

HANNAH MCMILLAN

Take a Look Through My Eyes

My series is inspired by the works of Louis Wain, as he captured the progression of his schizophrenia in his final years. Wain allowed the audience an insight into an experience so difficult to explain or comprehend outside the realm of art and in doing so humanised those affected; using the tool of artmaking to create understanding and sympathy among a fairly unsupportive society. Through my work I attempt to recreate how the world can appear visually to me when I disassociate. I encourage the audience to experience my works as a realistic experience of my reality as if my works were truly their own field of vision. To immerse the viewer most effectively my works have been placed in a dark room with light only directed onto the artworks. Great variation in my works is key, as detachment from the world can manifest visually in various ways. Vision can be distorted and blurred, requiring great effort to focus on small areas of vision, appearing as a whole, as if one’s vision is lagging. The world can appear more cartoon-like in the foreground and 2D in its background, or zoomed out as if one is falling into one’s own mind. As frightening and disorientating as this can be, the world can also plainly appear overly colourful and defined…somehow more beautiful than ever. We all live in different worlds and it can be easy to take for granted aspects of life that we have been dealt a good hand, or blame and curse aspects in which we have not. Peace can only be found with acceptance and gratitude.

CELESTE MARTIN-BYGRAVE

Souvenirs from the Streak

Damien Hirst describes the appeal of certain animals, ones that ‘look alive when they’re dead’. We are obsessed with capturing the essence of such animals into a material object able to be owned. It began with tiger bone wine, tiger teeth tinctures. We’ve moved on to some extent. But I still couldn’t help but feel we are missing the point. Tiger taxidermied rugs are still selling on luxury auction sites. I wear tigers on my shoes, jumpers, and wallets - and in 2022, the Year of the Tiger, they have become even more of a luxury, trending item. Tiger print, eyes and claws are replicated and exchanged for the way they look and the edginess they are perceived to have. But I felt like we were chasing something inherently unpinnable. No bad thing, but just funny. Hirst questions the intertwining of death and luxury in his taxidermy based sculptures. Attempting to follow in this vein, my faux head is garish and cartoonish, hoping to contend with the current ideas of wealth and panache we assume when seeing a tiger, captured, in a material product. Integral body parts to a tiger, or past streams of revenue - can be seen abandoned. As one dissects a tiger the original qualities of ferocity and vivacity we want to claim for ourselves are, ironically, lost. What remains is a caricature; devoid of life, obviously, but also depth and consideration. The animal becomes the punchline of a joke that’s not even funny. But it’s whatever. They look good on a wall.

LUCY MILLAR

Nobody’s Here Yet

I’ve spent a lot of time at the beach. We all live by it, yet hours before sunrise, it is seen by very few people – a lone surfer and me. These few hours, or minutes even before anyone is there, have been my standpoint of inspiration for this work and the cornerstone of my own repose. Silenced by such lightless scenery, I was impelled to be more – see more, do more. Cold and often unclear waters brought, unsurprisingly, tranquillity. A sweeping and inescapable calm of the water, sometimes slightly warm, sometimes unbearable. Pinholes of light sewing themselves through ocean ripples and sand dribbling slowly with the water’s movement – what you would not see, or bother to look at, with company and light. My artwork explores the barren yet overwhelming feeling of being alone in the water and the gift of observance. There is less or more beauty in the ocean at this time. See for yourself.

LUKE MOLONEY

Unfamiliar, Familiarity

Driving is one of the most complex and dangerous tasks that is regularly performed by most adults. Humans are often required to perform high-stakes tasks that involve complex skills such as risk perception and decision making. Rather than accumulating hundreds of unique experiences, often drivers have similar experiences hundreds of times (e.g. their daily commute). This has implications for what they attend to while driving, as they become highly familiar with certain locations, scenarios and hazards, but cannot necessarily transfer their knowledge to new contexts. When driving we must constantly scan the environment for information, including behavioural cues (e.g. traffic lights, signs) and potential threats, while successfully controlling a vehicle. Failure to detect potential hazards is a key contributing factor in serious road crashes. Familiarity of a route fosters competence, however, familiarity makes drivers inattentive to changes in their environment, especially those involving road signs. Familiarity can promote automaticity of the driving task. This improves proficiency at some tasks, such as reducing response times to expected events, but may lead to mind wandering and inattention to peripheral objects and events that are less directly relevant to driving. Therefore this can result in a landscape becoming unfamiliar, distorted or abstracted as drivers rely on their automated responses which may fail given the unpredictability of moments on the road. Familiar surroundings can quickly become dark and eerie with an unusurity in a millisecond if drivers are not alert and respond promptly to their changing environment. My collection of black and white photographs portrays roads and other significant aspects within a driving environment but in an alternate, more abstracted manner to illuminate the dangers of familiarity and unfamiliarity when driving and its sometimes deadly consequences.

XIAO CAO NEAL

The Wires In Between

The connection between people is profound and is evidently the most important thing whether that is friendship or love. Within my work, I intend to show the intertwining of the idea of connection as well as how it is important to stay connected to each other. Even though phones, computers and electronics have been considered as something that might not be as positive as we like. We are able to use these devices to connect to others instantaneously. I have layered different photos which allows me to show the chaos of technology and it also expresses how everyone is using it at once. In our world now, communicating with the people we have a connection with is harder than normal, through the idea of power lines it suggests how we can all stay in contact even though the physicality of engaging wth people face-to-face is becoming more difficult in our current climate.

CAMILLE NICOLAU BORDE BERGERET

A Scrapbooked Existence

Memory is a fickle thing. It sneaks up on you only to disappear and leave you with the ache of yearning for a time passed. The singular weight of carrying such memory is not for the weak and the desire for a time in which the biggest hurts were the grazes on your knees, leaves us all looking at a time changed and by association, yourself changed. My body of work ‘A Scrapbooked Existence’ explores the nature of growing and learning through an introspective lens. Growing up, the distancing from a childhood can often be isolating and so we grasp onto memories in order to find who we are in a time where our identity seems a foreign concept. The resemblance to scrapbooks in my works create the illusion of something less daunting and more accessible as I boil down the simple yet unmistakable moments that define our adolescence. By looking at our lives from different angles we can begin to appreciate the multitudes that enwrap us and how human life is perpetually transformative. These pieces of which reflect my own personal journey in some ways, are odes to dreams, memories and ourselves, in celebrating our powerful existences while grieving for the people we no longer are.

HARPER POLLARD

Sea-Section

You jump into the ocean. Like a mother, she embraces you. The sea is the mother of all life. She feeds, she shelters and she protects. Yet more importantly, she is the genesis from which we have all come. She is the giver of life and her fertility is the reason we are here. Fertility takes many shapes and forms in different organisms. As a human, it involves wombs, tearing, blood, loss and growth, often hidden from sight. The essence of feminine fertility is deemed too grotesque and confronting. Yet, it seems we forget that the beauty of the cycle of life could not continue without these processes. I aimed to shed light on the hidden elements of fertility coupled with the ultimate mother, the ocean herself, by repurposing a traditionally feminine craft (crochet) to create sculptures that are simultaneously both human and oceanic. Encapsulating the idea that we are born of the ocean. My organic forms are intended to both invite and unsettle, prompting the viewer to ask the question: If the ocean is my mother, how should I treat her?

ALYNA REMBECK-JONES

Equilibrium

Advance, conquer, collapse It is an undoubtedly obvious tendency of humans to reach a certain point only to collapse. Only then are we reminded of our innate vulnerability and often harsh disposition to the world surrounding us. Equilibrium isn’t sustainable, however, and as humans, we often find ourselves overwhelmed, shattering our so-called “perception” of balance. The intention behind my sculptural installation was to intrinsically represent this ever so present cycle of sorts caused by the continuous build-up of anxieties and stresses. From the outside, my artworks’ simple layout and structure are unspecific. Although once you peer closer, you notice the intricacies of my artwork, namely the inscribing on the outside of the blocks, which are pages from my personal diary wrapped around the figures. My 3 different sculptures exemplify the endless cycle I find myself in; balance, on-edge and collapse. The sketches accompanying my sculptures display my frame of mind when creating these artworks.

ANNALEISE ROSE

Perception

What if one learns to conceal and control all emotion from the outside world? Maybe to fit in ? Maybe to survive? Emotional reaction is the essence of the human experience although expressed by each individual uniquely. Our thoughts and feelings make up who we are, and yet, when observing others from different angles, you are not always able to see the full picture. If one chooses to hide behind a mask; shield themselves, and therefore others, from the authentically human parts within them, in order to escape emotions too torturous to endure - what is to stop them from losing those aspects of humanity once found within? What is to stop them from ultimately losing all sense of self?…

EDEN RUBENSTEIN

Fatale Femme

The journey of life in this age of overconsumption of media has left young women such as me with highly defined stereotypes ingrained in our minds. How classic is a materialistic female? How classic is an insecure woman? How classic is her obsessive nature? “Art imitates life”, Oscar Wilde says, and what’s more classic than still life? My body of work explores the unsavoury ways in which women and their attributes are portrayed in the media and society, in the form of still life photography to represent the way in which these notions are ingrained into public perception, just in the way that classical artwork such as still life portraiture forms the building blocks of realistic art. Drawing upon the use of symbolism in vanitas and memento mori artworks, instead of representing the transience of life and inevitability of death, i’ve rather represented the pitfalls of women as communicated by stereotypes, such as vanity and promiscuity, drawing connotations to the art style to allude to the inevitability of highlighting a woman’s flaws as similarly to the inevitability of life and death. Carrie Fisher said, “Take your broken heart and make it into art,” so if I am to be the flawed trope established centuries ago, why not photograph and frame it?

TALI SHAPIRO

Fingerprints

Clouded by the conformity to materialistic values, I sketch shoes to challenge the audience to look past the acquisitive nature of this piece of clothing and invite them to gain insight into the complexity behind this form. My body of work explores the insight that can be gained from the depiction of shoes and their moulded, imprinted state. My sketches explore how an item of clothing becomes a piece of who we are and takes on it’s own identity. When a shoe is worn it takes on the shape of the wearer and moulds to the foot almost as a fingerprint, becoming an aspect of the individual. In these works I utilise the shape and structure of shoes to reference both the timeline and experience of an individual. Within each fold and crease is the memory of a misstep, a fall, a kneel or a dance. These memories are naked and exposed to the viewer, as well as the shoes with no owner, no wearer. Shoes visualise the story of our lives and the steps we have taken.

CASSINI SISSON

Within Ourselves

The human body can present itself in a way that reflects an individual’s inner emotion and way of expressing themselves. Our bodies reveal our sincere emotions and reactions to the world around us and our recollections and reflection of ourselves. The way our bodies move and express themselves forms a perspective of identity, creating concepts of the events before the physical response, discovering the endless possibilities of how body language and movement can be perceived. My series of sketches explore how the human skeleton can project emotion through body movement and positioning, unveiling the true emotions an individual can experience. I aimed to express feeling, expression, movement, vulnerability, identity and the structural form and proportions of the human skeleton, and present the human skeleton realistically. I aim to convey the effect of emotions on the physical body making you vulnerable and naked, stripping you of everything, leaving behind a pile of the remaining bones, still holding onto that withheld emotion.

GABRIEL STAFFORD

What Have We Become

The Renaissance still life – a combination of subtle tones and delicate objects, truly capturing beauty in a few brush strokes. But does it capture the truth of the artist’s world? In my series of still life drawings, I aim to convey the progressive destruction of traditional values. Human connection and icons of beauty are manipulated by the relentless consumption of technology and rapid industrialisation. I have captured the truth of modern values and aesthetics and consequently reveal the present and a possible future.

GINGER STEPHENS

Decayed Visions

My artwork is about the connection and complex elationship between nature and humans. In spending a lot of time painstakingly collecting and drying leaves and natural objects, I aim to preserve the beauty of these uncultivated forms. Through a layering of pattern and illustration, I hope to echo and enhance the shapes, lines and forms of these found objects while also highlighting gleeful colours that are often lost in the decaying leaves around us. By altering the look of leaves to something that recalls the bright, unreal colours of Pop Art I hope the audience is able to appreciate both the aesthetic beauty of nature as well as art. Therefore I hope to illuminate the connections between society and the environment through my Body of Work.

FRIDA SWINSON -DULHUNTY

Family Heirlooms

While the world today has abolished the need for handcrafting and domestic skills; these values are however kept alive by generations of knowledge and teachings. My grandmother and mother have passed on to me the skills of knitting and crocheting, leading me to create these terracotta pots filled with flourishing flowers. The blossoming plants are symbolic of the unity of families, expressed through the identical pots and the wildness, growth and differences between generations, shown through the mix-match flowers. My three larger pot plants act as a focal point for the three generations of grandparents, parents and children, specifically the maternal line of my grandmother, mother and me. This explores the changing values of each generation and reflects the society in which each of them is ‘grown’. I have expressed this through the decay of the flora in the older generation pot plant illustrating how it has already bloomed commenting on the cycle of life, this is further explored through the almost blossoming flowers in the younger pot and the explosion of colour and growth in the middle pot plant to illustrate the stages of life. My series of crocheted and knitted pot plants is symbolic of the nature of family and illustrate the differences and unity of ancestry.

LUCAS TABELL

170kg, C02

In today’s society, we are all conscious of saving the planet and improving the environment around us. Surfers in particular are intrinsically linked to the natural world, however, many aren’t aware of how deadly the production of surfboards is to our surroundings. This is what inspired me to create my Body of Work, as being a surfer for over 13 years it is part of my immediate world. My brother, father, and I collectively own over 20 surfboards, yet until recently, I never knew the damage that the production of each surfboard causes to the environment. The production of a single polyurethane surfboard from start to finish releases over 170kg of C02 emissions into our atmosphere. With over 400,000 surfboards produced every year worldwide, this is a sustainability issue that needs to be addressed. I have collected abandoned surfboards from my local area and repurposed them into graphic displays inspired by Vernon Ah Kee using screenprinting, printmaking, stencils and stickering to create a story that describes how surfing contributes to the mass expansion of greenhouse gasses and overall climate change. Surfers rely on the environment for their recreation, it is now time for us to protect this same environment by considering new methods and processes of manufacturing.

JULIA TYMULA

Vulnerability Fragility

The human body is often treated as a material thing which can be easily broken, but not easily mended. Being in a position of vulnerability feels like it is almost miscellaneous and comes from anywhere and everywhere, and my work breaks down how the human body is manipulated to feel like this. In my work, each dot is representative of a vulnerable moment, and they all add up to create each one of my pieces. I present three parts of the human body, all linking to this idea: the feet being on their “tip-toes’’ in a position of pain, the hand on the hip is placed as if it is being grasped or pulled away and the figures head looking up in agony paired with his bare unprotected chest. These works convey how the human body is fragile, breakable and easily controlled. I couple these works with four smaller depictions of inanimate objects which I use to create a metaphor for these concepts; the puppet acting as a symbol of control, the ballet shoe showing restraint, the chess piece conveying the power of higher class over lower class and the wine glass representing fragility and being easily broken. By placing these objects underneath the three zoomed in captures of the body, I convey how these challenges of control, restraint, being overpowered and fragility, are the underlying cause of our struggle of feeling vulnerable. I use tone and shadow to represent the accumulation of these challenges that lead to the struggle of feeling powerless, but show it in a beautiful delicate way to communicate how it is not a weakness.

ALFIE WARNER

A Fork in the Road

The fork is an implement with two or more prongs used for lifting food to the mouth or holding it when cutting. However, it is also the point where something, especially a road or river, divides into two parts. The Fork is symbolic of taking a stab at something, or making a change in direction that will help you provide for yourself. The fork can also symbolise choices or a crossroad, as in a ‘fork in the road. ‘This can be linked to how we as humans make decisions on a daily basis and choose our paths. Sometimes this is the road of least resistance and sometimes it’s a rocky road and we tread a difficult path.

GABRIELA WAYNE

Nothing Erased But Much Submerged Memory is a complex notion. Its definition as a mere faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information may be considered adequate, yet how can a definition hold when the concept it defines and dissipates into nothingness? Within my body of work, I intended not only to encapsulate the capacity of memory to distort and inundate a landscape but further facilitate the viewer with the opportunity to connect to the emotion stowed within each painting and my artistic practice holistically. The emotion that inevitably amasses as you heed the journey of degeneration.

Memory and its essence - something we should be intrinsically grateful for is often ironically consigned to oblivion until you observe its deterioration first-hand. It was this that guided me toward the formulation of my body of work, concocting a visual representation of the indescribable and seemingly unimaginable experience of unwillingly surrendering to a ‘fog’, per se; one that glazes your eyes and clouds your memory. Thus, by embracing abstraction’s departure from accurate expression, I implore the viewer to contemplate whether memory truly erases, or is it rather submerged, deeply, within the fragmentation and dilution of the mind’s landscape?

SOFIA WEIDLER

Ode to The Ordinary

My body of work grounds its inspiration in the traditional ‘salon hangs’ of the 1800s; a symbol of valuable practice as regarded by the Academy, critics, and the general status quo. Taking from French artist Amelie Dillemann, my work reimagines the regal and highly conservative conventions of this display in a more casual medium. Confounded to find that these frames of ornate reds and gilded golds result from little more than hefty cardboard boxes, my body of work invites the audience to observe beauty and intricacy within ‘the ordinary’. In a world exhausted by the unpredictable, we are burdened by this impulsive tendency to constantly overcompensate, thus, I seek comfort in simplicity; a familiar confine to temper my Everyman introspection. I paint banality with a certain dramatic reverence, where a deliberate emphasis on light and layering masks the shallow connotations of apple cores or Zip-loc bags in the rather renowned theatrics of Impressionist artworks, positioning them a similar level of stature. By blurring the boundaries between conventional artistic grandeur and modern mundanity, my ‘gallery wall’ encourages viewers to step back and admire value in the ordinary, in half-used toothpaste tubes and in scattered cardboard boxes, because where ‘simple’ becomes beauty, beauty becomes simple.

REUBEN ZAVODNYIK

The Shadow

Light and dark control the way we see things, the way we live. Although the day produces a sensory overload of colour we are ultimately tested by the shadow. The Shadow pushes us to see things that weren’t there before. A way around the boundaries of aesthetic proportion. In life we are asked to live by what we see. My work is here to challenge that. Buildings have always reminded me of perfection. Symmetrically, structurally and conceptually they bring to life a portion of the city-scape that wouldn’t be there without them. Yet what if we could make them human? In my work I have cultivated a series of linoleum prints with the intention of showcasing the shadows effect on buildings of the brutalist era. Each of my prints has been carved by hand, putting my own human error into them. My prints have a timeless quality. In their lack of colour the dualities of light and shadow engulf my subjects, exposing the forever dormant spirits of brutalist architecture.

JADE ZELINGER

Bloodline

The complexity of identity garners one full trajectory of life. How we define who we are, what legacy we leave behind and the memories we create. In my work I try to blur the lines between the external and internal perceptions of who we are as individuals and the rapid transience of human existence. Not just how we see ourselves but what we see ourselves in. I explore the intricate unique layers which grasp together to create individuality, but also the connection of humanity: bloodline. In a society constantly focused on influence, categorisation and assumptions, as a child of an interracial relationship, these ideals were always on the forefront of my mind. My portraits of my parents and me, mounted on the layered maps of our geographical identity, merge the complexities of these seemly separate worlds. To have an identity you must fit in a “box”, but as I grow I think I have come to realised that your identity is truly not what fits in these boxes but the unique ideals and parts of you that don’t.