2017
FINE ART
Introduction
PRO FESSOR PAU L EG G LE STON E HE AD OF SCHOOL OF C R E AT IVE IN DUST R IE S
This catalogue celebrates the achievements of students who have completed the Bachelor of Fine Art and the Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) degrees at the University of Newcastle in 2017. Congratulations to every student represented here on their significant achievement. I’d like to offer some personal thoughts to our Fine Art ‘class of 2017’. The most important thing that you can take away from your degree is that which you will carry with you for the rest of your life. It’s not only about the physical work itself, good though that may be. It’s about the critical thinking, process, and creative strategies that each piece of work - curated and presented in this catalogue represents. These skills will long outlast the work on display here underpinning your future expressions and initiatives. I wish you all well as you start the next phase of your creative journey confident that you are better prepared than many for all that lies ahead.
Artwork Image: Ileigh Hellier, Sundown (detail), 2017 Oil on plywood, 25 x 20 cm
Contents 2 I N TRO D UCTI O N A N D CO N TEN TS
4 BFA HONOURS
36 B A CHELO R O F F I N E A R T
69 CONTACT INFORMATION AND A CK N O WLED GEMEN TS
CO NT E N T S 2
HONOURS 3
Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) DR FAY E N E I L S O N B FA HO NO URS CO N V E N O R The Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) program at the University of Newcastle is a formative year of focused study which follows the completion of a three-year Bachelor of Fine Art degree or equivalent. Each Honours candidate works in close consultation with a nominated supervisor to determine an individual path of study related specifically to their skills and research interests. In 2017 we celebrate the achievements of fifteen Honours candidates who have explored a range of critical perspectives and material processes in their studio projects. Three of this year’s cohort exhibited their BFA Honours work in July, each incorporating recycled or discarded material into their work in innovative ways. Rachael Hart’s installation focused on shifting aspects of landscape in delicately structured works of paper pulp suspended in architectural form. Judith Wilson used traditional techniques to create yarn and knitted objects from recycled dressmaking pattern tissue, a metaphor for the meditative quality of slow art making. For Eileen Kuzmic, photographic images captured carefully composed scenes of detritus, publicly exposing the very private experience of living with her partner’s hoarding disorder. Both Judith and Eileen were well deserved recipients of Faculty Medals for their achievements.
End of year graduate exhibitions for the BFA Honours degree are held at Watt Space in Newcastle City and the University Gallery at Callaghan. At Watt Space, Kali Sunshine Barcala references the tradition of vanitas symbolic still life paintings, in ceramic body fragments that explore themes of beauty, impermanence and the female form. Momo Hatley-Couper approaches art making as a therapeutic process, creating hand-made works in thread and clay that explore her own emotional disposition. In ritualised works that respond to notions of the goddess and the cyborg, Brooke Edwards creates a dystopian vision of the female body in tarot-card form. A reflective space for escape is created in Brigitte Beyer’s installation, Immersion, which invites the viewer to become submerged in feelings and emotions associated with place. Lizz Mackenzie focuses on the relationship between humans and the natural environment in Altered States, a series of photographs that reconsiders the domestication of animals and plants. Danielle Minett explores the shifting nature of memory in a series of work that fixes ambiguously fictitious recollections into tangible material forms. At the University Gallery, Nick Barlow’s paintings reveal the absurdity of everyday
life, revealing glimpses of the uncanny and surreal observed in mundane and ordinary moments. Similar fragments are also visited in the liminal spaces of suburbia by Deborah White, whose paintings record place, memory and change in the urban environment. Rosemary Reynolds explores the quiet beauty of the inner body through material studies which reference the idea of the gift. Alysha Fewster highlights our connection with the natural environment in a series of photographic images of cubby houses built to shift imagined barriers between work and play. Shannon Cadman responds to the local Hunter region in abstract paintings that document the impact of open-cut coal mining on the landscape. In photographs by Chloe Hey, mannequins and humans are markers of the artificial and the real, displayed in the false construct of the shop window to question our identity as consumers. We commend the 2017 cohort for their achievements and congratulate them on the completion of the Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) degree.
Artwork Image: Judith Wilson, Yarn installation, 2017 Handspun, recycled dressmaking pattern tissue on antique bobbins, dimensions variable H O NO U RS 4
Kalithea Sunshine Barcala THE BEAUTY OF IMPERMANENCE: AN EXPLORATION OF MORTALITY, NATURE AND THE FEMALE FORM
This body of artwork acts as a study of the female form and explores themes of impermanence, beauty and the inevitable decay of all living things. Throughout this process, I have aimed to accomplish a similar understanding and response to that traditionally found in a Vanitas still life painting. I wish to evoke an emotive perception of the transient nature of mortality, through the fragmented forms of frozen youth. By taking life casts from models and using fresh flowers and botanical samples in my work, I hope to have immortalised the radiance of life into sculptural forms, frozen in time. The material process of ceramic vitrification through firing, is very important to the theme and the expression of permanence and impermanence. Our bodies and lives are ever changing, shifting and growing, just as nature is. The imprinting of botanical imagery into my work aims to implant notions of memory, trace and nostalgia.
Main Image Detail of Botanical Imprinting on Ceramic Surface, 2017 White earthenware clay, life casting, 40 x 45 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) White Earthenware Ceramic Body Fragment, 2017 White earthenware clay, life casting, 20 x 14 cm Detail Image 2 White Earthenware Ceramic Body Fragment (detail), 2017 White earthenware clay, life casting, 40 x 45 cm
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Nick Barlow SENSE/SENSELESS: THE UNCANNY AND ABSURD IN THE EVERYDAY
Our daily life, as a complex series of routines, habits, actions and rituals, often appears subdued or banal to us. The repetition of the everyday becomes mundane, the self becomes lost in social expectations of work, study, religion, family and other relationships. In spite of these universal norms we carry on, partially numb to the world around us and to our own sense of being, unaware of the mysterious and hidden layers of our daily environment and daily interactions: it all seems so familiar, so uneventful and so prosaic most of the time. This Honours project has been an investigation of the mundane and repetitive nature of the everyday and the rare but significant moment and encounters that sharpen our awareness of the strangeness of ordinary life. These micro-moments bring attention to our own place within the everyday processes of being human and how we interact with others and experience reality in sometimes unexpected ways. The concepts of the psychical uncanny and the existential absurd exemplify such unexpected ways of experiencing reality and have been pursued through Western traditions of image making in order to reference the viewer’s own
relationship with the everyday. By examining the myriad possibilities and unlikely manifestations of the uncanny/absurd, my version of figurative realism becomes a sight of convergent activities: the familiar sense of the everyday is presented with its hidden strangeness in view. My work aims to pull at the seams of the everyday to reveal what is, and has always been, idle beneath the surface: appearances can deceive, but painting can reveal the unexpected.
Main Image Nausea/ Meatloaf Night (detail), 2017 Oil paint on Masonite, 45 x 45 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Ghost, 2017 Oil paint on Masonite, 45 x 45 cm Detail Image 2 Ghost (detail), 2017 Oil paint on Masonite, 45 x 45 cm HO N O U RS 8
Brigitte Beyer IMMERSION
We are reasserting man’s natural desire for the exalted, for a concern with our relationship to the absolute emotions…We are creating images whose reality is self-evident...Instead of making cathedrals out of Christ, man, or ‘life,’ we are making it out of ourselves, out of our own feelings. The image we produce is the selfevident one of revelation, real and concrete, that can be understood by anyone… -Barnett Newman As a moving image practitioner working with installation and sound, my work is currently engaged with creating an engulfing space for escape from the everyday urban world. Immersion is a mise-en-scène of youth delving into the natural Australian landscape at the Medowie lake. Creating the work challenged me photographically to shoot not only technically, but also with and against the elements. Conceptually this sense of challenge fed into the work. In order to discover one’s sense of self, there is a need to push against physical, spiritual and emotional limits. For me and the subjects of my work, it was recognised that such a location can impart these discoveries.
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The assembled shots offer audiences an opportunity to engage with nature through the digital image. Immersion investigates the ability of video to manipulate our perception of an event through slow-motion, or focus in on key aspects of a place to induce meaning and the contemplation of temporal space. Water and reflection is also essential to this work. Not only is it depicted within the imagery, it is also presented within the installation space itself. I believe this invites the audience to engage with the ceremonious submersion into feelings and emotions intrinsic to place, whilst their own image is reflected in the installation.
Main Image Immersion (detail), 2017 Audio/visual video projection, dimensions variable Detail Image 1 (centre) Immersion (detail), 2017 Audio/visual video projection, dimensions variable Detail Image 2 Immersion (detail), 2017 Audio/visual video projection, dimensions variable
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Shannon Cadman T H E VO I D
The Void explores the ‘absence’ of a landscape physically removed and the reposition within the surrounding environment. The research has been a creative response to local landforms mined in the Hunter Region. My painting highlights the void that is created in the process of extraction. I am interested in approaching the genre of landscape in a different way by imagining a landscape that is no longer there. The Void connotes the highly destructive nature of open-cut coal mining on the landscape. It is an environment that is continually changing due to human intervention. In this body of work I apply different ways of seeing to the same geography. The traditional landscape compositions address the approach and access to the sites of the mines/voids. The area is censored. Only limited information can be achieved as the voids are obstructed by “regenerated’ landforms and vegetation. Aerial photographic images are collected from Google Satellite Imagery (GSI) that exposes the void in a way that defies censorship. These works represent an ontological view of mapping
and experimenting with elemental qualities of earth and atmosphere. The Void is a metaphorical and experimental response to place, abstracted into zones of the painter’s imagination.
Main Image Westside Coal Mine (Final Void), 2017 Oil and beeswax on ply board , 50 x 50 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Mount Arthur Coal (study #1) (detail), 2017 Oil, beeswax and graphite on Arches oil paper, 23 x 15 cm Detail Image 2 Mount Arthur Coal (study #3) (detail), 2017 Oil, beeswax, charcoal and graphite on Arches oil paper, 14 x 14 cm H O NO U RS 12
Brooke Edwards T H E G O D D E S S A N D T H E CY B O R G
My practice revolves around personal experiences and questions in which I am confronted with as a woman in 2017. In this body of work I question issues related to the treatment, control and rights of women and their bodies in association to their biological capabilities of bearing children and the mother identity. By tapping into the dualistic concepts of the goddess and the cyborg I seek to create a discussion about possible future implications for woman and the direction of humanity. The goddess is based on the ideologies of ecofeminism and historical implications of the connection between woman and nature. While the cyborg represents the scientific and technology based areas to do with matters such as the contraceptive pill, surrogacy and artificial wombs. An image of the future is created through the use of tarot cards. The works portray individual identities of woman within an alternative futuristic society that face the issues related to the goddess and the cyborg. Some of the woman reflect woman being bounded to their mother roles resembling machine like qualities, while others reflect a harmonious 13 HON OU RS
connection with nature. A hybridisation of the goddess and the cyborg occurs within the images as each concept affects each individual differently. The 22 major artworks are completed in acrylic paint on white fabric, and include both shellac and the technique of stitching. The body of work also includes a tarot card deck and a tarot book that creates an interactive element in which seeks to slightly disturb the audience in order for them to reflect on current issues and question their personal responses to them.
Main Image The Sun (detail), 2017 Pen on paper with shellac, printed into tarot card, 7 x 12 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) The Empress (detail), 2017 Pen on paper with shellac, printed into tarot card, 7 x 12 cm Detail Image 2 The Time (detail), 2017 Pen on paper with shellac, printed into tarot card, 7 x 12 cm
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Alysha Fewster I A M M Y P L AC E
I am my place is a body of work that explores the role of outdoor play, and the establishing of identity through and as part of a place, as an important foundation to a person’s understanding of their home in the ecosystem. By being in and interacting with the ecosystems around them, a child will take on a knowledge of the natural world, and develop a bond to the environment in which their life takes place. I am my place is made up of photographs of cubbies built in the bush where I live. The cubbies were constructed through the act of outdoor play with my friends, in the same way I did as a child. The artwork itself is the act of being present and enjoying, the structures are a physical memory of the act, and the archival photographs are documentation of the memory of the exchange. The works subtly question western centric values placed on modes of knowledge, and aim to break down the synthetic barrier that divides work from play. When a community of people understand themselves as a part of an ecosystem, or ecocommunity of human and nonhuman members, and steps away from an anthropocentric world view, everyone
benefits, including the humans. Natural systems are understood and respected, life is valued and protected, maintaining a healthy natural balance. As deep ecologist John Seed said “it is not me [...] protecting the rainforest. Rather, I am part of the rainforest protecting itself”. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’ when it comes to humanity and nature, we are nature, we are part of the ecocommunity, when we nurture the world, we nurture ourselves. www.tajjaf.com
Main Image Cubby I, 2017 Natural found object construction, archival photograph, dimensions variable Detail Image 1 (centre) Cubby I I, 2017 Natural found object construction, archival photograph, dimensions variable Detail Image 2 Cubby I I I, 2017 Natural found object construction, archival photograph, dimensions variable H O NO U RS 16
Rachael Hart CO N T E M P O R A RY PA P E R L A N D S CA P E S
Focusing my interests on overcast weather and what changes occur with erratic storm weather in conjunction with the shoreline and immediate environment, the shifting light makes an enormous difference to how we perceive and translate our surroundings. I want to capture the range of textures that are found at the location, comparing them in relation to each other and explore how the textures interact together, not only looking at physical forms but shadows created by different objects in relation to the landscape.
Main Image Submerge (detail), 2017 Paper, dimensions variable Detail Image 1 (centre) Shore (detail), 2017 Paper, dimensions variable Detail Image 2 Sand and Stone (detail), 2017 Paper, dimensions variable 17 HON OU RS
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Momo Hatley-Couper A RT A S T H E R A PY
Throughout the historical and contemporary art scene, we see many examples of artists using art as an emotional outlet that examines and encapsulates their emotional and psychological states. How can art that explores my own internal emotional state be therapeutic in helping me to develop a deeper understanding of my psychological illness and emotional disposition? Instagram: momo.artist
Main Image Psychosomatic (detail), 2017 Earthenware paper clay, dimensions variable Detail Image 1 (centre) Psychosomatic (detail), 2017 Hand embroidery on muslin, dimensions variable Detail Image 2 Psychosomatic (detail), 2017 Hand embroidery on muslin, dimensions variable H O NO U RS 20
Chloe Hey B OT H S I D E S O F T H E G L A S S
Are we simply reflecting the image of advertised personalities? “The object to begin with is a window” -William Henry Fox Talbot, August 9th, 1829 There is something mystical about the photographic process of capturing a moment - and then, it’s gone. It has no permanent physical existence apart from the image recorded on the memory card. Throughout my Honours project I have been exploring themes such as identity, feminism, consumerism and media imagery to investigate my hypothesis, ‘Can you buy a personality?’ My research is based around the concept that advertising windows, which can be shopfront displays or printed and digital media windows, are windows used by multinational corporations to promote identity conformity through consumerism. Photography allows women to reclaim the territory of their bodies, minds and souls from the patriarchal lens. Using the vision of the shop window, I have reinterpreted this evolutionary advertising space by placing real people behind the glass as displays and in the place of mannequins, raising questions about how the authentic personality has been effected by commercialisation and media imagery. I then subverted this 21 HON OU RS
practice by photographing mannequins in their usual position behind shop windows, investigating the artificial and unrealistic perfection that media imagery portrays. In my eyes, mannequins are manufactured symbols of self-objectification, therefore a representation of a phenomenon whereby individuals become completely obsessed with their own image. My photographs acknowledge the elements of dreaming and desire that media imagery incites, but also the feelings of isolation and detachment that self-objectification can foster within individuals Media imagery sells products by advertising material goods as objects of individualism and independence, however what they are really doing is selling sameness. This project does not condemn consumption or media imagery but merely makes the point of recognizing our consumptive beauty culture and the fact that media imagery does indeed effect an individual’s self-perception, belief and worth. Main Image Ricky’s Girl (detail), 2017 Photograph, 100 x 100 cm Detail Image 2 (centre) Something Borrowed, Something Blue (detail), 2017 Photograph, 60 x 60 cm Detail Image 2 White Windows (detail), 2017 Photograph, 60 x 60 cm
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Eileen Kuzmic DY S P H O R I A : A RT I ST / H OA R D E R A RT I ST / A RT I ST L I V I N G W I T H A H OA R D E R
My experience of living with a partner who has hoarding disorder is a long history of hard work, anguish and chaos. The ideal of home as a place of sanctuary is void. Instead home is a place of incapacitated use and memory, as are our relationships and future. For those who live with a hoarder there is no chance for an ordinary existence; the hoarding behaviour and the hoarded goods restrict every aspect of our lives. Every day there is a stressful event, the root cause is hoarding behaviour. Health, psychological wellbeing, relationships, community and finances are in constant turmoil. It is a burden from which there is rarely any reprieve. The adverse effect on our family is profound. Aspects of Dysphoria: Artist / Hoarder combine to create a portrait that endeavours to unveil this private experience for public scrutiny. The exhibition installation is an archaeological arrangement of detritus, collected from the site, enhanced with typological and selfportrait photography. The tension created in the interplay of materials and image types reveal the depth of chaos experienced. In support of the exhibition themes, a photobook:
Dysphoria: Artist / Hoarder, reveals a deeper narrative. I maintain that those who live with and care for those with hoarding disorder are underresearched, with minimal health-care services dedicated to their needs. It is my hope that Dysphoria: Artist / Hoarder will serve to highlight this disparity.
Main Image Ideation #7, 2017 Archival print, 90 x 90 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Immersion #3, 2017 Archival print, 90 x 90 cm Detail Image 2 Ideation #6, 2017 Archival print, 90 x 90 cm HO NOU RS 2 3
Lizz Mackenzie A LT E R E D STAT E S
Altered States is a body of work that explores the nature of the relationship between the human race and the natural environment. Specifically, it looks at the way people seek to tame animals and plants and then bring them into the domestic environment. The use of flower motifs in furnishings and fabrics dates back centuries, as does the practice of domesticating animals to suit a purpose, whether that purpose is as a working animal, a social companion or a fashion accessory. Yet, how much control do humans actually possess over the flora and fauna of the world? When left to their own devices, plants can destroy concrete and take over urban environments in a surprisingly short amount of time. Animals that are considered domesticated can quickly become ‘feral’, reverting to a state that enables them to survive without human intervention. One species that is particularly good at this is the pet cat. Cats have become a deep seated part of our culture, from cartoons such as Garfield to merchandising, books and even associations with gender. The cat is also an animal that walks the line between domestic and wild, born with the instinct to hunt and the ability to survive on its own without assistance from humans, yet
continuing to be a part of human existence, interacting with people to acquire food and company. These photographs examine the line that the cat walks and compares it to our efforts to contain the wildness within the natural world. www.lizzmackenzie.com
Main Image Savage Domesticity (detail), 2017 Digital photograph, 100 x 50 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Savage Domesticity (detail), 2017 Digital photograph, 100 x 50 cm Detail Image 2 Untameable Arrogance, (detail), 2017 Digital photograph, 100 x 50 cm H O NO U RS 26
Danielle Minett WA L K I N G O N E G G S H E L L S
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” -Marcel Proust Memory in itself, when left unguarded, is essentially fictional. Who is to say that there is a real difference between memory and imagination? It is memory and not the imagined that gives us our foothold within the world. Our identity is developed through autobiographical memory - our past experiences, remembered moments, and connections to others. These aspects shape ourselves and our futures. We understand ourselves in the present, because of who we were in the past. We are able to predict how the world will turn based on our previous experience with it. We learn, grow and change by revisiting our memories and our connected emotional responses. What happens when our memories are no longer reliable? What happens when gaps form and slips happen? How do we place ourselves securely in our world? How do we know what is real and what is not? In my practice I explore these ideas of memory; why we form some memories and not 27 HON OURS
others, and what we can use to enhance these memories once the original has begun to fade. By prefacing the material in my practice, I seek to move memories into a tangible physical form. Showcasing the weight of these memories and both the physical and emotional impact they have. No longer potentially fictitious, we remember details and spend time with our emotions, moving these moments into the deeper recesses of our minds, accessible as a reference for our future selves. www.danielleminett.com.au
Main Image Walking on Eggshells, 2017 Liquid emulsion printed inside eggshells, dimensions variable Detail Image 1 (centre) Walking in Time, 2017 Liquid emulsion on watercolour paper, dimensions variable Detail Image 2 Blended #1, 2017 Giclée print on watercolour paper, 40 x 60 cm
Rosemary Reynolds T H E U LT I M AT E G I F T: I N T E R I O R B O D I E S
During my Honours study, I have been regularly visiting the Anatomy Laboratory at the University of Newcastle. This experience has been fundamental to my creative practice. I am very grateful for this opportunity and the warm generosity of staff in the Laboratory. Through the presence of donors in Medical Science, we are reminded of the humility and generosity of giving. It is in relation to these donors in the laboratory, that I have explored the gift as a process. As bodies and specimens are studied, our personal experience and knowledge is expanded, allowing growth and understanding of the inner workings of the body. Observing the beauty of these fragments is a part of this process. The donor’s gift makes it possible to see the often unrevealed textural beauty of the inner body. By modelling a representation of these textures and considering the conceptual implications of the gift, I acknowledge the multilayered provisions of the gift. The gift is a transfer from one to another, built upon a process of engagement, and with respect. Discoveries develop from this
engagement and have allowed me to compare the inner body with surrounding visible textures in our natural environment. Connection develops through the gift. The process of giving becomes like the connective tissue within our body’s interior, binding us together.
Main Image Reflection Within, 2017 Coloured wax, rust flakes, 45 x 26 x 5 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Fabric of the Gift II, 2017 Cotton hand-made paper, 42 x 19 x 1 cm Detail Image 2 The Invisible Gift, 2017 Coloured wax, 10 x 8 x 4 cm H O NO U RS 30
Deborah White LO R N L I F E : S U B U R B A N L I M I N A L
In this series of paintings, I have depicted the landscape of Lorn as seen during early morning and late evening walks through the suburb. As a modern day flaneur, I explore the suburban environment and record my observations of specific moments in time. The concept of memory and place has been forefront in my mind during this process. My documentation records glimpses in time as I walk through the streets and attempt to record the stillness that surrounds me. Perhaps due to the times of day that I have recorded these images, or my own predisposition for seeking out solitude, my initial images are mainly void of human figures. A slightly menacing atmosphere of suburbia at dawn or dusk is suggested, intermingled with moments of stillness and quiet which could also be a safe, comfortable space. ‘Liminal’ from the Latin word limens means ‘threshold’— a place of transition, waiting, and unknowing. The idea of the ‘limen’ is the space in-between where difference touches the familiar and opens us up to new possibilities. This is a transitional position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold. The Hunter Valley suburb of Lorn is bordered by the Hunter River and the 31 HON OURS
city of Maitland, while also surrounded by the fertile river plains and established agriculture. Lorn is a mixture of contemporary Australian urban life, the historical presence of man-made structures, and the bordering Hunter River and agricultural lands. This unique combination of country meeting city provides a melding of influences which form a constant imprint in my life. In my work this sense of memory, history, and geography intermingle to provide an experience of the suburban liminal. At the end of the day when evening approaches and the light is fading, the landscape of suburban backstreets provides quiet transient moments in time. These hazy dream-like scenes are captured with shadows from streetlights and the occasional glow of car headlights. Small moments of time in the everyday provide a reflection on the quiet beauty of suburbia. Main Image Melrose Street, Lorn 6pm (detail), 2017 Oil on plywood, 40 x 30 x 4 cm Detail Image 1 (centre) Evening, Melrose Street, Lorn – Study (detail), 2017 Oil on canvas, 10 x 13 x 3.5 cm Detail Image 2 Headlights, Nillo Street, Lorn – Study (detail), 2017
Judith Wilson LO O P I N G - R E T U R N I N G TO T H E P R E S E N T V I A T H E PA ST
Looping is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as; “… a structure, series, or process, the end of which is connected to the beginning”. In this body of work, I adopted looping both as a metaphor for life and as a process that enabled me to focus on or return to the present moment. I did this by returning to the past in my choices of process and materials, working with the traditional ancient handcraft techniques of spinning and knitting, the latter being essentially a form of connected loops, and using recycled dressmaking pattern tissue, most of it my own, as my yarn. In choosing those techniques, I aimed to highlight the health benefits that can accrue from slow focused, repetitive working methods. The material added the element of memory and acknowledged a commitment to re-use for the health of the environment. We live in a fast-paced world. Our perception of time is constantly changing and it seems we spend most of our time trying to save time. I took the element of time and employed it in the opposite way using time consuming, processes and focusing on quality rather than quantity. Making art using traditional craft techniques is necessarily slow and in adopting this approach I was linking in to 33 HON OU RS
the current trend in society to slow down and enjoy the present. That this is also a principle of Zen Buddhist philosophy is acknowledged in the form of the finished works. The Zen circle (ensõ) is a sacred symbol of infinity. It references the duality of all things, the beginning and end, emptiness or fullness, presence or absence, the circle of life and the connectedness of existence. The viewer is encouraged to look beyond the objects and acknowledge the elements of time, process and human presence that are integral to its realisation. www.judithwilsonartist.com
Main Image ensõ #7 (detail), 2017 Knitted and handspun, recycled dressmaking pattern tissue, 48 cm diameter Detail Image 1 (centre) ensõ #9 (detail), 2017 Knitted and handspun, recycled dressmaking pattern tissue, 73 cm diameter Detail Image 2 Yarn installation (detail), 2017 Handspun, recycled dressmaking pattern tissue on antique bobbins, dimensions variable
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Bachelor of Fine Art DR ANG ELA P HILP B AC H ELO R OF FIN E ART CO N V E N O R
The Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) has successfully graduated hundreds and hundreds of students over the years. Many of them have gone on to successful careers as practicing artists, photographer, scholars, curators, arts administrators, educators, leaders of large cultural institutions and in a diverse range of small businesses. The BFA program is now coming to the end of its life and is being taught out until 2020. Our postgraduate cohort will continue to thrive into the future. Opportunities for visual art will not end with the BFA program however. The new Bachelor of Creative Industries, which began in 2017, includes the capacity to do a major in visual art and to also expand one’s degree into entrepreneurial and business skills, making students ready to take on new challenges as working life transforms. New and old skills need to be diverse and offer a base from which to launch responses to new social, cultural and artistic issues. This year’s graduating class have worked across a broad range of media and their works shine a light on issues of global concern as well as individual identity. Environmental concerns and the experience of nature, bodily identity and gender, memories and experiences, dreams from the subconscious, fables
and old wives tales, nostalgia and the very existence of humanity are all confronted in these works. Most have contributed to exhibitions at Watt Space over the course of their entire degree, and have learned a great deal about curatorial decisions and selections, the impact that context can have on their work, and have been enabled to engage in the public conversation about art that involves both artists, critics, scholars, collectors, and artworkers in various roles. Similarly, many have taken the opportunity, as students, to pursue special projects and interests, including internships in art museums, study overseas, research on areas of specialist interest and interdisciplinary study and research across the campus and the community. As they leave the university and move on to new horizons, they will take with them not only developed skills in their own practices, but also an understanding of the historical and philosophical bases of the arts, a capacity for critical thinking, and a thirst for engagement in the wider discourses of civil society. Wherever these students go in life, they will be able to enrich the cultural spirit of their communities.
produced. Now it is up to them to both develop and sustain their practice, in a world where they may not be able to rush back to the security of art school studios with technical and theoretical advice on hand, where they will now need to be self-directed and to keep revisiting their goals and aspirations. As one writer said about art recently, ‘creativity takes time’. 1 So I exhort our graduates, whatever they do, to ensure they make time to create and to keep putting their work ‘out there’. Art is one of the things that sustains us all.
The staff are very proud of their achievements and it is really pleasing to see the exciting work they have
Artwork Image: Pascale Galvin, Untitled (detail), 2017 Gouache, ink, Polaroid slides, torn paper and thread, dimensions variable
Heiner Goebbels, ‘Time is crucial’, in
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Practices of Experimentation: Research and Teaching in the Art Today, Zurich University of the Arts, n.d., p/194
BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART S 36
Kaine Micheal Anderson
This drypoint etching depicts, in an almost biblical way, the raw ethereal beauty of nature itself. Like most symbols associated with the concept of ‘Mother Nature’, this adult deer is providing milk to the surrounding earthlings. The three creatures underneath her, one seemingly her doe, seem foreign and almost mythological in appearance. The creatures are biologically different, but are all brought together by a physical embodiment of nature itself. A mother, a provider, a carer; they all share the same sense of place that is the surrounding foliage.
Mother Nature’s Earthly Delights (detail), 2017 Etching, Printed on Hahnemuhle Paper, 27 x 20 cm 37 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Carol Baker (Cazz-B)
Traditionally, most people are unaware of the way colours influence their day-to-day lives and that every colour has stimulants that evoke different responses. For these reasons people like to coordinate the colours in their wardrobes or insist on painting their houses with complementary colours. In my work I like to demonstrate that different colour palettes can co-exist and even complement another. After sectioning up my canvas I use a new colour palette in each square and, to get the effect that I want, I cover each square after I have finished so it does not influence the next one.
Picture Imperfect (detail), 2015 Acrylic on stretched canvas, 61 x 91 x 4 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 38
Matt Baker
In my ‘Gloriously Wounded’ series I explored the idea that everyone has trials and struggles in life, and the tendency is to cover up the resulting emotional wounds and scars, but we shouldn’t, because the struggle and the overcoming are glorious. I painted portraits of three of my friends who I think exemplify this in their lives, and embedded text into the backgrounds that are meaningful to their personal victories. The wound is where the light shines through. Facebook: bakeartcreations Instagram: mattybake
The Gloriously Wounded #2 (detail), 2017 Charcoal, ink, acrylic and watercolour on board, 90 x 70 x 3 cm 39 BACHELOR OF FIN E A RT
Lori Barrett
A fusion of identity and spiritual connection with the land is the root of my concern for Australian coral reef systems. I want to do everything in my power to educate people and promote action within the community to work towards a sustainable future. Nature will always prevail, but at what cost? Instagram: ljbceramics
Gadhang Widyalang 1/25 (detail), 2017 White Earthenware Paperclay, CopperCobalt Clear Glaze, 6 x 15 x 14 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 40
Judith Bee
A question often asked of me is: why have I studied art? My response is that I needed to understand why some ‘things’ are valued more than others; and I wanted to elevate my ‘craft’ practice into an ‘art’ practice by developing my traditional techniques and processes in my contemporary artwork. My practice is textile based, combining fibre with other mediums such as photography, ceramics and sculpture. This bronze artwork was inspired by my travels in China in 2014 and 2016; and by using traditional ‘lost-wax metal casting’ processes, I have created a contemporary ‘communication portal’ to another culture. The circle represents heaven, the square represents earth; a circle inside a square represents the unity of heaven and earth; a bond, an inclusion, and a feeling of being whole. Facebook: JudeBeeArts Portal (one from a series) (detail), 20017 Bronze, lost wax technique, 6 x 6 x 0.3 cm 41 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Lynette Bridge
My body of work titled Imprisoned Moments 1, is an investigation of the fleeting moments in nature and the immediate environment acquired simultaneously through the natural movement of the human body and the ephemeral landscape. I think it is at this juncture that we witness and momentarily capture the magnificence and ‘truth’ conjointly within ourselves and our surroundings, as we are unrestricted by judgement and consequent decision making.
Imprisoned Moments 1 (detail), 2017 Mixed media on board, 90 x 120 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 42
Melissa Bull
Trace/ Translations is the extraction of translations derived from traditional Chinese symbology and patterns using the Google Translator App on my iphone, during my travel to China in 2016. I discovered that the app would ‘translate’ imagery and patterns, with the result being a sprouting of random and unrelated words which, upon reflection, held within an interpreted meaning when read as a whole. For me this was the culmination of my experience in China as a traveller equipped with little to no knowledge of the language and customs, yet having the pressing need to understand the world around me and to be understood. This book is a translation of truth, a layered truth which is filtered through personal interpretation and so serves as a metaphor for life. Trace/Translations (detail), 2016 Archival card, book cloth, Hahnemühle paper, Somerset book paper, glassine paper, ink, thread and wood, 6.5 x 9.5 x 1.5 cm 43 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Kiasmin
I love to paint. To create is my greatest pleasure. It is as much a part of me as it is to eat or breathe. It is that simple and it is that profound. kiasmin.com
Anything and Nothing (detail), 2017 Ink on archival, acid free paper, 100 x 60 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 44
Ashleigh Campbell
This work is my abstract presentation of the life of a forest. Within it I try to represent the colours associated with the physical makeup of the greenery and the emotion it evokes within. I started with basic primary and secondary colours smudged in together then layered on top of it thick and full brandishes of solid colour, then smoothed it over with a palette knife. My final touch was adding solid shades of black and white, to give it a deeper 3D appeal, much like a forest itself. The fact that the feeling of living things and environment can be reproduced has always been fascinating to me and I use my art works to explore this process, using the basic fundamentals colour, texture and form.
Forest, (detail), 2017 Acrylic on board, 100 x 100 cm 45 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Gael Connop
The personal seems to permeate my work, intentionally or otherwise. Whether it be memories, emotions, experiences good and bad or the day-to-day. There are many Medusa images and myths surrounding her, but I wanted to reveal something of what she might have been had she lived. Her short existence was so full of tragedy. My vision for her as a mature woman revealed as much about myself as it did of Medusa. This work, whilst at heart an antipodean representation of the antiquities, in essence became a self-portrait revealing the range of emotions I was experiencing at the time. gaelconnop.net
Medusa Who? (detail), 2016 Acrylic paint on canvas board, triptych, 60 x 90 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 46
DBBC
With a mix of old and new painting techniques, the Goanna, the totem of my Wiradjuri people, comes to life as the prominent icon of my clan. It is through this symbol that the contemporary painting style of the graffiti artist connects to the traditions of the past in the Papunya style of dot painting, but with a twist.
Goanna (detail), 2017 Aerosol spray paint, acrylic paint pens and acrylic paint on canvas, 47 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Ellie Edwards
My work was inspired by my mother, who would recite old wives’ tales. Her favourites included assuring my brother and I that hiccups meant we were growing, warning us that an itchy nose boded a fight and that putting new shoes on a table predicted bad luck. Old wives’ tales were born from the protective place in mothers’ hearts. They make difficulties, such as bad luck, coming-of-age and death, easier to understand and accept. They are also recited to ensure that children are cautious. My work uses a picnic as a symbol of the nurturing and loving intentions of old wives’ tales. Familiar objects, like a bell and a jam jar filled with ‘an apple a day’, evoke memories of childhood.
Today’s the day the Old Wives have their Picnic (detail), 2016 Linocut, drypoint, mixed media, dimensions variable BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART 4 8
Pascale Galvin
My intention was to push the limits of experimental drawing techniques. Key themes, relating to the specimen and body parts, were points of departure. Through process investigation, the final work became abstracted in nature, and found materials added to this.
Untitled (detail), 2017 Gouache, ink, Polaroid slides, torn paper and thread, Dimensions variable 49 BACHELOR OF FIN E A RT
Ileigh Hellier
My works are visual representations of my feelings, derived from the Australian landscape. The paintings are warm, sticky and busy, with intricacies that share a likeness with those of the bush or a rocky coastline.
Sundown (detail), 2017 Oil on plywood, 25 x 20 cm BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART 50
Katrina Holden
The advice I like to give young artists, or anybody who will listen to me really, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. “All the best ideas come out of the process� - Chuck Close With this is mind, I chose a starting colour palette and let my paint strokes guide the direction of my work. As I continued this process I found that I continued to react to the stimuli in the painting, allowing it to become a visceral experience.
Isolation (detail), 2017 Acrylic on canvas, 54 x 64 x 2 cm 51 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Natalee Katarina
Stitched to make me whole deals with the exploration of scars as the mending process of the body. The fabric acts as a skin which has been ‘wounded’ and ‘bloodied’, then mended through the act of stitching and patching. The piece consists of eleven hoops with each being an individual work in its own right.
Stitched to make me whole (detail), 2017 Embroidery cotton, poly-cotton fabric, Muslin, acrylic inks, embroidery hoop, dimensions variable BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART 5 2
Ruby Kavanagh
This work is part of a series which explores the dreaming state of Theta; a time when our brains fall into a subconscious state. The interest in how our brains continue to create images as our bodies rest inspired my creation of collages, similar to the styles of Dada and Surrealist works. Their unsystematic and strange compositions each tell their own nonsensical narrative. The collages were made into colour separation screen prints to enhance the hazy state of Theta. https://rubykavanagh.tumblr.com/
Theta (detail), 2017 Screen print on bamboo paper, 30 x 25 cm 53 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Christina Kemp
Through movement and colour I unite with the ocean. Through painting I cultivate a connection to earth, community and spiritual realms. Eternal Ocean is an expression of creativity as a means of self-inquiry, growth, healing and sharing.
Eternal Ocean (detail), 2017 Acrylic and resin on wood, 120 x 90 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 5 4
Claire Kemp
Knowledge is a powerful thing; to learn, to make use of learning, to grow and change. When knowledge is used for good, it is like someone has turned on a light. That illumination responds in kind to shed light on its surrounds. My work is informed by a curiosity for life, coupled with an interest in the workings of the mind, the structure and function of the brain, how we acquire knowledge and how that knowledge illuminates our mind. My own BFA journey has been one of illumination. clairekemp.net
There’s a World in Every Head (detail), 2017 Polyurethane, wood, acrylic, light, 90 x 60 x 60 cm 55 BACHELOR OF FIN E A RT
Grace Limond
In consideration of the unit theme ‘Absence and Presence’, I have chosen to explore humanity’s ever evolving social obsession to attain immortality. The desire to find immortality has been a prevalent focal point throughout history, dating back to as early as Alexander the Great’s search for the river that healed the ravages of age around 323 B.C, and as late as present day’s Palo Alto Longevity Prize to find a cure to aging. Although the delirious search for the fountain of youth is now non-existent, humanity’s desire to discover the secret to immortality is still prevalent within our contemporary society. For my Immortality series, I have chosen to take a self-portrait submersed in water, in order to appear as though I am being kept in an unnatural or preserved state.
Immortality 1-9, 2016 Digital photograph, printed on glossy paper, 20 x 20 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 56
Holly McArthur
Masters of Our Make-Believe explores themes of nostalgia, collective memory, physiognomy and animism. Iconic toys of the ‘80s and ‘90s are appropriated to highlight the relationship between object, manufacturer and child. The Americare Bear, with its three heads, likens iconic force to mythological power. Americare Bear’s tummy symbol comments on the underlying capitalist motives of multi-national corporations like Mattel, Hasbro and Kenner. goshgollyholly.tumblr.com Instagram: goshgolly_holly Facebook: goshgollyhollyillustration
Americare Bear, Masters of Our Make-Believe, 2017 Digital illustration, Dimensions variable 57 BACHELOR OF FIN E A RT
Jon Potter
As a lifelong fan of mythology, both ancient and urban, I have always been interested in gods and monsters; their power, inherent theatricality, and their reasons for being, among other things. This work, The Strangeling- CafĂŠ, is one in a series of vignettes detailing a normal day in the life of an otherworldly entity. If we discovered the supernatural or the alien to exist in the present day, would it be considered novelty or mundane as opposed to unfamiliar or fearful? What need do we have for inventing monsters in our contemporary world? Food for thought.
The Strangeling- CafĂŠ (detail), 2017 Etching on paper, bound in book form, Dimensions variable BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART 58
Louise Rea
Flora has always been a constant and important aspect of my life. I grew up surrounded by bushland and even though I am now in the suburbs of Newcastle, I still feel a strong connection to flora and in particular the gum tree. This work has been inspired from a remembered quote “and the leaves fell from the trees without regret” and to me means living without fear of the unknown and the ‘what ifs’. The work was created over the span of a year and is made up 365 ceramic leaves. https://louiserea93.wixsite.com/ website
“and the leaves fell from the trees without regret” (detail), 2017 ceramics: earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, Dimensions variable 59 BACHELOR OF F I N E A RT
Bryden Sloan Harris
All life on earth, and the ecosystems we exist within, are essentially ephemeral in nature – a mortality as fleeting as a diminishing flame, or a pattern within smoke lines. While some may witness the painterly wave-like smoke pouring out of my marine-inspired sculptures, others may miss it and view the mere remnants of this performative piece, static and preserved in a coffin-like, skeletal vitrine. As each piece with my work reaches extinction, so to do the corals burning in our oceans. The ever-rising heat is contained within them, their bodies convulsing and expelling the very matter inside of them until misty wafts of algae dance on their surface, signifying their death. Reminiscent of a reconstructed museum installation, this body of work alludes to the death, documentation and preservation of what once was. Instagram: brydensloanharris Ephemerality // Mortality, (detail), 2017 Earthenware ceramics, Dimensions variable BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART 60
Eliza Supe
My work Spidery Sunbed investigates human vanity and decadence when sun-bathing to achieve a tan. These malignant solar kisses, both from the natural sun and man-made solariums, make us beautifully chestnut at first, before incubating and hatching into mutant tumours and melanomas, such as the creatures shown in my work. Meanwhile, invisible angels hover close above this char-grilled standard of “beauty.” eliza-supe.com
Spidery Sunbed (detail), 2017 Watercolour and ink on watercolour paper, 21 x 29.7 cm 61 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Brooke Torley
This work is one of three botanical scientific illustrations in which my aim was to advance my skills in watercolour illustration. Following a course on botanical illustration in graphite, I was inspired by the tutor Deirdre Bean’s own work in watercolour and was determined to create these types of works of my own.
Doryanthes excelsa (detail), 2017 Botanical scientific illustration, watercolour, 40 x 60 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 62
Nicole Trujillo
I’m interested in working with interdisciplinary methods, using a combination of textiles and photography. My prior works dealt with the grotesque images made beautiful by creating embellished embroideries. Most recently my works have been inspired by my own experiences as a first-generation Colombian in Australia, living in between two cultures, coming to accept and explore my own nationality as I create my works. My works also deal with issues such as racism and stereotypes, by subverting images and logos that are familiar, to portray my message.
Cut (detail), 2016 Paper handmade from recycled paper and red and black cotton thread, 21 x 22 cm 63 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Hayley Tymmons
My body of work Flight depicts birds starting from a closed shell-like position and, as the works evolve, ideas of freedom from boundaries are provoked, air holding one in a forward trajectory. Capturing a moment of movement and solidifying it to gaze upon and inspire freedom in thought through being. It’s the air between the raindrops It’s the wind caught beneath the wings of a bird in flight I find everlasting joy It’s the space between the actions that counts the most Be who you need to be today As tomorrow is a brand-new day. www.htymmons.wixsite.com/art-ht
Shelter (detail), 2017 Hand built, glazed earthenware, 32 x 33 x 9 cm BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 64
Caitlin Walpole
I am fascinated by the impact we, as humans, have on the environment. Over time, I have developed a love for pressing native plants into a clay body to preserve the nature around us. Works in this series focus on the preservation of the Aboriginal Dreaming and strongly emphasise the power that women have in the tribe, as the primary knowledge holder of the native plants, trees and wildlife around them – a living Mother Nature. Instagram: cwalpole_art
Brown Bodice, 2017 Terracotta clay, 40 x 35 cm 65 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Jessica Wright
My work aims to outwardly express very personal and internalised emotions and traits that make us unique as humans. Like Yesterday touches on the fragile and sentimental nature of human memory. Humans have a tendency to take moments, sometimes mundane or even sad, and embellish them over time. We attach sentiment to the most obscure fragments of our past and eventually end up with something completely different, sometimes even unrecognisable.
Like Yesterday (detail), 2017 Found photographs, borax crystals, Dimensions variable BAC H E LO R O F F I NE ART 66
Hannah Zaidan
City Blanket is a self-portrait within the city of Newcastle. It reflects the changes that an individual experiences when having to move away from home for the first time. After moving from home in Dubbo to come to Newcastle for university, I have experienced loneliness, happiness, new friends, new places and a sense of belonging. This work explores my personal relationship and experiences of living in an unfamiliar place, featuring places and buildings that have shaped me as a person over the course of three years. Instagram: hannahzaidan Facebook: hannahzaidansart
City Blanket (Self Portrait) (detail), 2017 Acrylic on canvas, 150 x 100 cm 67 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Contact Information SCHOOL OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES Faculty of Education and Arts University of Newcastle Tel: +61 4985 4500 SOCI@newcastle.edu.au
WATT SPACE GALLERY Open: Wed – Sun 11am – 5pm Northumberland House, Cnr King and Auckland Streets, Newcastle 2300 Tel: +61 2 4921 8733 (gallery) Tel: +61 2 4921 5188 (office) wattspace@newcastle.edu.au
THE UNIVERSITY GALLERY Open: Wed – Fri 10am – 5pm Saturday 12noon – 4pm The University of Newcastle, Callaghan Tel: + 61 2 4921 5255 gallery@newcastle.edu.au
Previous page Artwork Image: Kiasmin, Anything and Nothing (detail), 2017 Ink on archival, acid free paper, 100 x 60 cm 69 BACHELOR OF F IN E A RT
Acknowledgments SCHOOL OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES Professor Paul Egglestone COORDINATION OF THE GRADUATE E XH I B I TI O N S AN D CATA LOGUE Dr Angela Philp and Dr Faye Neilson CATALO GU E PH OTO GRAPHY Liane Audrins and the participating artists TH E U N I V E RSI TY GALLERY Gillean Shaw WAT T SPACE GALLERY Karen Bolden CATALO GU E DESIGN Silje Buxton Soldal siljebsoldal.com
Cover Artwork: Nick Barlow, Nausea/ Meatloaf Night (detail), 2017 Oil paint on Masonite, 45 x 45 cm Artwork Image: Natalee Katarina, Stitched to make me whole (detail), 2017 Embroidery cotton, poly-cotton fabric, Muslin, acrylic inks, embroidery hoop, dimensions variable BAC HE LO R O F F I NE ART S 6 9