Visual Arts Showcase 2021

Alyssa Dudgeon

Title: Myself and Others
Statement: My Body of Work is about myself and my family. I have drawn my grandparents because they are such an important part of my life and also included a more expressive artwork based on myself.

Christina Karabel

Title: Butterflies fill my head with joy
Statement: My artwork is about dreaming and the way we can be transported away to other worlds. Butterflies are extremely beautiful and come in a myriad of colours, and in this work they are symbolic of my thought processes.

Georgia Smith

Title: The People I Love
Statement: These four artworks are about my family, the people I love. The works were done in black and white. I wanted my audience to see my deep connection and love for my family.

Isobelle Jones

Title: What price are we happy they pay?
Statement: My Body of Work is a commentary on our willingness to accept the inhumane conditions and treatment of animals for products for our ease or enjoyment. Technology and the economy have altered the methods of farming, harvesting and animal sport to produce more output at a lower cost. But at what price to the animal?

Talea-Shae Colefax

Title: Metaphysical Transference
Statement: "Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings -- always darker, emptier and simpler."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

My Body of Work is an exploration of philosophy and art; morality and fragmentation through an influence of Freudian and Nietzchean principles. This is achieved through a close study of religious iconography, architecture and automatic art-making practices which underpin these philosophies.

Imahn Pholi

Title: That Which is Loved will Endure
Statement: My Body of Work captures shared memories and experiences with both horses and my grandfather; deep connections and close relationships. My grandfather was a beautiful human and great horseman. Sadly, he passed away while my work progressed, and so now it pays tribute to him. Drawing and dry point etching allows for intricate details along with the small scale, depicting the intimate bond between myself, my horses and my Pa. This invites the audience into our shared experiences and my memories.

Keely Collins

Title: You are what is most beautiful about me

Statement: My Body of Work is an exploration of the interconnectedness of family. Through a close study of portraiture I represented the physical likeness of each family member, expressing their distinctive personality and character. The dry point etching still life objects further explores each person’s interests that make them unique. The graphite on paper drawings delves deeper into the hardships that ultimately draw them together in a network of love and support. Essentially I express what it means to be a family, drawing on the idea that we find ourselves in our connection to others.

Maddison Newton

Title: Digitalisation
Statement: My Body of Work explores and comments on the negative impact of the advancement of technology in our contemporary world. Using drawing in both digital and traditional techniques, I have developed a panoramic landscape and portraits. The world refers to the constructed digital space and personas in which we interact in our daily lives. I primarily use heightened unconventional colors to represent the digital world through an avatar. Progressively the portraits morph from realism to digital.

Samuel Callghan

Title: On Country 
Statement: My Body of Work is a conceptual and material exploration of cultural identity using ceramic techniques. I then photographed the objects as documented forms on Country.

Cosmo Jackson

Title: Antipodean Apocalypse
Statement: My Body of Work expresses the connection between humans and nature and our negative impact on the environment. Over time, my work developed into a form of social commentary about important political and environmental themes in our contemporary world, from industrialisation to the present. The collection of works references global warming, mining, bushfires, and key political moments in Australian history with influencing figures - Gough Whitlam and Scott Morrison - while Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly and Albert Tucker figures take the viewer through a damaged Australian landscape.

Isabel Jones

Title: Touch
Statement: My Body of Work explores the relationship human beings have with physical touch and how losing it can have an effect on our mental well-being. This concept was inspired by a story I heard from a friend about how being in lockdown, living alone and being unable to be close to anyone, had a detrimental effect on her mental state. Humans have a longing for the touch of others, it’s fundamental for survival.

Isabella Marcon

Statement: Midnight Shakes The Memory
About: My Body of Work shows the transition from childhood to adulthood. I was inspired by concepts of vanitas and memento mori. The photo etchings capture nostalgic moods and moments, the photography allows the audience to peer into a moment of contemplation and reflection as adulthood approaches, and the painting creates an expressive depiction of the fragility of time.

Takara Smith

Title: Fragile Nyugaa (Mother)
Statement: The concept behind this artwork is the connection to place - the Clarence River and the surrounding lands. The fragility of the environment is evident in the materials used and processes driving the work.

Harmony Swain-Davies

Title: Transcending our humanity
Statement: My Body of Work reflects humanity's shift towards automation and technological advancements. An appropriation of the ‘Creation of Adam’, makes a comment on the creation of technology and the merging of the two worlds. This ambitious Body of Work includes a life size figure drawing of an 'electrified' woman.

Alyssa Ishchenko

Title: Directed By: Your Psyche
Statement: Directed By: Your Psyche explores the cognitive dissonance of the contemporary world and furthermore the internal conflicts of recent events that marr the mind. Through the lense of sci-fi movie posters, the work encompasses our collective irrationality in its comparison to fiction. The digital paintings transform the anthropomorphic figures of animals into representations of humanity navigating a dystopia that mirrors reality - the warping of ideas to a degree of absurdity.

Arwen Hoffman

Title: REBORN
Statement: This sculptural work details my distressing experiences with scoliosis, and acts as a timeline of events, both good and bad, that have occurred over the last few years of my life. It was important to me that I was able to create a work that both assisted me in coming to terms with my experiences, and also allowed others an insight into a painful part of my life that has had a significant impact on me.

Bella Kidman

Title: Terra
Statement: My Body of Work consists of a large rug and smaller wall hanging. Both have been made using recycled wool on cloth. The larger of the two artworks depicts the local landscape, as it appears now from an aerial perspective, to highlight the large amount of land dedicated to farming. In contrast, the wall hanging depicts the land as it once was prior to colonisation. It does this in an abstract manner to show the limited areas in which native species remain today. These works acknowledge country as it was, and always will be, as Aboriginal Land.

Bonnie Scanlan

Title: A Natural Escape
Statement: A love of painting and an interest in portraiture and the natural environment, combined with a dream-like perspective, influenced my artwork and provided a means of escape from the pressures and demands of the HSC and everyday happenings.

Georgia Hutton

Title: People in Pencil - My Grandfather, Mum and Sister Billi
Statement: Through the close examination of significant figures in my life and the use of graphite pencils, portraits of family members from three generations are represented. A personal and intimate connection between artist and subject has been captured through the pose of each family member.

Leila Parnaby

Title: The Memory Wastes
Statement: Memory, connections and the everyday are presented in this series of dry point etchings that explore what it is to grow up and live in a country town. Seven etchings in total were produced.

Linsey Thomson

Title: Doon Doon Downs
Statement: This Body of Work consists of five graphite drawings that explores the close connection to home and the family farm. Detailed renderings of cattle and observations of textured surfaces from my immediate environment are evident in the work.

Zoe Jones

Title: Active Reactive
Statement: My Body of Work, Active Reactive, is a visual representation of what is happening and what could happen in the future of agriculture around the world. It describes the effect of the extinction of the bee; our natural pollinator, and the takeover of technology and mass manufacturing. Active Reactive shows the domino effect which would occur from the loss of the bee and how it could decimate the agriculture industry if this was to happen.

Sequoia Arnaud-Gower

Title: 14 Houses
Statement: Moving from place to place, living in 14 different houses with memories of each, along with a lifetime of journaling, has been the inspiration behind this series of fourteen artworks. From this series, five are presented here.

Anysia Blenkhorn

Title: Sonder
Statement: My Body of Work focuses on the idea of anxiety, especially within the household (which is normally perceived as a supportive and safe space). What happens when this space is not safe and we must still present ourselves outwardly to others? The motif of the gender female stereotype and suburban house are central to the work. The recurring screaming head signifies anxiety, with falling figures representing the feelings of hopelessness when trapped, while butterflies are used to express emergence and rebirth from the toxic environment.

Coen Moran

Title: Connections (The Maker)
Statement: This series of family portraits explores some of the similarities and differences in the ways in which people express themselves in their role as an artist or creator. This work represent how our passions are closely connected to a person. What we do for enjoyment, and to survive, is a defining part of our identity and how one is viewed by others.

Nellie Allen

Title: Inside Out
Statement: The focus for this Body of Work was to depict members of my family undergoing mundane tasks in candid moments in which they are alone and become lost in their thoughts. These fragile, uninterrupted moments reflect the human condition. In these moments people are unaware of being viewed and are allowed to exist outside the expectations of others, helping to provide an authentic portrayal of the varying emotions and experiences of individuals.

Sophia Carlson

Title: Pearl's are a Man's Best Friend
Statement: My work explores the oppression of the natural feminine side that males posses. The symbolism of hyenas represent toxic masculinity, while the bagged goldfish are the tyrannised, and represent the brutal and ruthless forces concealing the expression of the feminine side of males. Exhibiting traditionally considered women's products (makeup, pearls and jewellery) on the male figure, the masculine construct is dismantled.

Elanor Williams

Title: Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War
Statement: Each Cornell inspired shadow box explores the cyclical nature of war. The drawings reference historical photographs of war and hint at documentation. The irony is in the fact that even though we have our own historical evidence about the destruction and horror of war, human nature means that we are perpetually repeating the mistakes of the past.

Lainey Shrubb

Title: The End of Love Looks A Lot Like the Beginning of War
Statement: This work is a highly subjective exploration of the tragic breakdown of a marriage and the devastating effects on the family; children, pets, home. Influenced by contemporary artists and text based works the 'language' of the work is both idiosyncratic and emotive. Motifs such as picket fences, cottages, family trees and shopping lists comment on the domestic tragedy, and all the while the key couple are dancing towards their ultimate demise.

Melodie Cicak

Title: Dancing on the Tables
Statement: Self-portrait. The drawings document the different phases of a mental health illness that is within my experience. The panels represent the effects of anger, mania, a terrible need to manage and control, and an overwhelming sadness among other heightened emotional responses. The diagnosis made all the difference.

Gabrielle Majarich

Title: Momento Temporis
Statement: Memory, despite its imperfect nature, is comforting and nostalgic, whimsical and imaginary. This artwork conveys the fading effect of time, showcased through the fading of memory in the appearance of diluted colour throughout. Inspired by the stories told to me as a child, vivid in emotion, warmth and spirit. The depiction of my grandparents and the representation of their story, has allowed me to convey the importance of memory as a figurative roadmap of life. Each brushstroke against their face is symbolic of time’s effect on our experiences as individuals as we pass through time, 'a moment in time.'

Lilly-Rose Battaglia

Title: Unequivocal
Statement: In a contemporary world heavily dominated by materiality, one rarely appreciates the alluring, intrinsic nature of architectural forms. Invariably fascinated by architecture and its accompanying multiplicity of lines, texture and shadows. My Body of Work, Unequivocal, captures the ambiguous properties of architectural forms. Encapsulating a monochromatic palette, Unequivocal explores layers of abstraction to highlight the ambiguity of each structure, utilising digital drawing to portray a sense of perfection and ultimately present them as loquacious pieces.