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IN PROFILE
Emma Ni Year 12
As a talented artist and boarder at PLC Sydney, we talked to Emma Ni about her studies and how being a boarder has shaped her as a student. How long have you been boarding at PLC Sydney? I have been boarding at PLC Sydney since Term 4 of Year 10. What opportunities do you think boarding has given you? I appreciate the opportunity to meet with people from different backgrounds and to get to know them more as I live with them. I especially appreciate when other borders drag me out of my room and engage me in activities, get me out of my comfort zone, help me make connections, and practise social skills. I try my best to return the favour in my own way such as making comic icons for them to put on their door. The boarding house is also kind enough to provide everything I need including a personal space for me to do my art. I enjoy talking about art and daily life with all the staff members as well. Can you tell us about your art studies and when you started to get interested in this area? I developed my interest in art at a pretty young age; I thought scribbles and colours were fun in kindergarten. I have tried a few mediums myself and I found my favourites are gouache and watercolour. Neither mediums require
too much preparation, allowing me to take advantage of fragmented time to do art. Before coming to PLC Sydney, I had never seriously studied visual art or art history. I appreciate how my parents encouraged me to try out different things and took me to exhibitions, which is now a common thing for me to do. It feels like wandering in a library with books on the shelf whispering at you, but I had never listened to or opened any one of them while just looking at the golden names on the book spines. I was so excited when I found out there’s a whole building just for art and design at PLC Sydney. I often joke that I live in the Croydon Art Gallery because I find myself there basically every day. I enjoy sharing a space with a supportive cohort and teachers who are also in the area. I used to regard art simply as a visual display. Now, I'm trying to understand its whispers and delve into the history, cultures, concepts, and personal views embedded within artworks, and let them lead me to think about issues like feminism or global perspectives… I’m really glad to see the growth in both my artmaking skills and my way of thinking.
Has art always been a strong focus of your studies? What do you think it is about the arts that interests you so much? Actually, I think of art as more of a hobby. Originally I picked visual art as a way to free myself from other subjects. However, I have been struggling a lot with it because I am weak at theory and making a major work is timeconsuming. It definitely would be more realistic for me to do other subjects to make the best use of my time and get a good mark in Year 12. There are many times I laughed and said I am going to drop art but I could never put down my paintbrushes. That’s when my romanticism kicks in and compels me to step out of my comfort zone and embark on a journey in a direction I’m not too sure of. When people either teasingly or seriously grant me the title of “artist”, my perspective of observing and recording the world is recognized. This means more to me than I realise and is not something I can give up easily. And I do enjoy the moments when I can use my art to bring people joy, whether it's crafting cards, creating icons of people around me or doing fan art for fun.
"I often joke that I live in the Croydon Art Gallery because I find myself there basically every day." You are currently heading towards completing Year 12, what are your goals as you head to the HSC? As much as I hate my perfectionism, sometimes it is really helpful. Since I have put so much effort into my visual art major work and I have gone so far, my current goal is to get into ARTEXPRESS. Seeing the work you have been struggling with for a whole year exhibited on a wall sounds thrilling. By the way, please come to the year 12 Art Expression Exhibition in August at Adelaide Perry Gallery, it would mean a lot to all the year 12 artists! What are some of your ambitions beyond Year 12? Although I love visual art, I might not take it as a major. The idea of draining myself of ideas sounds suffocating. I’m also not very good at expressing myself either visually or literally, and I prefer to observe and record things as they are. I am also interested in zoology and botany. If it’s possible, I’d like to become a natural history artist, which is a good combination of my interests.
PLC SYDNEY / CAMPHORA