2021 HSC Visual Arts Catalogue of Works

PRESBYTERIAN LADIES’ COLLEGE, SYDNEY Visual Arts Higher School Certificate

CATALOGUE OF WORKS 2021

ADELAIDE PERRY PRIZE FOR DRAWING

PRINCIPAL’S WELCOME Every year when we view the work of our students we are impressed by the quality of the products and the creativity of our students. As a staff we are so pleased with them. As a principal I am proud of our students and of our staff.

This year, we also know that our Year 12 students have faced particular challenges. Covid visited them at a critical time, and they needed to work hard in isolation. I am very grateful for the help of the staff, which continued unabated. I think we also need to recognise the support of families in a difficult time. Our primary congratulations go to our students, who have achieved so much.

And now we can all appreciate the finished products. Well done to each girl on her excellent work. I know those who view the works will join with me in offering our earnest congratulations to the class of 2021.

Dr Paul Burgis Principal, PLC Sydney

CAPTAIN’S ADDRESS 2021, the year where we thought things would get better when all of a sudden we got struck with another lockdown. Who knew we would have to log back into zoom for remote learning so soon. Despite all this, Year 12 Visual Arts students managed to push through. Being pulled back into artmaking at home certainly made a lot of us wonder how we would ever finish our major works. However, we all made it, everyone is to be congratulated and you all should be very proud of what you’ve achieved these past months. Each artwork here today in this exhibition is outstanding and shows the hard work every student has put into their own work.

Through learning Visual Arts here at PLC, Year 12 I am sure we can all agree that it has been a wonderful opportunity to study in a great environment surrounded by wonderful and talented teachers who push us to do our absolute best.

To my 2021 cohort, I am very proud of how we all pushed through together in such a hard time.

We have worked hard in supporting one another as we produced as many artworks as we could.

It is wonderful that we are able to have this publication put together to showcase our works as well as this opportunity to celebrate together.

Miss Amy Hur Art & Design Captain 2021

VISUAL ARTS Our Visual Arts HSC cohort of 2021 is a large, diverse, and talented group of artists who have a variety of rich experiences and personal stories to communicate through their works of art. These individuals have undertaken media and processes that have extended them as practitioners and stretch their audience to reconsider the themes they represent through each lens on the world we inhabit. Artworks in the expressive forms of painting, drawing, photomedia, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and animation demonstrate the range of skill and imaginative approaches to materiality these artists have made to produce exceptionally sophisticated and refined works.

2021 has been another year of challenges, yet our artists have successfully resolved their Bodies of Work through changing and uncertain times. The determination and resilience of these young women has been outstanding. I am extremely proud of them all: for the artworks they have produced, and the inspiring young women they have become.

I congratulate each and every HSC Visual Arts student on the standard of their outstanding works and acknowledge their bravery in finding their authenticity and voice as an artist over the past year and have shared their vision with us.

Ms Jo Knight Head of Faculty, Visual Arts ARTEXPRESSION Visual Arts Bodies of Work

Taylah Ahmat Evelyn Atkins Alexandra Bell Francesca Bicego Claire Bui Zhiwei Cai Linda Chen Corlette Graham Mackenzie Griffiths Lani Halmarick Jessica Hong Amy Hur Alexandra Jenneke Makayla Johnson Matilda Jones Natasha Lee Piper Lee Emily Li Alice Liu Anais Lowe Ruby Lund Jacinta Macaluso Alexandra McDougall Jessica Oates Heidi Osborne Zara Ottaway Krystal Rahardja Gabriella Skontos Talia Skuse Annabel Smith Claudia Thompson Alexandra Vaughan Summer Wanless Georgie Whitford

A R T E X P R E S S I O N 2 0 2 1 Image: Amy Hur

VISUAL ARTS Taylah Ahmat On Country Photomedia My Body of Work explores the different areas of Australia where my mother, father and I are from.

The black and white photographs aim to explore notions of identity, place and culture.

Evelyn Atkins How I Think Drawing As you can tell from my title, this is a collection of five drawings about how I think. When I was four, I was diagnosed as Autistic (PDD-NOS), but wasn’t told about it until I was 12. It has taken me years to see how special I am and how much I could teach the world. The middle drawing represents my happy place and how cartoons are a huge part of me. The other four drawings represent my fears, inconveniences and hope of escaping the shackles of the Neurotypical world. I want to be accepted, I want to love whoever I want, even if the world doesn’t classify them as real. I want to make the central drawing a reality; but I can’t do it alone.

I hope that the audience is able to look at these drawings and be able to open up their mind to worlds that seem to be as mad as Wonderland, but bring interesting viewpoints, customs, and characters. Listen to individuals on the spectrum and don’t deny our feelings.

VISUAL ARTS Alexandra Bell Living Terrain Drawing We are grounded to the land. There is an inextricable connection between place and identity.

I have drawn from the textured and rugged qualities of my grandparents’ lifestyle on their farm characterised by both years of drawbacks, drought and hardship, as well as exhilaration, joy and pride.

I have sought to explore three styles of expression to present the mimetic and interconnected relationship between the natural environment and those who reside in it. Just as medium is built upon paper through the mark-making process, so too are the layered and textured qualities of human life as we grow.

Whilst I have represented a specific rural country experience pertinent to my Grandpa, this work invites us to contemplate the unique connection we each hold to our living environments, one that is immersive and shapes who we are.

Francesca Bicego From Rocks We Arise Painting The awe that descends at the sight of an impressive geological formation is hard to dismiss. Their ancient presence provides perspective as well as a feeling of expansion. Held reverently by the ancients, the value and meaningful symbolism of rocks has been well documented across cultures and time. Around the world, certain landscapes and geological formations have special qualities that make them stand out from their surroundings and for many, such places have deep spiritual significance. In numerous ancient cultures, rock formations emerging from the earth provide a link between the physical and spiritual worlds and often symbolize the passage from one life to the next.

Such places are chosen to record visions, events, stories, or maps. Additionally, the longevity of a substance seemingly so permanent, that endures age through age, often leads to a wider range of associations with regard to the wisdom of the divine and eternal - the unseen, and unknowable. This is unsurprising considering that meteors fall from the sky and rock exists and endures in places humans cannot.

My Body of Work seeks to examine the mysterious and magnetic power that rock formations emanate.

It investigates concepts relating to the great mystery, transformation, wisdom, strength and endurance, balance and counterbalance and the passage of time. The resulting paintings are like portraits and testaments to time and the forces and multitudinous energy radiating from the Australian landscape.

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Anh-Thu (Claire) Bui Pensive Moments Painting My collection of paintings explore connection and isolation through appropriated scenes sourced from visual culture - specifically, painting, photography and film. Stylistically, overlapping broken brushstrokes and desaturated colour were used to capture the essence of the subjects and convey the mood communicated in the original sources.

Zhiwei Cai Where are You? Painting As a result of historical events the world could be viewed as a glorification of Eurocentric elements, if rooted in the notion that the West is generally perceived to be inherently superior. The subtle references to my background found within my Body of Work is my way of asserting, “the East has always been here too”. The work also includes features found in Western conventions to communicate transculturalism.

VISUAL ARTS Linda Chen Illusions and Illuminations of Arabia Drawing Like many things in life, there is usually more than what meets the eye. The notion of appearances as opposed to and reality pervades so much of our evolving contemporary world. One of the most profound experiences I have had has been the chance to live in and observe the Middle East, a complex and unique region which has come to be associated with many polarising labels and cultural stereotypes. Through my series of drawings, I aimed to explore both sides of these connotations.

At the heart of the Middle East - and the foundation of its prosperity - was the groundbreaking discovery of oil, conceptually reflected in the black bitumen pour throughout all of the works.

However, this wealth also brought with it a lot of issues that have been less known to the global public. Simultaneously, wealth was used to subvert pervasive misconceptions about Islamic religion through its soaring skyline and architecture.

Therefore, it is through both the illusions and illuminations within my drawings that aims to represent the true landscape of Arabia as I have experienced it.

Corlette Graham Slow to anger, abounding in love Painting I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Jonah 4:2 For the past year I have grappled with the consequences associated with trauma and suffering. How do I let go of what could have been?

Why are the ones I love capable of so much pain?

And above all, how can a supposedly good God forgive those who hurt?

Through my series of paintings, I aimed to express my interior motions, the internal conflicts in battling with my beliefs in faith, love and forgiveness.

Drawing on the Biblical symbolism of water as a representation of chaos. Charged brushstrokes of oil paint aim to encapsulate the natural landscape as a medium to express intense emotion. As the landscapes change from rough waters to tranquility after the storm, my Body of Work depicts a progression from harrowing grief, to the quietude in looking forwards to a calmer future. From the unpredictable dangers of the storm, to the peace in trusting God and letting go of resentment, colours of dark purples and chaotic blues shift into multicoloured, vibrant clouds; representing the rainbow after the flood.

VISUAL ARTS Mackenzie Griffiths Rabbit Hole Time Based Forms I have always been curious and I have always had an interest in animation. As my work was influenced by animators such as Richard Williams and Brad Bird, I was not only impelled to create a full short, but to develop a character that audiences would relate to. Thus, the story of a girl distracted from work while online was conceived. Beginning with one cute advertisement, things quickly become more sinister as she spirals out of control through a modern day rabbit warren – we’ve all been there.

Stills

The concept of the “rabbit hole” started its figurative life as a portal to Wonderland. Over time, it has evolved into a metaphor for distraction. The obvious driving force behind this is the internet, which has altered the ways that we distract ourselves immeasurably. In the original tale, during her fall, Alice scouts out her surrounds, eats snacks, contemplates the world, muses about cats and nearly falls asleep – not dissimilar to the way we act on the internet. While online we can sometimes find ourselves in an attentional free fall, with no clear destination and all manner of strange things flashing past. This type of distraction can be viewed as shallow, however, in keeping with the metaphor, rabbit holes can deepen our world by exposing us to a wide range of ideas worth exploring. Unlike the original, the modern day rabbit hole is an end without an end, inviting us onward and encouraging us to become, as Alice would say, curiouser and curiouser.

Lani Halmarick Now I lay me down to rest Printmaking Waverley Cemetery has been a place of inspiration for many and it was here that I too found myself looking to be inspired. The cemetery is the final resting place of many significant figures who have helped shape Australia. A sense of greatness lingers with the memory of lives lived with passion, bravery and fortitude – often in the face of great hardship and fear. With monuments raised to honour the lives of those now at rest and epitaphs that are filled with stories and memories, our experience on such a site can be deepened and enriched when we take note of the stories of those who came before us. Combined with the sculptural beauty of the tombstones set out on reverently maintained grounds, I found the cemetery to be a beautiful site of contemplation and appreciation for life.

While photographing the site, I became particularly taken with the sculptural features of the largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. I was repeatedly drawn to the overseeing angels – weathered and sometimes broken from centuries of battering from the elements. This got me considering our lives now and our fears. About how much fortitude we need to endure the hardships we now face and for how long, before we are too like the angels – worn down with some broken by the passing storms.

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Jessica Hong Collision: Fragments of Cobalt Painting Collision: Fragments of Cobalt explores misalignment between perceptions of the self and reality – often experienced by those with transcultural perspectives. In my attempt to express my own coexisting contrasting notions, I have developed compositions that describe psychological tension. Within the works, I reference designs used to decorate Eastern porcelain ware.

The traditional Chinese and Vietnamese patterns pay homage to an integral part of my identity that often collides with the Western world in which I was raised. Extending on this, the monochromatic colour palette is grounded in cobalt blue. A common association with cobalt blue for many belief systems is connection to intuition and truth that which I seek.

The accompanying clay fragments display an appreciation for irregularity as well as each part of the whole. They address the preciousness of the pieces to express the need to value each fragment of our internal world as a means to a deeper understanding of self.

Amy Hur Salad Days Painting As we grow older there are times when we review where we’ve been, consider where we are and anticipate where we are heading. As I stand at a crossroads, experiencing childhood gradually release from my grip, I am met with a sense of loss.

This has brought with it the understanding that our memories of innocence, emotionality, curiosity and imagination are ones to be preserved. In my final years of school, I have often found myself reminiscing about the carefree days behind me and felt drawn to document the precious moments and simple pleasures of my childhood.

Using soft pastel hues the scenes are idealised and sentimental. Each work depicts moments and objects that I vividly recall brought me great happiness. Through subtleties of colour, tone and stylisation, I have sought to express a state of contentment, as well as purity, harmony, emotional connection and transience. Ultimately these works are a celebration of my salad days.

VISUAL ARTS Alexandra Jenneke Signs of Change Painting I chose to tell a personal story of changes throughout my family history as my Dad migrated from South Africa to Australia in 1978. My Dad was born in South Africa during the Apartheid period. During that time, coloured South Africans were segregated from white South Africans which is apparent through the many signs that were displayed throughout the cultural landscape.

When my Dad migrated to Australia, he was introduced to the sport AFL, where many people from different backgrounds came together to celebrate their teams. My Dad loved the inclusiveness of the sport and continues to follow it with his family to this day. Living in Australia, my Dad discovered his true colours; red and white.

Makayla Johnson Guise Collection of Works My Body of Work comments on social conformity and perceived autonomy. Each head represents the mind or the individual self and is therefore unique.

Beyond this, they occupy a rather weak guise of expression or autonomy - some stand rigid, others are hulked yet crooked and wavering. They can’t really go anywhere as they don’t have legs. They are expected to grow into their environments and eventually die in them too. They are cogs in an unknowable machine and all they can do is exist.

Contrasting elements are found within the work as scenes and stories are woven together. However, a common theme is seen in the uniform housing blocks which refer to the notion of a suburban wilderness and draws a point of interpersonal familiarity.

In the development of the work, I drew inspiration from Scott Radke’s sculptural works which are imbued with a wild sort of melancholic magicality.

The conceptual scenes were influenced by Raoof Haghighi’s paintings.

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Matilda Jones Hyperborea Drawing Throughout time and across cultures, the North Pole is perceived as having an aura of mystique due to its inaccessibility, stark contrasting wildlife and the icy landscape that is so alien from environments usually populated by humans. Amplifying this air of magic and mystery, the night sky is lit up in spectacular fashion by the seemingly mystical glow of the northern lights. My Body of Work Hyperborea uses symbolism derived from diverse mythology centred on the Arctic Circle to describe the otherworldly perfection of the Hyperborens as well as illustrate the stories of Inuit, Nordic and Ancient Greek voyagers.

Modern conspiracy theories have also influenced the imagery within the work - my artistic intentions being, to merge numerous and varied fantastical stories to speculate at what could be at the centre of the North Pole. In doing so, I aimed to create a comparative illustration by drawing on similarity and dissimilarity across cultures and the way in which they impact on the development of their own mythologies around the same topic.

detail

Natasha Lee Defiance, Resilience, Suppression Drawing I’ve always had a passion for representing the human body. I loved exploring the different ways the figure could move and bend. To me, the human form can represent impenetrable emotions with the slightest movement of a joint; changing the meaning behind the pose. I wanted to express the stages of political motivations and emotional struggles through the figures’ poses.

Through the use of overlapping lines and forms, a sense of physical movement, almost like an animation, can be seen within the sketched lines.

I learnt the power and weight of these poses and how to portray movements through studying life drawing at the National Art School, and in the College’s Art Masterclass where we constructed wire figures. I strived to put my emotions into each work, whether it be negative or positive, and let them take control and drive the development of each form. The artmaking process is messy and often seen as chaotic but with each movement I make, however, through each line, I’ve been able to create a sense of power and emotional charge in each pose.

VISUAL ARTS Piper Lee The Art of Design Photomedia My Body of Work explores the various design features of iconic Australian architectural structures through photography to provide differing vantage points from which to view this often underappreciated art form. An emphasis on the elemental design language such as the line, curve and geometry of each building is explored as well as the negative spaces and voids that they create through the cropping and framing of each architectural photograph. The addition of laser-cut strips enhance the materiality of my subjects as they reflect those used in the building construction such as timber, and glass.

My series explores design and textural elements from many locations including; Anadara Barangaroo, The Opera House, Macquarie Bank, the Gehry designed UTS Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, The University of Wollongong - Innovation Campus, AIIM Processing and Devices Building and MONA outside of Sydney. The choice of photography as my expressive form was made as it provides an escape for me from reality through the camera’s lens. The intentional use of black and white and monochromatic colour aims to focus attention on the form, space and materiality of each structure and each’s unique language of design.

Emily Li Ego: Multiplex Painting Growing up as a second generation immigrant, like a TV, I switch between cultures for others to see. Culture cannot be defined, it is an experience I cannot capture, nor can I properly express how it feels to experience two cultures at once and the inevitable sense of the loss of one over the other the one I grew up surrounded by and the one my parents knew.

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Zhijun (Alice) Liu Spiritual bodies: Scientific Minds Painting Inspired by the divergence between Eastern and Western medicine, my Body of Work explores the differences between these two opposing philosophies. Eastern medicine is represented by the reclining Buddha and inclusion of medicinal herbs where treatment relies heavily on the psychophysical energies that bond the mind, body and spirit. The health of an individual depends on the balance of yin and yang and the concept of dualism, originating from Ancient Chinese belief.

Whereas in Western medicine, originating in Ancient Greek and Roman times, medicine is viewed as a science. Here it is approached in a more physical manner to gain an understanding of the body, with an emphasis on biological diagnosis and treatments including surgery and drugs. This approach is depicted in my work through the exposed body during an investigatory procedure as well as through the inclusion of pills on the bedside table.

These images aim to portray the increasing convenience of gaining access to the potentially damaging pharmaceutical remedies within our contemporary globalised society.

Anais Lowe Industrialised Bones Drawing My decision to represent skeletons and architecture symbolises the remnants of life and the legacy left behind from something that someone created. The skeletons represent the inevitable and bleak image of the cycle of life, architecture itself is a physical manifestation of someone’s vision. Combined together structurally, they convey a sense of metamorphosis and connection.

Whilst the skeletons and architecture portray an appreciation of natural and historical evolution, they also serve as a critique on Colonialism. Rather than attempting to forge an alliance between the Indigenous Australians and the British explorers, the British attempted to dominate the land resulting in devastating effects on both sides including death and disease. The visual structures incorporated within my Body of Work are representative of what exists on the land today, yet underlying this, depicts what has been lost due to western Industrialisation.

VISUAL ARTS Ruby Lund Poison Ivy Graphic Art My collection Poison Ivy explores the poisonous nature of humanity that effects our planet and all who inhabit it. Through my works, the discerning tone, subject and scale of the compositions work in unison to imitate the cataclysmic voyeur that has become intertwined with our spirit as people.

These works project the disintegration of our lives as a species over time due to our own masochism and greed. For this collection I wanted to illuminate the way that our kind have become so obsessed with money, sex and power that we have lost our pure essence - that which makes our intellect so unique. Furthermore the works, reiterate our trifling of the natural world for our own materialistic needs.

We work unknowingly as a unified corporation that stings our health and unwittingly murders the mother of our spirits.

In making the work, I cut images from magazines which were scanned and digitally collaged together with images sourced online and removed from their original settings. Influenced greatly by Surrealism, I aimed to produce dreamlike scenarios in a contemporary context that provoke selfexamination using relatively light and quirky visual prompts.

Jacinta Macaluso The Sanctity of the Maternal Painting My Body of Work explores presence and absence as a result of an experience that has affected me recently – one that will affect us all at some point - the experience of loss. Our acute awareness of the void left by the absence of our most cherished can only be soothed by acknowledging the ways in which their physical presence once filled us. Due to a persistent sense of loss, after the passing of my mother, I felt compelled to explore this through my work while also acknowledging my mother’s beauty and virtue. By drawing my Mother back into my physical existence and celebrating her immense presence through portraiture, I sought a way to honour her and to work through her absence.

The resulting series of portraits illustrate stages of my Mother’s life from a pure and optimistic child to the dynamic force she embodied in her later years – a force formed by wisdom and the purity of her immense love. In the final painting however, she has left the room and her armchair where her spirit lingers. I chose to work with oils in an attempt to capture the layered richness and depth of colour that capture both her inner and outer beauty, and the intense colour of my memories – ones that will never fade.

The series is entitled, The Sanctity of the Maternal to reinforce the sacredness found through each encounter with her unconditional love – on earth and beyond.

VISUAL ARTS Alexandra McDougall Unearthed Ceramics Through the ages, figurative sculptors have returned again and again to history, each bringing their contemporary interpretations. Rather than copy, as the Romans did with the statues they revered, through my sculptural forms, I aimed to learn the language to enable me to attempt something new. My forms became representations of significant moments in the history of sculpture that piqued my interest – becoming somewhat like a three-dimensional timeline.

The work references a range of sources and begins in the Stone Age. The earliest examples of sculpture belong to the Paleolithic era, therefore, I began with the idealised female figure, Venus - with her undulating surface and voluptuous rounded form. From there I investigated anthropomorphic vessels used in Neolithic times, again, drawn to the curves and flow of the surface. I then drew inspiration from other romanticised forms, finding that same captivating flow in the rippling muscles of the idealised male figure of Classical antiquity.

Sumptuous Modernist biomorphic forms followed and reductive abstraction and distortion took hold.

My investigations continued along this trajectory and distilling my final subjects down to their essence became my objective – seeking to settle in what Alfred H. Barr (American Art Historian) called the “mystical, the spontaneous and the irrational biomorphic world.”

Jessica Oates Force Drawing Inspired by artist Lindy Lee and with nature as my muse, these process driven drawings have been made to replicate the essence and forms of nature using elements from which it is composed - rain, wind, and sunlight. The exploitation of these elements has resulted in the incidental marks seen in the works which have been deconstructed and reassembled to reflect back to our natural world.

Embracing the fluidity of ink and acrylic paint, and allowing nature to take its course, has allowed for unpredictable, direct, and unique expressions of our natural environment.

VISUAL ARTS Heidi Osborne Home Country Drawing My series of drawings represent the increasingly urbanised landscape and try to capture the essence of what it is to be Australian and live in this vast country. Despite differences in where we live and our daily environmental contexts, we all find a sense of belonging in some way or another within our home country.

My works are inspired by a growing conversation about Australian identity surrounding our national holiday and our national anthem, which led me to explore the changing narrative and perception of our land and country through natural, suburbian and vernacular subjects and compositions.

Zara Ottaway Thresholds Drawing My Body of Work reflects the concept of liminality in both spatial and social contexts. In both frames of reference, the term liminal pertains to an intermediate or transitory state of condition. In physical liminal spaces, for example stairwells and hallways, the sole purpose of these structures is to provide a transitional space between two places, lingering in these places can often elicit an inexplicably unsettling feeling related to the time spent in this space out of its context.

Metaphysical liminal spaces can be those of social and cultural role transformations, adolescence as the liminal space between childhood and adulthood is an apt example. These uncomfortable mental liminal spaces can be divided into three stages: separation, transition and incorporation. The three phases are represented in my three larger works and the smaller drawings aim to break down each of these distinct stages.

VISUAL ARTS Krystal Rahardja Eyes I dare not meet in dreams Painting In life, one will experience moments when you dream of what might constitute a perfect childhood. Most people would think of beautiful smiles, but in reality, our childhoods are united by the fact that they are all fragmented in some way and that they don’t always reflect our idealised expectations. My Body of Work attempts to represent this universal human experience that we somehow want to turn away from. We may be afraid to admit that many of us are broken inside.

One of my key influences is the modernist poet T.S Eliot. Eliot uses fragmentation in his poetry both to demonstrate the chaotic state of modern existence and the damage this has caused on the psychological state of humanity as a whole. My intent is to allow viewers to feel the emotions associated with a fragmented childhood existence which we can see through our own experience and in our dreams. The inclusion of black stitching to represent symbols of childhood from the past is an extension of this notion, as this media is permanent but also ambiguous.

Artist Chiharu Shiota (1972-) who was an influence for the use of thread, stated: “It is soft and I use it like a mirror of my feelings... Yarn has tension like a human relationship.” In my Body of Work, I wish to express to the audience our shared humanity and how our memories can be universal.

Gabriella Skontos Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bath) Drawing My Body of Work is focused on my interest in eco-psychology - a relatively new field that is gaining traction and attention as scientific findings illuminate its relevance. In short, studies indicate a positive shift of one’s psyche when immersed in nature. Already understood throughout the East, Japanese doctors have long recommended Shinrin-Yoku as a means of stress relief. Shinrinyoku — which literally translates to “forest bath”— is the Japanese practice of seeking a deeper connection with trees with the intention of receiving therapeutic benefits.

My interest in this concept stemmed from one particular tree in my local park, which I visit in order to restore a state of calm when feeling overwhelmed - as a way to decompress from the stresses of modern urban living. Simply by being in its presence, balance is restored.

Through my work I have sought to capture a sense of awe, mystery and the majestic power of trees using natural materials derived from trees themselves to achieve unification, harmony and material integrity. The dramatic use of tonal contrast illustrates how trees can absorb negative energy and transform it. ‘My’ tree has been documented (far right) along with others I have explored during the making of the work. Through my research, I learnt that maximum energy is radiated while trees are near water, thus, I included mangroves as the central work.

VISUAL ARTS Talia Skuse Through her eyes Photomedia Dyslexia is too often misunderstood as a disability resulting in negative emotional consequences due to the stigma attached to this condition. Using my passion for photography and film as well as my own personal experience with Dyslexia, I have created a series of works that invite the audience to view life through my eyes.

Inspired by contemporary photographer Serge Najjar, who explores the figure in architectural environments, I make use of perspective to convey both my heightened sense of seeing the world and the emotional consequences of the condition including isolation, negative self-perception and dizziness, leaving the audience to question the figure’s orientation and purpose. “It’s not what you see, but how you see it” - Serge Najjar

Annabel Smith Cove and Cape Photography Through my work I have sought to challenge the viewer that a photograph is an easily read and understood representation of what is in front of the lens. By exploring selected areas of focus, varying perspectives and unusual patterns of light, shadow and texture in monochromatic tones, I aimed to destabilise the eye to cause the viewer to question what it is that they see.

With an initial focus on the human body and the visceral visual connection between it and an undulating landscape, I considered my images most successful when raw reality was countered with ambiguity and layered mystery. My investigations into abstraction and distortion led to submerging the subject in water – the source of all life.

Its energetic and aesthetic influence struck a primeval chord, drawing innate associations of transformation, the unconscious world and, of course, survival. My focus widened as I then sought to capture the way in which we exist within the landscape rather than on it and the duality of the conscious and the unconscious worlds.

VISUAL ARTS Claudia Thompson Marks of lives lived Collection of Works My works are a tribute to my family. Family is extremely important to me, no matter how far away they are or if they are still here. The only way I am able to remember and reminisce about my lost family members is through what they have left for me. The objects represented in my works are all symbolic of the interests and character that have been a part of my families’ individual lives. Their stories, passions and experiences are stored in these objects left for me.

I put my heart into these works as I wanted to portray my love for my family and the opportunities they have given me.

Alexandra Vaughan Intersectio Scientiam (the intersection of knowledge) Printmaking “The greatest scientists are artists as well,” said Albert Einstein. For as long as artistic expression has existed, it has benefited from interplay with scientific principles.

Likewise, art has long contributed to the work and communication of science. Science and art are driven by curiosity and discovery in attempts to understand and describe the world around us. Though these subjects and methods have different traditions, and the intended audiences are different, in many cases, their basic motivations and goals are fundamentally the same.

My Body of Work explores the intersection of art and the biological sciences. It’s about visualising invisible worlds and explores magnifying the intricacies of nature. To do this, I built up substrates to create textural collagraph plates that mimic microscopic perspectives of organisms at a cellular level. I began by producing blind embossings from the plates to create a protruding representation of the imagery as a means to a greater sense of three dimensional details seen in images taken from the latest in microscope technology. Intaglio and relief prints followed – some with hand-coloured additions. Additionally, release and monoprinting techniques were employed as the work developed. By working in and outside of printmaking traditions, my work simultaneously lauds the past and encourages the future, in the same way that art and science often do.

VISUAL ARTS Summer Wanless The road to recovery Painting My Body of Work, The road to recovery, is a collection of juxtaposing images that recreates a story of catastrophic fire and bush regeneration. The works are stimulated by the Australian bushfires that devastated both rural and coastal forest landscapes in the region of South-Eastern Australia during the Summer of 2019-2020.

The works aim to encapsulate the widespread destruction to the landscape from the perspective of a passenger as evidenced through photographic images taken in the same location within the Conjola Forest in NSW, just twelve months apart. The panoramic paintings display the enormity of the area that was disturbed and decimated through fire, with a view through reflective mirror compositions that creates a space for the viewer to frame and interpret the changes on the environment.

Using acrylics as my medium, allowed for the layering of tones to enhance the expressive form in creating depth in both the burnt and green aspects of the landscape. Intricate details emerge from the thick layers of smoke to highlight the charred and burnt bushland and its regeneration over the 12 month window. The intent of my works is to showcase a transitional timeline of the landscape’s experience on its road to regeneration and recovery from the perspective of a passenger travelling over time.

Georgina (Georgie) Whitford Epilogue to Industrialisation Painting My Body of Work seeks to reveal humankind’s focus on the industrial progression of society that traps the individual in an isolated state. As we resort to modernisation to keep up with the changing nature of the contemporary world, my works portray the interior merges with the exterior through windows, doorways and voids, and focus on the mechanisms which operate within.

Responsible for this disconnect, we also can change our futures, my work adopts an explosive colour palette to call for a return to the powerful potential of humanity. With the use of contrasting tones, in particular, the use of chiaroscuro in the dramatic darks and lights, as well as the increased depth of each series of painting surfaces, my Body of Work confronts its viewer and challenges them to engage. This is reinforced through the interlinking pipe installation that emphasises the structural elements and sources of energy within industrial power stations. As the individual becomes lost in the expansive economic goals of a society, their self can still be rediscovered with the coloured hope of a transformative rebirth.

VISUAL ARTS

Acknowledgements PLC Sydney would like to acknowledge the dedication, support, care and professionalism of our Visual Arts teaching staff at The Croydon in 2021. Thank you to Ms Jo Knight, Head of Visual Arts Faculty and Visual Arts teacher/Curator Tiffeny Fayne. Thank you to Miss Amy Hur for her professionalism in performing the role of Art & Design Captain in 2021.

The quality of the HSC works exhibitions would not be possible without our wonderful support staff at The Croydon. Thank you to Mr Andrew Paxton, Adelaide Perry Gallery Manager and Senior Technical Assistant for his skill and patience in preparing works for exhibition and installation as well as the support of Mrs Karmen Martin, Administration and Mrs Nicole Rader, Art and Design Assistant.

Located in The Croydon Corner, Hennessy and College Streets Croydon NSW AdelaidePerryGallery@plc.nsw.edu.au www.plc.nsw.edu.au/microsites Phone (+612) 9704 5693 Post C/- PLC Sydney Boundary Street Croydon NSW 2132 Australia