Congratulations to BSSC Visual Art student, Zara Long (Class of 2021), who was selected for the 2022 Top Arts exhibition as part of the VCE Season of Excellence.

Top Arts is an exhibition of photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed media, ceramics, textiles, film and printmaking produced by VCE Art and VCE Studio Arts students, held at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

Only 67 VCE students from across Victorian schools were shortlisted for 2022 Top Arts, so Zara’s achievement is a significant one indeed.

Her work ‘Domesticity’ (ballpoint pen on paper) will be exhibited at the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Federation Square, until the 24th July.

Below is Zara’s artist statement from the exhibition catalogue…

 

Ideas behind the work …

Present: Domesticity considers how the everyday spaces we occupy tell the stories of our daily lives. Intertwining my personal connection to the natural environment and to the domestic spaces my family and I inhabit, I portrayed both the physical and intangible structures of my family home, representing the stories I attach to it. The role domestic spaces play in our lives is more noticeable than ever after the past few months of lockdowns. These spaces communicate both personal stories and societal changes, creating a revealing a snapshot of this current moment in history.

Starting points and influences …

  • Interest in architecture as a form of storytelling and communication and modern domestic spaces seen through a personal lens.
  • The domestic and still life paintings of artists Patricia Lynch and Margaret Olley, which capture the impact of human presence on personal domestic spaces.
  • Artist Yann Erasmus’ biro drawings of everyday, meaningful objects.
  • A fusion of Potential Directions ‘Homeland’ and ‘Vegie Garden,’ which provided the basis for my final work.

Sources of inspiration …

  • The dynamism of the Australian environment, especially the ambience of grassland and bush landscapes.
  • An eco-dyeing technique using native plants on organic papers or fabric, as taught to me by grandmother and as used by artist Katie West.
  • Traditional storytelling such as fairy tales, epic poetry, spoken word tales and other fantastical or supernatural stories.

Materials and processes …

Starting with plants sourced from both my grandparents’ homes, I used an eco-dye steaming technique on 300gsm watercolour paper to produce the organic patterning and colour in the background of my final work. Using reference photos of ten rooms of my family home, I used a simple black biro and ruler to draw each room’s structure, before adding in further detail through gradual shading and blending of the biro lines with the mid-tones created in the eco-dye background.

Interesting/challenging aspects of creating the work …

I really loved the beautiful unpredictability of the eco-dyeing, and the joy of opening up the steamed parcel to see how my design had turned out. It was never what I expected, but often so much more mesmerising. I had to be careful when drawing with the biro over it the dyed paper, as the water stress on the paper made it more susceptible to tearing or shedding. Another challenge was trying to balance the amount of biro on the paper to preserve the background design, whilst still creating a sense of each room’s dimension and structure.

Advice to future students …

Choose a focus that can sustain your interest and your art process for the entire year. Then, make sure to take the time to really explore your ideas in your folio and find what mediums work for you. This helps to consolidate your ideas and resolve them successfully in your final artworks. Most importantly though, have fun and trust the process!