ARTEXPRESS 2024: Exhibitions of artworks by HSC visual arts students across NSW
It showcases some of the most outstanding and exemplary artworks across NSW by HSC visual arts students. Meet the students and see their amazing works.
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It showcases some of the most outstanding and exemplary artworks across NSW.
ARTEXPRESS is an annual series of exhibitions of artworks created by NSW visual arts students for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination.
Meet the students and take at look at their exceptional work:
James Nguyen
Castle Hill High School
Artwork title: ‘Self portraits’
Described as “moody and distorted”, Mr Nguyen has put an emphasis on capturing intensely dark tones in order to physically confront audiences with fluctuating depth and contrast.
“I’d always thought artworks with very dark values had such an intriguing appearance and wanted to create similar works to those,” he said.
“I was also inspired by the works of Juul Kraijer who similarly incorporated the use of deeply dark values which surrounded a single portrait subject within her works.”
Mr Nguyen wants to keep visual arts as a hobby and a way of expression as he enjoys drawing in his free time.
Alfio Cavallaro
The McDonald College
Artwork title: ‘Eyes wide shut: society’s underbelly’
Mr Cavallaro has described his artwork as an exploration of the sad reality of modern world, displaying significant social issues that are often overlooked within our society.
“The monochromatic palette of my drypoint etchings, personifies society’s penchant for oversimplification and a wilful disregard for the prevailing state,” he said.
“Our deliberate choice is often to ignore the grey areas in life as the average individual is often unaffected by these issues.”
His work was inspired by a school trip to New York City and the beautiful architecture and famous landmarks, but also the significant social issues of overpopulation, poor air quality, homelessness, environmental degradation and increased crime rates.
“Through my body of work, I hope to prompt the opportunity for individuals to recognise the tragic state that our world now currently resides in and the need for change,” he added.
Adam Menezes
Katoomba High School
Artwork title: The absence of torment
His piece depicts an imagined world where the biological and mechanised have been fused together into something new and unrecognisable.
“I was motivated by all the news we get about how our environment is degrading as a result of human activity, specifically industrialisation and pollution,” Mr Menezes said.
“If we keep going the way we are, soon there will be little of the wholly natural world left.”
He said he has always enjoyed previous ARTEXPRESS exhibitions and believes it’s a “huge honour” to be selected this year.
Alison Giai Hue Huynh
Fairvale High School
Artwork Title: The profound cognitive effects of looking up. An artwork in disguise
“As many buildings are now modernly renovated or created through the minimalistic lens, the attention towards a buildings interior architecture constantly amazes me,” she said.
“With each building having their own unique interior, it was almost as if they each had their own personality and history within those structural elements.”
Ms Huynh said by adding in sentences and words that reflected the motion of “Looking Up”, it encouraged the audience to do the same to admire environments they find themselves in.
Alyssa Cavallaro
Aquinas Catholic College
Artwork Title: Menai Chiese e cattedrali
Ms Cavallaro’s artwork is a collection of drawings showcasing the rare remnants of old world architecture, and highlights the beautiful detail left by past civilisations.
“My inspiration was founded by my dislike of modern architecture, which persuaded me to capture the intricacy and detail of buildings of the past that our new world is quickly forgetting,” she explained.
Honoured to be included in ARTEXPRESS, Ms Cavallaro is set to go to university to pursue a career in psychology, but said she will still also continue her passion for art through commission works.
Anna Le
Santa Sabina College
Artwork Title: Histrionically me
Ms Le’s work consists of three large scale drawings using pastel pencils, with drawings of two subjects representing a particular theme that alludes to their personal form of self-expression, including sport and recreation, and celebration.
The drawing of a 70s cord telephone symbolises the strong connection between people and the things that hold value to them.
“By purposefully using props from different eras of time, I have used elements of nostalgia and modern popular culture to represent the joy sparked from childhood for a carrying audience,” she said.
Her work has been inspired by Jen Nelsons’ mixed use of photography and painting, which explores the experience of adolescent self through the vibrant colours and choice of texture, and Tim Storier’s self-portrait, “the histrionic wayfarer”.
“This has been such a surreal and satisfying experience because Visual Arts was one of, if not, my favourite subjects in year 12 that was a break from my other subjects,” Ms Le said.
Corvette O’Keeffe
Xavier High School, Albury
Artwork Title: The art of persistence
Aligning with the mythology of the phoenix, Ms O’Keeffe’s paper sculpture is formed by a fusion of technology and handicraft practice which represents the persistence and determination required to overcome.
“Accomplishments are often born from the ashes of hardship and adversity, consequently we are reborn stronger on the other side,” she said.
“The sculpture was inspired by Jeff Nishinaka paper sculptures and Cai Guo-Giang gunpowder art works.
“I have embellished the cut paper surface with burnt and etched statements from a range of well known individuals such as Thomas Edison and Nelson Mandela who, despite their struggles, have overcome and persisted through life’s challenges.
“Their words, many who inspire myself, serve as a model for the audience to strive for.”
Cristian Varvakis
Marist College Kogarah
Artwork Title: Whispers of light and noise
Describing his selection as a “dream come true”, Mr Varvakis’ work is seen as “surreal and eclectic”, a video element also created in a “surreal, dreamy like form” – the way he experiences the world.
“The works use visual disturbances to represent the anxiety and isolation related to the experience of visual snow syndrome,” he said.
“The butterfly expresses the movement from adversity to resilience within the visual chaos.”
His inspiration is his own personal journey with visual snow, intended to demonstrate the beauty within the disorientation of visual snow while challenging perceptions of normalcy, vision and reality.
After school he will be pursuing a career in graphic design, illustration and video production/editing.
Crystal Chen
North Sydney Girls High School
Artwork Title: When majesty falls to folly
This artwork is a series of eight ceramic vessels that merges Asian antiquity with neoliberal climate.
“My art is a satirical inversion of this symbol of luxury as I parody the medium to illuminate the modern overindulgence evident in Tweets and pop culture,” Ms Chen said.
“Through the revival of dynastic pottery that is fused with imagery from media, my series ultimately speaks to the decadence that has immersed our ways of life.”
Inspired by Robert Rauschenberg’s commentary that “the artist’s job is to be a witness to his time in history”, she has also paid homage to the vast histories of Chinese porcelain, a medium that was reserved for the upper echelons.
“Within a world dominated by fast-paced technologies and media, these influences inspired me to incorporate elements like tweets, logos and pop icons into my series, furthering the notion that my work speaks to my time and context, a rapid world teeming with false idols, excessity and decadence,” she said.
Ella Shield
St John’s College, Lismore
Artwork Title: The presence in your absence
Ms Shield believes her artwork captures the bittersweet realisation that comes from the long journey of grief and the idea that even though we have lost something, their presence still resides in the familiar spaces of everyday life.
“In my work, I showed this through the use of shadows and light. Whilst the light may not depict any physical form, the shadows remind us that they were and are still present,” she said.
Her inspiration hails from her own images of her childhood home with her brother and the sad passing of both parents.
“My mother was one of my main supporters. When she passed I knew I wanted to keep doing art – even though I knew she wouldn’t get to see it anymore,” Ms Shields added.
“I don’t know a lot of people my age who have had the same experiences as me. I definitely don’t think I’ll ever stop doing art.”
Elyse Pulbrook
The Jannali High School
Artwork Title: Cast in memory
Ms Pulbrook sees her work as a physical encapsulation of memories surrounding her childhood home, depicted entirely out of liquid latex casts.
“I am constantly inspired by the exploration into the concept of identity, and the aspects that moulds an individual’s identity,” she said.
“I was also heavily inspired by the work of Heidi Bucher’s, and how she uses latex in her art.”
Ms Pulbrook said she was shocked to see her art hung in such a highly esteemed gallery, “especially given my artworks uncommon medium”.
Emma Simpson
Mosman High School
Artwork Title: Second glance
Described as rich in the colours of Australian nature, Ms Simpson’s artwork aims to illuminate the unconventional beauty of Australian flora, inspired by what she sees while bushwalking.
She also examines the “compositional idea of two” in her work, which is an unconventional compositional approach, through a symmetrical linear arrangement of dried leaves, tree-bark and banksias.
“I was interested in the remarks typically made only to plants that bloom,” she said.
“Stereotypes about beauty perpetuated through art have inhibited the appreciation of the ‘ordinary’ and ‘imperfect’, making the invisibility of common objects a recurrent theme throughout the past few centuries.”
While she is keen to pursue art passively, her main interests are in science.
Gene Richards
Normanhurst Boys’ High School
Artwork Title: Still escaping life, still killing time
Mr Richards has described his works as an exploration of maturity and change that escape mechanisms through an experience of life.
He has pulled from personal forms of entertainment via various childhood toys, video-games and finally music.
“From a medium perspective it’s a soy based ink lino-print on English and Korean newspaper, which I definitely planned out from the beginning,” he said.
“The main inspirations behind it were to make a work that was personal to me whilst something that everyone my age could identify with, through placing various well recognisable media references throughout the work notably ‘Kai’ from Lego Ninjago, the ‘Peashooter’ from Plants vs. Zombies, the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Charli XCX’s ‘Pop2’, Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ and a T-shirt of KISS.
“Also I couldn’t not mention the still life works in general and specifically Ricky Swallow’s ‘Killing Time’ giving the main form the work itself.”
George Alkhoury
Bossley Park High School
Artwork Title: Clamorous incognito of the unconscious mind
“My artwork delves into the profound impact of war and displacement on the human psyche, drawing from my personal experiences during the Syrian conflict,” Mr Alkhoury said.
“Through sculpted forms, I aim to encapsulate the depths of the unconscious mind, symbolising the concealed and tumultuous aspects of our inner world.
“The malleable nature of clay allows for tactile engagement, mirroring the ever-changing dynamics of thought and emotion.”
His inspiration stems from first-hand encounters with the ravages of war and displacement, drawing from the chaos and turmoil experienced during the Syrian conflict, and influenced by artists such as Albert Tucker, Arthur Boyd, Michael Lang, and Jérôme ‘Trez’ Oudot.
“I feel deeply grateful for this opportunity to share my story and advocate for awareness of humanitarian issues,” he added.
Georgina Pechan
Pymble Ladies’ College
Artwork Title: Stori blong yumi (our story)
This work is a deeply personal representation of the history of “Blackbirding”, which has left a mark on Ms Pechan’s family.
“My great-great-grandmother Mini was one of the countless victims of this dark chapter, her story echoing through the generations,” she explained.
“It is her experiences, resilience and enduring legacy that compelled me to delve into an artistic exploration of blackbirding.
“My work not only honours the memory of those who were blackbirded but also contributes to contemporary discussions surrounding justice and recognition for the descendants of those who were blackbirded, the South Sea Islanders Community.”
While sharing her family’s story, she aims to enrich audiences’ understanding of ‘Blackbirding’ through the collection and sharing of stories with elders to convey the importance of Oral history and raise awareness of this harrowing trade.
Jonathan Jones played a significant role in shaping her creative vision, and provided both inspiration and a framework for engaging with issues of identity, heritage, and social justice through art.
Gianne Lois Magcalayo
Penrith High School
Artwork Title: Schrodinger’s litterbox
This work is a “trash paradox”, a convoluted camaraderie between bold colours and blurry shadows.
“This crude thought experiment shatters the rules of superposition, peeking into a reality where contradicting states of life and death can, in fact, coexist while being observed,” Ms Magcalayo said.
“My artwork is the obscene butchering of complex theories in the name of cat people and shadow puppets.”
Her inspiration came first in a fascination with shadow and light and the coinciding implications about the fleeting nature of existence, before there was the allure of crafty, physical labour in the making of shadow art, perpetuated by the dynamic displays of Jumaadi and Rashad Alakbarov.
“But it all came to a head when my teacher posted a half-hearted challenge to include his cat somewhere in our work,” she added.
“Needless to say, as an overthinker with limited knowledge of Schrodinger’s Cat theory, lines were connected.”
Grace Pun
Bonnyrigg High School
Artwork Title: Samsasa of masks, a slow resistance, a journey’s departure left with gratitude
Ms Pun said her main intention was to express how grateful she was not to spend the last years of high school in lockdown and be able to enjoy the freedom of going outside and seeing her friends during the chaotic Covid pandemic.
“I had an idea to create Chinese scrolls with a blend of western outlook because I thought it was a cool idea that would complement my art style of graphic digital drawings,” Ms Pun said.
“When the topic of the “world’s impact” was mentioned I thought about depicting the first scroll to metaphorically show how people were struggling during the pandemic and the ongoing global chaos everyone was going through.
“The main focal point of the tied up girl should convey how I was not okay during the stages of online learning so that’s why the laptop and the flowers were included.
“The second scroll has the water filter bottle sucking the girl’s head, as it depicts how ridiculous the whole fighting and mobbing chaos happening in Australia, especially in Sydney, had to include the police and people arguing about masks rules.
“The third scroll, the outside setting should obviously depict the time when restrictions got slightly lifted and how we were all trying to restore our normal lifestyle routine.”
She wanted to express to young people especially that the pandemic was not a decade ago tragedy but is still a problem faced today.
Holly Ludman
Tempe High School
Artwork Title: See it from my perspective
Ms Ludman’s artwork is an exploration of the stress in her life and people around her.
“It’s a charcoal realistic drawing that emphasises the frailty of the human skin to exemplify the fragile mindsets of individuals and uses warped perceptions to demonstrate the distorted reality that anxiety imposes,” she said.
She drew inspiration from the pressure of high school, where her work showcased the impact of stress on teenagers’ mental health.
As year 12 proceeded, she changed her idea and focused on anxiety after experiencing an episode during HSC.
“I became fascinated with the artists, Dylan Eakin Douglas McDougall, Michael Zavro’s, Alison Lambert and Josh S Rose and their use of charcoal,” she added.
“I was most inspired by Cristina Troufa’s warped perception paintings, which encouraged me to alter my perspectives and instead create a warped reality depiction through charcoal.”
Ms Ludman said it has always been her goal to have work in the Art Gallery of NSW.
Ingrid Mansfield
Burwood Girls High School
Artwork Title: Alone together
Ms Manfield’s artwork consists of a series of 14 paintings and captures the scenes of city life with people going about their routines, seemingly unaware of each other’s presence.
“Through these pieces, I explore the theme of isolation that exists within the busy city environment, despite the close proximity of individuals,” she said.
“My work is deeply influenced by the themes of isolation and loneliness found in the works of Edward Hopper.
“His pieces frequently cast the viewer as an outsider, observing intimate moments without context to the lives and identities of the individuals depicted.
“I sought to echo this approach in my own work, as I believe it reflects the disconnect often experienced between individuals in cities, where people go about their lives oblivious to the other lives going on around them.”
Isabella Warland
Wyndham College
Artwork Title: Cerebellum
She describes her work as a chance to follow her on a visual journey through her mind.
Ms Warland’s inspiration is the connection shared between humans and animals, focusing on the overlapping similarities shared between all living beings.
“The truth is when humans are stripped down to their primitive state, there is nothing separating us from animals,” she explained.
She was extremely shocked when preselected for ARTEXPRESS and didn’t believe it.
“When I was officially selected I was ecstatic, I felt a sense of pride,” she said.
Jack Symons
St Ignatius College Riverview
Artwork Title: School of thought
An explosion of vibrant contrasting colours, patterns, forms, and characters, Mr Symons has been fascinated and passionate about art and animation since he was four years old.
His artwork showcases that schools are a place of learning focused on educating the mind but they can also be places of conformity and compliance.
“I was inspired to explore the joy and freedom of creativity, and to ignite the imagination with an explosion and celebration of vibrant colour and characters,” he said.
“I wanted to create a controlled chaos that invited the audience to challenge their assumptions about school, and explore the mystique of human creativity.
“Being courageous in the creative process allows individuals to be who they are instead of being like everyone else.”
As Mr Symons grew older he became fascinated by animation and storytelling, now studying at UTS College a Diploma of Animation Production.
James Doak
Cherrybrook Technology High School
Artwork Title: Latte – art in the everyday
His artwork is a fun animated spin on the idea that the art of our everyday world is just as magnificent as the works we put in galleries and museums.
As a cup of coffee comes to life, he travels through the city finding aesthetic artworks that often go unnoticed, until reaching the AGNSW and finding harmony between the everyday and the adored.
“I was inspired by my love of latte art and artists’ creation of foam characters,” he said.
“I also took inspiration from our school’s previous trips to ARTEXPRESS and the thin divide it exposed between ‘regular’ artists and those being exhibited.”
Jayden Peter
Warners Bay High School
Artwork Title: My sentinels
Mr Peter’s artwork consists of three surreal sculptures concealing many signs and symbols that reflect his personal interests, hobbies and childhood memories.
“I would describe my artwork as a means for me to capture these qualities so they are never lost and forgotten through my own ‘Sentinels’ who stand to protect and preserve these important aspects of my life,” he explained.
“These factors could not have been as strong without the support from my teachers as well as my friends and family who all of which provided the initial inspiration to create my artwork.
“I was further inspired during my process by Calvin Ma, who established relatable themes in his artworks.
“I wanted to create my artworks that not only shared my personal beliefs, but ones in which could be relatable to the audience as well.”
Jessie O’Rielly
Pittwater High School
Artwork Title: Inattentional blindness
Ms O’Rielly’s artwork consists of a series of landscape paintings that examine the natural beauty of the untouched environment, and how greenery brings life into colonised areas.
“I constructed seven small works with gouache paint that hold great detail to express the extraordinary features found all through natural landscapes,” she said.
“Through being exposed to the beauty of these natural landscapes, we can reflect upon the ever-changing world and accept that these natural environments are becoming more rare to find.
“My inspiration was purely to express the way I view nature, hoping to inspire others to cherish it as much as I do, and to represent what people don’t have time to appreciate and take in.”
Currently studying interior decorating and design at Sydney Design school, she is hoping to head down the path of starting her own designing business as well as displaying and selling furniture paintings.
Kai Myrmell
Barker College
Artwork Title: Addictive personality
Mr Myrmell’s artwork is a criticism of social media and its effects on his generation.
“It’s supposed to be quite unsettling and capture the idea of self-distortion that people can feel from social media as they care more about their digital identity that they lose touch with their real self,” he said.
“My inspiration behind my work was seeing how social media has impacted my generation and more personally my friends and people I know.
“I know a lot of people that spend so much time on social media that they care more about that than spending time in the real world.”
His artistic influence has been Francis Bacon and Adam Neate.
“I’m very keen to pursue a career in visual arts but in a slightly different field than normal visual arts. I’m currently studying video game development and majoring in art and hope to pursue this into a career,” he added.
Kendrick Cheung
Killara High School
Artwork Title: Urban metamorphosis
Mr Cheung’s creation is a mixed media artwork that demonstrates the rapid cultural changes and the modernisation of the west and the east of New York and Hong Kong.
“It communicates a century of cultural development and urbanisation, emphasising the journey that has led to the present moment,” he said.
“During Covid lockdown, similar to many others, I have spent a lot of time on social media, especially spending countless hours scrolling through Instagram reels.
“It was during that time that I came across an artist named David Ambarzumjan and his artwork involves painting a large glob of white paint over his hyper-realistic oil paintings of cityscapes.”
With his mixed cultural background, living for 14 years in China, Hong Kong and currently in Australia, he was determined to express his interest and relationship with different cultures.
Krovanes Niko
Clancy Catholic College
Artwork Title: O le a fuga mai (come into bloom)
Ms Niko’s artwork delves into the complicated connection she has been struggling to have with her culture and the domino effect into other aspects of her life such as gender and sexuality.
“I have had a somewhat complicated relationship with culture throughout my life, however in the course of maturing, I delved into many of its aspects to resolve who I am, truly allowing myself to bloom,” she said.
“O le a fuga mai expresses a message to others who struggle with disconnection from their roots, there is not always a singular or linear path but one with a multitude of roots from different parts of your life.”
She used photomedia for her body of work to represent a raw, intimate connection, inviting the audience to resonate with the experiences and emotions of her growth.
Kya Stawski
Corpus Christi Catholic High School
Artwork Title: When you were born
Ms Stawski’s artwork is a series of oil paintings on wood that aim to portray very simple, mundane, soft, intimate and insignificant moments that are often overlooked in modern life.
“The photographs recreated are from almost 18 years ago, where the content is revisited with a warm nostalgia and longing for a time underappreciated in the moment,” she said.
“By recognising these everyday moments, my artwork critiques our modern perspective on what moments we give value to, urging us to find the existence of these moments in the present, before we see them only in hindsight, bittersweet, and forgotten.
“I’ve always had a soft spot towards notions regarding nostalgia, sentimentality, memory, relationships, and the beauty in the everyday, small things in life.”
She draws inspiration from artists such as Jess Allen, Noah Saterstrom, Nicolás Uribe, and Karen Offutt.
Mana Sugimoto
Marist Sisters College Woolwich
Artwork Title: My porcelain dolls
It’s like a big stash of ceramic trinkets, where everyone can find a treasure of their own.
Shiny and colourful, it is filled with Ms Sugimoto’s fondest memories.
“It’ll make you want to shrink in size to look at it closer!” she said.
“Craft kits, plush toys, and miniature dolls from my childhood. It also includes some hints of my favourite TV shows, music and other hobbies.
“I was also heavily inspired by artists Mechelle Bounpraseuth and Yoshitomo Nara, as well as the heartwarming novella, “The Little Prince”.”
She said this opportunity has given her the final push and confidence to pursue a career in the visual arts field.
Olivia Phoon
St Andrew’s Cathedral School
Artwork Title: Hazy recollections
Ms Phoon’s artwork has been described as a conceptual exploration in the notions of memories, relationships, and the passage of time.
“In this way I hoped for it to come across as reminiscent of a distant yet familiar past, possessing an ambiguity that facilitates audience interpretation and response,” Ms Phoon said.
“Primarily centring around the notion of memories, my artwork is generally inspired by how these are lost both in the passage of time and the process of ageing.
“I was particularly interested in how stories and experiences can be lost to temporal rifts, leading me to my exploration of my paternal grandmother’s photographic albums, the pictures of which most of my individual pieces are based on.”
Sarah Carroll
Loreto Normanhurst
Artwork Title: Monozygotic
A physical manifestation of the strong companionship between Ms Carroll’s identical twin sister, Lizzie, and herself, inspired by the uniqueness of their relationship.
It also represents larger psychological questions around the dynamics of such a close bond between twins.
“Being identical twins it’s rare to find others that share not only this bond but the strong companionship we have fostered between ourselves,” she said.
“This strong companionship has led us to nurture the differences between ourselves, another element of our relationship I wanted to showcase as to challenge the common idea that identical twins are clones of one another when in fact, our individuality becomes quite prominent when you get to know us.”
Sienna Salvato
De La Salle College, Cronulla
Artwork Title: Please miss, not everyone loves Shakespeare as much as you!
Ms Salvato’s work represents the age-old story of students not always sharing their teacher’s passion for the classics.
“I asked members of our drama class to model Desdemona and Othello for the portraits, encouraging them to ‘ham it up’ so I could create a whimsical take on the idea of a Shakespearean tragedy,” she said.
“My work was heavily inspired by the real lived experiences of HSC students. Teachers are so excited by classics like Shakespeare, and try to share that enthusiasm with their students, however, with the stress of the HSC, something like Othello is often viewed as just another task to overcome.
“I sought to comically capture this dichotomy in my work. Through this exploration, I aim to spark conversations about the ways in which education can bridge the gap between traditional curriculum and the lived experiences and interests of contemporary students.”
Ms Salvato currently studies a bachelor of design and a bachelor of education, with the intention to pursue a career in Visual Art and TAS teaching.
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