'Journeys' Diploma Visual Arts Exhibition opens on Wednesday

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This exhibition by students of the Diploma in Visual Arts opens at 12 noon on Wednesday 31st July. The exhibition will showcase printmaking, painting, photography, ceramics and drawing. This group of Diploma students have previously completed a Certificate IV in Visual Arts at Nepean TAFE and are majoring in two subject areas as part of their Diploma study. We wish them the best for their exhibition and hope everyone can join them to celebrate at the opening on Wednesday.

Stephen Hall's Exhibition

Artwork by Stephen Hall from his current exhibition. Click for a larger image.

Nepean Arts and  Design Centre's visual Arts teacher Stephen Hall has a solo exhibition on  at the moment at Sheffer Gallery, 38 Lander Street Darlington. The exhibition is on display until August 3, and the Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday 11am-6pm.

The opening of the exhibition was a great success, with many colleagues and students amongst the guests.

Here is Stephen's artist statement from the show:

Tigers Horses and 16^th Century Men is the work of an artist who has been exhibiting for 30 years and has always been deeply interested in who humans are and what we do and why we do the thing we do.  This also brings into focus our relationship with, and the impact we have on planet earth itself and the other creatures we share it with.  Tigers hang on to existence, horses are the epitome of wild freedom but have been tamed and are now comparatively redundant and have been unwittingly implicit in mankind’s journey.  Pointy bearded men in ruffs seem to be a relic irreconcilable with our current understanding of life. I believe these three to be the perfect protagonists to be given a chance to talk about what the hell mankind is on about today. Narratives as well as figurative forms alter and breakdown only to rebuild and reform never admitting to an absolute truth.

The exhibition includes a three meter painting painted while watching a documentary about tiger cubs trying to survive in the simplest way where everything is about the essentials of life as well as six ceramic sculptures that lurch from one form to another restlessly morphing; a figure that might appear to be human or a horse at first glance but is quickly revealed as a hybrid form struggling to assert its existence. The final part of the exhibition is a series of twenty seven ink drawings depicting tigers, horses and 16^th century men and covers many aspects of transformation, relationships and how stupid humans can be especially when we think we know what we are doing, while some are just simply playful.

                                                                                                                                            - Stephen Hall, 2013

Ruma's Solo Show

Ruma Hort is a  recent graduate from our Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts, and she is having a solo show at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery!

We hope you can help Ruma celebrate this fantastic achievement at the opening on Friday the 2nd of August. Click on the invitations below for more details. Ruma's art is a fascinating combination of her arts training and her experience as a hairdresser, you can read about what motivates her work below.

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Drawing upon 10 years of hairdressing experience, it is understandable that hair has become an important part of my life. Not only does it make a person’s appearance, it also says a lot about their personality and self-worth. Everyone knows when they having a bad day or when they are in need of a haircut no matter how shallow they are. Once they have left the hairdresser’s they often feel like a brand new person even if they only lost a centimetre off their hair. To be the person that can change someone’s appearance and have such an impact on their self-confidence is really quite empowering.
Cutting hair used to scare me, it was the one thing I feared most as I was learning, knowing that once the hair is cut there is no way to stick it back on, no way to rewind the clock. Mistakes were obvious and difficult to correct but once I mastered the technique there was no looking back.

I’m a very textural person, from visual patterns to surfaces that are sensitive to touch, every element matters. This is even more true to hair, no two people have the same textured hair and the differences define what you can do to it. This resonates strongly back to my art where I use my knowledge of the textural quality of hair as the core inspiration of my work. I let the materials dictate what I do, from creating the designs, sculpting the lino to assembling the elements into a finished work. It is all about process rather than the finished product. This is just like the hair on someone’s head, falling in its own way with each strand needing individual attention.

The human hair I use in my work comes from the hair extensions that I have collected over the years. Human hair has a softness and delicateness that is easy to manipulate from straight to curly, bouncy to flat. This contrasts with the horse hair that is strong, wiry and difficult to manipulate, it dictates to me where it wants to lay. Collected from a few sources, horse hair is quite valuable especially in the grooming of dressage competitors, which has resulted in sourcing the supply of a long black tail from a deceased horse.

My process is strongly dictated by documentation, analysing and recording all the bits and pieces that interest me along the way as well as the hours spent photographing of all the different compositions I trial to create the finished work. Even though I am predominantly a printmaker using traditional techniques, the contemporary presentation and framing of the work is very important to the end product.

The images I create begin with scanned strands of hair, with the emphasis on the linear quality and the natural shapes and patterns that intertwine and interact with each other. My work is multi dimensional, creating optical illusions that alter the viewer's sensation of depth and perspective. This is also combined with the repeated, mirrored and intricate designs that are inspired by my Bangladeshi heritage. I have always believed that where you come from defines who you are and I felt it was important to explore this completely different culture through my work and give a little more of who I am in my art.

- Ruma Hort, 2013.

Olena Kosenko a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize

Advanced Diploma student Olena Kosenko has had her painting 'Fold and turn and fold again' selected for the Mosman Art Prize. The $30,000 prize is one of the oldest and most prestigious municipally funded art prizes in Australia. This year the judge, artist Lucy Culliton, selected 116 finalists from 710 entries. Olena's painting was completed at TAFE as part of her Advanced Diploma painting major. The Mosman Art Prize runs until the 25th August at the Mosman Art Gallery.
Olena has also had a work selected as a finalist for the North Sydney Art prize, which runs until the 5th August. Congratulations Olena on your run of success.

A new experimental artwork in the Trapezium Gallery!

Gallery installation shot, 'Birth of Venus'

The annual experimental drawing project by students form the Diploma of Visual Arts is on again! This year, the students have made a version of Boticelli's 'Birth of Venus' using maverick materials including rice flour, salt, jelly crystals, tumeric and more.

The exhibition opens in the Trapezium Gallery on Wednesday July 16 at 12 noon. All Welcome!

Ruma Hort at PRG

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This new work by Diploma of Visual Arts graduate Ruma Hort is currently showing at the Penrith regional gallery & The Lewers Bequest in conjunction with the exhibition ' Crowning Glory'. Congratulations Ruma on your regional Gallery showing!

Mid-Year Intake for Visual Arts: Book your Interview Now!

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We still have a few spots left in the Diploma of Visual Arts July intake. If you or someone you know has a passion for visual arts, then this course is an ideal grounding in many aspects of visual arts studio practice. 

Subjects covered include painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics and art photography.

 Graduates of the Diploma of Visual Arts may later go on to specialise in advanced studies in one or more studio areas in the Advanced Diploma of Visual Art.

To book your interview for our July intake, call Regina now on ph 9208 9484.