Visual Arts

Christian Boustani 

90z Street 

Collection of work 

I have created my body of work, “90z Street” as homage to a time period which I am fascinated by: the 1990s. The work consists of multiple art forms; the use of a ‘ready-made’ Nike Air Jordan 1 shoe, a Lego replica of the same shoe, a collection of photographs which display prominent concepts from the 90s and two videos; one being a rotating view of the Lego shoe and the other being a ‘music video’, which was filmed in Belmore. Creating the Lego Air Jordan consisted of initially designing the concept on the computer application ‘LEGO Digital Designer’ and then building the 501-piece structure in real life. I made the decision to use Lego as a form of Art medium as a way of expressing my belief that anything can become a work of art; even a children’s toy. The photographs have been printed on acrylic glass and display central 1990’s concepts such as graffiti and messages calling for social unification against the political hierarchy. One of the photos has me present in the work, a concept which has been popularised by artists such as Sean Gladwell. The music video was created using Premiere Pro, applying edits such as VHS filters and the audio instrumental of a popular, though expletive Tupac song; “Breathin”. With my artwork, I hope to inform a newer generation of the unique and revolutionary time period that was the 1990s, and aim to shed light on the street culture of the time. 

View Christians Work HERE

 

90s Time Capsule

 

 

James Byrnes 

Places you’ve been but never seen 

Drawing 

In my work, I wanted to explore the idea of nostalgia and iconic Australian places. Places that you feel as though you have been, in reality have never seen, heard or touched. The drawings/paintings all have a Sydney suburban feel, which the viewer can relate to and draw comparisons to their own lives and environments. 

View James Collection HERE

Benjamin  Cooper 

The Crying Kookaburra  

Graphic Design 

My is idea is to convey environmental destruction through my story. I use a narrative following the perspective of a kookaburra as it tries to survive amid the destruction of its environment from the uncaring humans, who seem beyond consequence. 

I have influences from artists like Shaun Tan’s Cicada and Changes by Anthony Browne, childrens’ book writers and/or illustrators whose style and medium inspired my process and helped mould it into my later iterations of my story. My other influence is Ken Done, a famous Australian artist whose style is very painterly with a focus on texture, and with my particular interest in some of his more abstract artworks. 

My book is intended for all audiences, adults as well as children. I want people to be conscious of the effects of human action on the environment and to care for animals, like the kookaburra, who live in it and depend on it. 

View Benjamin’s BookHERE

Thomas Cooper  

Copper Coated and Live Wires  

Printmaking 

Inspired by the works of Australian lino artists Mabel Pye and Ethel Spowers, I aimed to depict the unique forms and stark linear line of telegraph poles against the organic structures of the local canopy line. Akin to the works of the aforementioned artists I focused on utilising layers of colour to demonstrate light values and form, rather than intricate details that would merge together at a distance. The telegraph poles are an ideal subject to portray in reduction printmaking, as they are identifiable in monochromatic depictions due to their contrasting silhouette of vertical poles and conglomerate of horizontal straight lines. Symbolic of suburbia I chose to capture the unique arrangements of each telegraph poles from different perspectives and feature the colours of the flourishing surrounds in my series of prints.    

View Thomas's Collection HERE

Maxwell Hargreaves 

North Shore Nights 

Photography 

For my body of work I rode around my neighbourhood on my bike at night time and as I saw things I stopped and took photographs. I started to focus on the idea of an awareness of people, living their own individual lives. Everyone has a certain agenda for the day; taking photographs of them make consider the individuality of our lives. A lot of the time my photographs were of individual people and this suggested the loneliness or aloneness of people. I made a practice of carrying my camera with me wherever I went and some of my shots were spontaneous rather than planned. 

View Collection HERE

Mitchell Hayes 

Covid Cartouche 

Photography 

My artwork grew from my love of photography and particularly working in the darkroom. I began taking portraits of my friends, singly and in groups. I became interested in the idea of printing photographs on other surfaces and discovered a photographic emulsion that would allow me to do that.  During lockdown last year I started to notice how many discarded face masks were left in the streets and, putting all these ideas together, I began printing images of my friends on masks. I then extended my ideas by combining these ideas with ceramics and etching processes, pressing face masks into surfaces, and even dipping masks into clay slip. My artworks are like relics which in the future will be like a time capsule of life during Covid: separation, protection, fragility. 

View Collection HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Kennedy 

Movement 

Photography 

My body of work draws inspiration from the movement found in nature, specifically the ocean. The work represents the idea that nature can be changed and viewed differently every day. This artwork conveys the idea of being within nature. I wanted to create works that the audience could feel and connect with, in a similar way to Romanticism art. My body of work was inspired by Joseph Mallard Turner and his Romanticism paintings as well as Peter Dombrovskis’ photography.  

View Thomas's Collection HERE

Andrew Kim 

A Whimsical Trudge Through the Night 

Photography 

My series of photographs depict the nocturnal, isolated and urban life at night time. It documents the relative solitary life at night in our usually bustling, lively streets. My body of work, A Whimsical Trudge Through the Night captures the flipside of the industrial, social life, observing the uninhabited streets 

View Andrew's Collection HERE

Ben Marino 

Future Focused 

Photography 

My intent when approaching this Body of Work was to photograph buildings and close-up architectural features that have significance in the realm of sustainability. My Body of Work consists of 14 architectural photos captured in and around Sydney’s CBD. Along with these images there are 5 smaller square images which are minimal, paper cut-outs highlighting the key sustainable or aesthetically pleasing aspects of some of the buildings featured. One of my aims when composing this Body of Work was to consider the different angles of buildings and appreciating the varying lines and curves that may not be noticed at first glance. Another one of my aims was to balance the amount of light and shadows in all of my photographs and the sky-to-building ratio to ensure that the complete Work is minimal, not cluttered and still impactful. As a whole, my works focus on and feature subjects that demonstrate leading examples of sustainable architecture that are not only visually appealing, but pave the way for a more Earth-conscious built environment heading into the future.  

View Ben's Collection HERE

Liam Mattera 

Alone with George 

Linoprinting 

My main focus and topic is Australian birds. I was inspired by my grandparent who have Australian birds. My grandparents migrated from Ischia, an island near Napoli, Italy during the 1960s to build a new life. They settled in Gladesville and wanted to raise animals including chickens and rabbits. George the cockatoo became a family pet. He is now 48 and part of the family. They also have cockatiels but George remains the favourite. I have grown up with these birds all my life. While I was creating my work my Nonna died and this artwork is now even more special for me. During the course I have taken photos of the birds and drawn them and cut them into lino tiles. Bruce Gould has inspired me with his works about Australian birds. 

View Liam's Collection HERE

David Mooney 

‘Unmasked’

Drawing 

The individual person expresses a dual personality; the one that everyone sees and the one you hide deep within. My work ‘Fragmented: Personality Personified’ reflects the perception of both external and internal personalities. I have reflected this concept through my family, portraying them with physical expressions which define their characteristics on the outside, whilst the fragmented and crumpled nature goes on to reflect what each individual person hides. The fragments break down the divided and broken nature of each family member’s personality, reflecting personal traits and who they truly are as people. 

View David's Collection HERE

Talis Prior 

Chaos in Covid 19 

Photography 

During lockdown last year I began taking photographs of how my life and that of my friends was impacted, and during Year 12 I have explored this idea further. Some of my photographs are playful and romanticised and others are more personal portraits. Each photograph explores one particular aspect of how young people have coped with relationships, stress, isolation and boredom. I had seen some artworks by William Yang at the Art Gallery of NSW last year and I also wanted to use the idea of text with the artworks. I created a book and wrote a passage for each photograph to suggest ideas and thoughts about each of the images. 

 

View Talis’s Book HERE

Zachary Rec 

Old World Blues 

Photography 

My work focuses on the forgotten world, where structures have been left to rot. I documented these places and have titled my collection of work Old World Blues. I hope to capture a sense of nostalgia and wonder, all the while remembering the forgotten. 

View Zachery's Collection HERE

 

 

Cole Simpson 

Mirror Man 

Photography 

My practice is heavily focused on the use of analogue cameras and traditional wet photography. I feel that the process of analogue black and white photography is much more than ‘taking a photograph’ but rather ‘making a photograph’. The square format of medium format analogue photograp3hy correlates with my intent. I wanted to create a commentary on social media and its everyday use. Social media has had a huge impact on young people and I am curious about the way image and identity are curated through apps like Instagram. Do these images represent a different reality? I want to challenge and examine how our identity is influenced by what is dictated by social media, and showcase photography as an artform with intention and purpose, rather than just a means to communicate across the internet. Shooting on film makes me think about my shot more; composition has to be intentional in every frame. The time and expense required make me think a lot more about what I am trying to express to an audience.  At home I have set up a studio for my portraits which both reveal and conceal, which suggest the formats of social media but only hint at the subject.  

View Cole's Collection HERE

Oliver Stephenson 

Finding Mr No (미스터 ) 

Collection of Work 

The artwork I have been developing for the most part of 8 months focuses on the journey of my Grandfather from North Korea to South Korea and eventually ending up in Australia. His story has inspired me to express the journey he took through art, as it gives some insight into his own personal life without oversharing, leaving room for misinterpretation. The course of his journey is set up in five artworks each representing different experiences without revealing too much information, keeping the theme personal and emotional for both the audience and I, the artist. I interviewed my Grandfather – Mr No – and he spoke about his journey as a five year old from North to South Korea, a journey that involved travel by boat in cold waters in order to achieve freedom.  He lost his family in South Korea for seven months before being reunited. He survived by eating from bins, train hopping and appealing to random strangers. He now lives a life of freedom in Australia but the memories of past experiences remain strong.- 

 

View Oliver's Collection HERE

Levi Zaarour 

Generation Why? 

Graphic Design 

The emotional outlook of many teens has inspired my body of work. My generations reaction to emotion and feeling I feel is not spoken about enough. With this in mind, I aim to dig into the inner emotions of young people including myself. Throughout the process of creation for my body of work, I recreated iconic portraits throughout history. For each artwork, I attempted to allude to works such as The Desperate Man, Gustave Corbet and The Son of Man, Rene Magritte. With the appropriation of these iconic portraits, I have added different emotions or issues relevant in society today, such as the pressure of time and women’s rights. Influence of my work stems from these original portraits and how expression was achieved in past eras, I aim to recreate similar expressions while holding my own individuality. 

 

View Levi's Work HERE