ArtExpress, a showcase of selected works from 2023 HSC visual arts students, is open at Ngununggula Southern Highlands Gallery until the end of June.
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The exhibition offers recent graduates from the area and across the state an opportunity to exhibit their work, share their artistic vision and gain exposure to a public audience.
At the end of last year, Highlands artist Ben Quilty produced an artwork for the HSC Class of 2023, which was delivered to all 70,000 HSC students when they received their credentials in the mail this year.
![Moss Vale High School graduate Charlotte Blake, Chevalier College graduate Christian Emerton and Ben Quilty at the ArtExpress opening at Ngununggula Southern Highlands Gallery on Saturday, May 25. Picture supplied Moss Vale High School graduate Charlotte Blake, Chevalier College graduate Christian Emerton and Ben Quilty at the ArtExpress opening at Ngununggula Southern Highlands Gallery on Saturday, May 25. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/190291005/15b2b774-9565-42a4-a4f3-b2a2e2765815.jpeg/r0_0_1816_2420_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
His artwork aimed to inspire school-leavers "to spread their wings" and is also on display as part of the exhibition.
Southern Highland News spoke to Mr Quilty and two of the 2023 graduates whose work was selected by ArtExpress for its showcase about art, the HSC and how the manage to keep their creativity up when under pressure.
Mr Quilty explains that art is "not just about beauty".
"It's about sadness, happiness, ugliness, trauma, anxiety," he said.
"Art is about everything (and) young people approaching the HSC feel all of it."
![Ben Quilty's artwork created for the 2023 cohort of HSC visual arts students is on display for ArtExpress at Ngununggula until the end of June. Picture supplied Ben Quilty's artwork created for the 2023 cohort of HSC visual arts students is on display for ArtExpress at Ngununggula until the end of June. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/190291005/b24b5a91-aaa1-4724-ac14-96957ec74d0e.jpg/r0_0_2917_1325_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He says art is a way for a young person to express themselves in what is oftentimes a "crazy" world. He says they often excel in their HSC because of this.
As a student Mr Quilty said he was "pretty disorganised".
"So I left my major work to the very last minute, which I highly advise against," he said.
![Kaylee Kaczmarczyk's work Unveiling the Minds Maze is part of the ArtExpress showcase. Picture supplied
Kaylee Kaczmarczyk's work Unveiling the Minds Maze is part of the ArtExpress showcase. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/190291005/608c5e50-96b3-4b2f-9516-1478ad0b07ab.jpg/r0_60_3872_2770_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
However, he drew on this for inspiration when creating his artwork for the 2023 cohort of HSC visual arts students: "A self portrait in the face of my community back then who were almost entirely against me going to art school."
Mr Quilty says the work is about the confusion he felt at that time.
"Confusion I think is pretty natural at 17 years old," he said.
"To young creative people, if your parents are trying to talk you out of travelling the exciting road into the creative industries? Ignore them.
"Make work about yourself (because) us adults need to hear your stories," Mr Quilty said.
Moss Vale High School graduate Charlotte Blake is one of the exhibiting artists.
Her work centres around "complexity and personal connection" using elements that are significant to her.
"I had never really given much thought to visual arts until we went into lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic," Ms Blake said.
She and her mother started to take ceramics classes and Ms Blake fell in love with the medium.
"I absolutely loved it so when it came time for Year 12 HSC subjects and what I was interested in I realised that I wanted to visual arts as well," Ms Blake said.
Of being selected for ArtExpress, Ms Blake said she was surprised to have been selected being that she was fairly new to the visual arts.
She is continuing her studies in the creative space studying music and performance at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
Chevalier College graduate Christian Emerton was also selected for ArtExpress.
His thought-provoking piece 'Living with Dying' "delves into the limitations of the human experience and prompts viewers to consider the boundaries that define our existence.
"My artwork explores how our context impacts our experience of life," Mr Emerton said.
"It tends to focus on the physicality of that. One work particularly focuses on prosthetics and how amputation and experiences like that can directly shape our lives.
"It goes beyond that to look at socially and historically how our context influence our experiences," he said.
Mr Emerton is undertaking further studies around 3D animation.
ArtExpress is on display at Ngununggula Southern Highlands Gallery until the end of June.