Charlotte Bergman Charlotte’s Major Design Project focuses on the impacts of asthma on sporting activity, in particular, the popular Australian pastime of surfing. Acknowledging the previous limitations imposed on water sports by the condition, Charlotte’s solution is a ‘wearable’ that enables users to ‘flip’ their existing Ventolin inhaler canister into the delivery unit. Using 3D printing, she has engineered a device that seals the Ventolin canister inside the main body of her device. By rotating the mouthpiece, the water tight valve system opens, allowing a Ventolin to be administered and importantly, access to water sports for millions of asthmatics worldwide.
Emily Conick Thousands of people worldwide experience the trauma of an amputation each year, but what is often forgotten is the cost, both initial and ongoing, of attaining a prosthetic to replace a lost limb. With a young amputee of 6 years of age needing 9 prosthetic legs by the time they reach their late teens, Emily identified the need for a prosthetic that value-added to consumers by providing a longer service life. Using 3D printing, the unit derived allows the height and foot length to grow with the user, negating the need for multiple, expensive replacement prosthetics as the child grows.
Josafina Paddison Incorporating an algae tube into a bollard system, Josafina’s Major Design Project provides the means by which councils can sustainably address two needs in urban design with a single product. Readily integrating into a variety of landscapes, the design captures pollutants and CO2, whilst providing essential infrastructure in the form of public lighting.
Mia Patterson Housing is an essential part of everyday life, however, the building process is a large contributor to the waste chain, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of offcuts and non-reusable materials generated each year. Considering this in the design of her secondary dwelling for a Southern Highlands client, Mia has aimed to provide a modern dwelling that can act as a source of income or additional family accommodation, whilst reducing the impact of modern builds on the environment. Using prefabrication and designing all elements of her dwelling around standard stock material sizes, Mia’s solution creates a way in which building can enhance the lives of those that dwell in them, whilst reducing the impact on the environment.
Zara Bowditch Analysing the current Esther Rd facilities for Art and Design, Zara undertook the challenge of reimagining the waterfront location to create a future focused space for Queenwood’s creative community. Spread over three levels Zara’s design provides a variety of outdoor and indoor spaces to provide amenities including an increased number of classrooms, new exam spaces, larger specialist facilities, a rooftop farm and garden. Wrapped in cascading vertical gardens, the building delivers spaces to cater for core curriculum needs, as well as broader school community functions and events.
Emily Conick Focus area: Textile Arts Emily has designed and constructed an innovative and technology focused wearable textile garment incorporating lights and laser cutting. The garment has been designed for display at Vivid 2021, throughout the three-week series of light exhibitions across Sydney. The theme in 2021 will be based of the devastating bush fires that tore through Australia’s east coast 2019/ 20. The main theme carried throughout this design is the contradicting elements of Australia’s native bushland and the damage caused by the bush fires, paired with the vision of the smoky skies observed throughout these intense times.
Beatrice Hardy Focus area: Costume Beatrice’s Major Textiles Project is a dance costume for the Day of the Dead festival held annually in Mexico City each November. The garment is a highly embellished dance costume that communicates the historical, cultural and contemporary factors representing the Day of the Dead festival. Taking inspiration from traditional Mexican dance costume, the garment blends both functional and aesthetic elements to create vibrancy when dancing with the traditional colours and patterns that represent this unique cultural event.
Phoebe Haskins Focus area: Textile Arts Phoebe’s garment is an intricate dress-featuring laser cut leather details as a primary fabric manipulation technique. The garment has been designed to be worn for the opening of the Sculpture by the Sea event in 2020 and to then for display at Bondi Icebergs restaurant. The focus area for Phoebe’s Major Textiles Project is textile arts. It is categorised as textile arts since it is highly decorative through the use of laser cut detail as its overarching feature repeated throughout. Reflecting the Sculpture by the Sea context, aspects of beaches and waves have been incorporated into the design through the colour palette and use of lines which reflect the beach culture and wave movement.
Jade Jackson Focus area: Costume For her Major Textiles Project, Jade drew on the annual Met Gala fashion event to blend contemporary influences such as Dior’s spring/summer collection of 2007. In keeping with the sophistication of the Gala, Jade’s exaggerated runway style kimono reinvents the traditional cultural costume into a modern showpiece.
Rina Kada Focus area: Costume Inspired by the jellyfish, Rina’s garment is a one-off dress designed for actress Lily Collins, to be worn at the Met Gala held at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute. Blending historical inspirations from Victorian era, and cultural elements such as Japanese Shibori, the dress provides a modern twist to costume design.
Zoe Keating Focus area: Costume Focusing on the area of costume Zoe’s garment was designed for Greta Thunberg to wear during a documentary about her climate activism at the change summit in 2020 to reflect the issue of climate change, and more specifically rising sea levels. A picture says a thousand words and the garment is designed to tell a story; to convey the reality of this global crisis and motivate people to take action. Using a colour scheme of cool blues and greens tones to symbolise the water, the garment has a statement white focal point on the collar, representing the melting ice as well as the hand silk painted fabric for the blazer.
Monique Marschner Focus area: Apparel Monique’s Major Textiles Project was designed to be worn as a one off garment, at a high-end special event, such as to the Oscars Award Ceremony or the Met Gala Ball. The dress incorporates delicate decorative features such as beading, pleating and machine embroidered fabric texture on the collar and cuff. The inspiration behind the dress is the issue of coral bleach, which is reflected in the ombre colours of the pleated skirt and the beading detail on the belt.
Katsya Toth Focus area: Costume Katsya’s garment is a high neck, black feathered gown, inspired by the movie; The Black Swan. The gown is visually intricate and highly embellished combining tucking, feathers, beading and laser cut feathers to create a unique dress designed for actress; Natalie Portman, to wear at the second Movie Premiere event in November 2021.
Bridget Clarke “Odyssey” Medium: Drawing As we progress through the ages, we see time and time again the repetition of history. My Body of Work appropriates the narrative of Homer’s Odyssey to explore how in spite of history humanity prevails over adversity. Illustrated through the narrative of the Odyssey, my work illuminates for the audience the recurring repression of people as they are trying to survive. My Odysseus represents every man drifting through 3 time periods. Beginning with the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus is thrust into the Holocaust, the viewer is subjected to face the cruelty of humanity. Focusing on the global issue of the lack of sympathy for refugees and asylum seekers, Odysseus identifies with the refugee author Behrooz Bouccani. I took my inspiration from comic art, specifically the historical graphic novelist Reinhard Kleist, featuring the use of ink pens and ink wash. As well as Guan Wei’s ‘Paper War’ use of a single colour, which I observed at the MCA.
Georgie Forrest "Emotionally Altered" Medium: Photo- media My body of work ‘Emotionally Altered’ is a reflection on the human condition. Traditionally, photography has a preconceived expectation of evidential truth and so by tearing and reconstructing my photographs in an abstracted and fragmented form, I challenged the reality that I have captured to reflect the ambiguity and transient nature of our current world. My Body of Work is inspired by the deconstructed work of photographer Bill Henson and his use of light, tearing of images and his postmodern approach to photography. By deconstructing and reconstructing the images, I explore the interior and exterior world of children and the slowdown of life as a result of COVID-19; contrasting portraiture of children who look out to dramatic skies and empty environments. I’ve blocked the artwork with white, symbolic of white noise, creating uncertainty and ambiguity over what can and cannot be viewed. In this way it is more what you don’t see in the photograph than what is portrayed that has the potential to transmit information. My work explores the changing world and the relationship between one’s self and the environment and evokes the emotional toll of loss, isolation and uncertainty of the past year.
Monique Marschner "In Solitude" Medium: Photo-media My body of work incorporates photography and an installation to encapsulate the tranquillity and solitude humanity seek within the expanse of the Australian coastline. I was inspired conceptually by Max Dupain’s beach culture photography and his use of light and shadow. In my work the candid silhouetted figures symbolise the universal person, unified through a search for escape within nature from the turmoil of our world. Further emphasised through the golden hues of a dawn setting. In order to immerse the audience, I have created a multi-sensory experience using sound, visual and tactile qualities. A projection of dawn light hitting a body of water has been hung from sheer fabric that ebbs and flows replicating the rising and falling of tides paired with the audio of lapping waves embodies the experience of serenity. As the audience enters the seclusion of the installation, they become the onlooker on the beach incorporating their role into the artwork.
Angelica Gordon If you were to ask me “who are you?” my answer would be simple - I am a rower. After missing out on a crew I had dreamed of making for years, I decided to dedicate my exhibition to the variety of emotions rowing has washed over me. Within the sport I predicted the physical pain I would endure, however I didn’t comprehend the mental toll it would take on me. Art provided me the outlet to express the physical strain and emotional pain that built up within me. My overall vision for presenting this body of work is for the exhibition to be formatted in the shape of a semicircle, as this form emulates the motion of a rowing stroke. This format was important to me as it signified the purpose of the constant motion of the sport - to achieve the perfect stroke.
Beatriz Calipo ‘Home’ was always tied to where I was living and was always a fluid concept to me. Over time I have identified more so with my Brazilian and Australian identities as they have had the biggest influence and role in my life. Despite having only lived in brazil for 6 months, I find myself inexplicably fascinated and constantly drawn to my Brazilian heritage. Both my parents being Brazilian made this culture a huge part of my life, Portuguese is my mother tongue and my first language. It is a part of me and the foundations to my identity. However, the first few years of my life and memory were in Australia. When we moved away it was a place we would always come back to, it was ‘home’.
Chiara Mattingly “Masks of Disguise” is an exhibition that explores the evolution of masks from the more traditional Japanese noh theatre style of masks to the more contemporary forms of masks. Masks can be used to amplify or conceal our identity and hide our inner emotions or thoughts. They portray who we are or want to present to the rest of the world. They reflect our individuality, personality or sometimes an alter ego with which we can use to make a statement about issues that concern us.
Clare Mitchell
My overall vision for presenting this body of work is to explore the intricate embellishment nature presents in its textural tactility. My experiences whilst travelling overseas and locally have personalised my theme from my experiences enhancing my appreciation for texture in nature.
The artworks I have selected for this exhibition each showcase my textural exploration through nature, highlighting natural phenomena comprised of cliffs, clouds, water, snow, coral, and trees. The extensive display of these elements has been chosen specifically for their emotional response that stirs within us all. As such, my work cumulation of tactile experience is an abstractionist piece that displays this emotional response to texture in nature that I have developed throughout the course of my art marking.
Florentina Mertoiu This exhibition is centred around the concept of a “point of no return” and how this irrevocable moment defines future events. The significance of this theme stems from my fascination with the passing of time, and the permanency of the actions we take. There have been many theories proposed in regard to the possible manipulation of time; however, it remains one of the most questioned theories that has intrigued even the most educated. This unharnessed force inspired me to create art that looks at the myriad of moments in which a “point of no return” is reached. I chose this topic because I am deeply interested in understanding factors that lead me to moments that cannot be reversed. Therefore, the purpose of my exhibition is to not only highlight specific irreversible moments but force my audience to question moments they’ve personally experienced in which a “point of no return” was achieved.
Georgia Smith In my exhibition I have sought to emphasise the vulnerability of the human psyche through a mythological framework by examining the cultural links underpinning Asiatic taboos on mental health. By dissecting the interconnected nature of oriental spirituality, I was able to corporealize abstract psychological conditions into motifs of Japanese fables. Through my exhibition, I have aspired to catalyse discussion on the entrenched nature of emotional wellbeing within Asian culture, ultimately fostering a greater understanding of mental illness. I hope that the audience will align themselves with the psychological suffering I present so that I am able to create relatability between the emotions of the subject and the viewers. In my exhibition, I was particularly inspired by Asian mythology, my film ‘Shinigami’ allowed me to present mental illness as a demon-like force that possesses the individual, causing anguish, I emphasised this intention through the use of a darkened colour palette, the motifs of the mask as a façade for pain and the overlayed script inspired by the work of famed Japanese author Osamu Dazai. I have attempted to illustrate my intentions clearly through the use of flower symbolism, in ‘China Doll’, the western pop-art style is juxtaposed against charcoal drawn flora which connote themes of sorrow and loss.
Helen Lin Chinese traditional culture, the fundamental creativity of the Chinese civilization over thousands of years, remains influential both culturally and spiritually today. My exhibition has stemmed from the exploration of my identity and personal family background which is largely influenced by the Chinese culture. This motivated me to create a series of art that can extract the unique characteristics of a traditional element and combined it with a modern art form. My intention for this art exhibition is to uncover the traditional aspects of Chinese culture, focusing on how traditional elements are represented in the modern world.