It's always interesting to view post-graduate exhibitions as they should display a sense of concentrated effort on the part of the students, who can now call themselves 'artists'. They illustrate the culmination of years of practical endeavour, theoretical disputation and personal exploration. The results will naturally be diverse but should demonstrate creative thinking expressed via artistic skill. What we find here are exhibits that range from the bright to the boring in concept and craftsmanship.
It would seem drawing and painting are passé. Paintings in swirls of pus and blood colours and huge graphite grey drawings that suggest body folds might engage a med student, if only in an attempt to identify the subject, but no one else. Bigger is not better when there is no finesse with the medium. As for spreading out white acrylic paint then pealing it up in large flakes or strips to make 'sculptures', all that can be said is looking at the finished work is about as boring as watching the paint dry. But not as sleep inducing as walking around a pile of folded bed sheets we're told are drawn on with graphite, or watching a video of a figure holding a flapping bird. One can only suppose these exhibitors have at least 1500 word essays validating their work.
Thankfully there are a few graduates who are well on their way to becoming artists and who can relax knowing their artwork speaks well for them. For example Roz MacKenzie's stunning ceramic forms in small and large scale bring to mind peaceful zen gardens as they display a perfect harmony between form and decoration. Meanwhile Levels of Intervention, by Lisa McDiarmid invites us into the realms of science and fiction. Each mini installation of computer components and found objects, including microscope slides, offers its own interpretation while the whole suggests a continuity of concept and construction.
In her paintings and installations, Sandra Hill presents potent reminders that racism is endemic to language. Her well executed painting Assimilation depicts a brown skinned girl in a white dress standing in a grey (not black, not white) landscape. Half hidden in her neat frock are the letters that spell out the word 'assimilation' while around the borders we read a dictionary's definition. But it is Which Way Home that speaks volumes. Six oil and acrylic square surfaces, well developed with subtle texture and colour, host one letter each. Together they spell DEBATE with each letter referencing Deprivation, Exclusion, Betrayal, Assimilation, Terminate, Eliminate. Beneath these works is a collection of official documents and family photos. Powerful stuff.
It would seem the jewellery department is demanding, and getting, the most from student artists. Louise Tasker's necklets take the ancient concentric spiral into contemporary design. Her Myth I & II are beautiful examples of body adornment. Vanessa Buemi covers arm decoration exquisitely. Her manipulation of simple materials such as plastic press studs, hooks and eyes, and her ability to crochet fine chain produces some of the most fantastic wrist bands. These are elegant and bold works with romantic titles like I see a warrior barefoot and dancing and My life is more then a vision to bring out the fantasy in us all. Then you have to marvel at Claire Townsend's hand adornments, a fascinating collection of stirling silver and aluminium multi-digit rings. They are articulated so movement is not impaired and if they are amazing to look at, no doubt they're equally exciting to wear.
Some of these exhibitors will forever be students while there are a few that will go on learning and growing as fine artists.