A Press Release for this exhibition of recent Curtin University graduates tells us the word is 'diversity'. Although the eleven artists concerned my indeed have diverse backgrounds, the eighty exhibits presented here are, with very few exceptions, much of a muchness.

It would seem these graduates have all learned one lesson, the importance of the surface, which is without doubt a substantial concern in art. All visual art is an abstraction of either mental, physical or emotional aspects of empirical experience but once the idea, subject or feeling is translated into art, it becomes an object in its own right. An art object, figurative or non, formal or expressive, should stimulate the visual sense of the viewer in order to activate the mind or imagination. An interesting surface will certainly catch the eye but if the viewer's attention is to be held long enough to engage with the art, the object needs to offer something more than mere superficial decoration.

What we have here is a building full of beautiful surfaces decorated with luscious paint. They catch the eye and hold the attention, for a while. A few try to go further and almost make it. Diana Webster's bold dark acrylic and mixed media works would take the concept of house and home further into the shadows if she had shed more light on the concept. And Frances Blythe's paintings of folds and foliage work well only when she concentrates on either one or the other. When equal attention is paid to both subjects on the one surface, each loses interest.

Meanwhile Judith Williams gives us folksy narratives and home spun humour in her painting. These works stand out for two reasons; 1) they reveal fine drawing skills, and 2) show little interest in surface effects. Williams is painting pictures not making paintings. Once she starts to merge narrative and imagery with nuances of the medium she'll have so much more to offer.

Two artists do work the surface well and engage the viewer's interest for as long as we chose to view. Vicki O'Shea's unique state collograph prints offer shades of grey filled with possibilities. We readily fall into these well structured and visually interesting surfaces that allow us to find our own imagined imagery. But Mai Yung Ng's acrylic on paper The Hermit's Dream is the winner. This panorama oozes with sensuous suggestions of luscious fruit, figures and flowers in warm colours. Meanwhile Ng's print Extrusion 2 and her construction Scales are fine examples of how paying attention to the surface of the art object, with even the simplest of means, can provide visual satisfaction and engage the viewer in complex ideas.