Graduate exhibitions are a rite of passage for Art & Design students around the world. They’re an opportunity to share with the wider community the creative practice students develop during their degree and launches their creative careers.
UNSW School of Art & Design’s graduate exhibition the A&D ANNUAL, Australia’s largest showcase of graduate contemporary art and design, will be presented with a twist this year. Students and visitors can take part from wherever they are around the world, with the exhibition delivered both online and in-person from 9 – 19 December 2020.
To get a taste of the 2020 exhibition, we asked a few of our graduating students about their practice, the works they’ll be exhibiting and their experiences at UNSW School of Art & Design.
Harris was awarded the prestigious Design Institute of Australia’s Graduate of the Year Award, in both the NSW and national jewellery design category in 2020. Harris is an emerging international designer and artist who focuses on social issues including the displacement of refugees, immigration and cultural difference.
Harris believes art and design has the power to bring attention to the importance of humanity. His portfolio of contemporary art embodies the idea of co-existence of Eastern and Western cultures through jewellery fabricating. The work is born out of hybridity, perceiving Chinese culture through the lens of contemporary jewellery practices, so these dynamics become the New Traditions of this Migrant Time.
What key skill have you learnt at UNSW School of Art & Design that is invaluable to your practice?
I attribute my originality to the concept of shared identity under both cultural and social content. Self-discovering, self-developing and self-evaluating enable me to see binaries, to understand singularity and plurality and finally to embrace myself. I have learnt what inclusiveness is, and how to understand others and accept my own, eventually, to interpret all these into a new form of art.
What is your most memorable experience from your time at UNSW and why?
When I decided on the name of my Honours project, Diasporic Jewels, because it summarises my life and study over the past four years and my perspective of life as an international student. To make voices and find social belongingness for people with dual cultural backgrounds like me is the meaning of the project. [UNSW School of Art & Design staff] Melinda Young, Bic Tieu and Trent Jansen have always been supportive when I had struggles with my project. All of these made it so meaningful and unforgettable.
2020 has been a challenging year. What’s a key lesson, piece of advice or thing that’s kept you motivated that you will take away from this year?
It’s been a challenge for everyone around the world. But I’m so grateful to see artists and practitioners keep up on their originality on the topic of multicultural identity. Looking into their work keeps me motivated during this time. Collaborating with different artists with the same thoughts is a good idea as well because you can not only share various experiences but also stimulate each other’s creative minds.
Karen Riethmuller – Master of Art (with Distinction)
Graduate Karen Riethmuller is a Sydney-based artist practicing primarily in photography and photocollage. With a career that has evolved from banking and finance to practicing as an Architectural Interior Designer and a Master of Fine Arts, Karen also enjoys a busy family life as a mum.
Karen's work explores the concept of femininity as a social construction and its relationship with the photographic image. Her work is informed by beauty, artifice and idealised femininity, and consolidated by extensive research into the history of aesthetics. Karen’slatest series of work explores the transformational potential of photography by employing everyday objects and traditional iconography. Familiar motifs interact with elements from her collection of “feminine” objects to create enigmatic and allegorical imagery.
What key skill have you learnt at UNSW School of Art & Design that is invaluable to your practice?
Learning from industry professionals and experienced creative practitioners who have helped me to articulate my practice and challenged me to experiment.
What is your most memorable experience from your time at UNSW and why?
Making friends, who have also become creative collaborators that have provided so much support over the years. Also, losing hours poring over the UNSW Paddington Library’s amazing collection of art references.
2020 has been a challenging year. What’s a key lesson, piece of advice or thing that’s kept you motivated that you will take away from this year?
It’s been difficult to stay creatively motivated this year. I found it helpful to look back on my notes and visual diaries to remind myself of sources of inspiration and artists that I love. With your art practice, remember to play, experiment and enjoy the process. Trust your instincts. In daily life, I try to apply the mantra “done is better than perfect”! My eldest son is finishing his schooling this year with the HSC underway so focusing on family support has also been important during this difficult year.
Francis Nay’s practice across a variety of mediums creates a mix of digital illustration and audiovisual work. Studying at UNSW School of Art & Design was a formative experience for Francis, teaching him to find intent and meaning on any scale and deliver it in a sensory way that resonates beyond just being seen. Pursuing a career as a multifunctional digital designer, Francis will use these skills to create unique experiences for others.
Imagining Climate Change is an installation work that immerses viewers in a visual narrative to generate ideas about the real-life possibilities of the future. The work imagines everyday life for people living in regional and rural Australia post-climate change; and how people might coexist with extremities and urgent measures in sustainability.
What key skill have you learnt at UNSW School of Art & Design that is invaluable to your practice?
Studying at UNSW School of Art & Design and being around other budding creatives has taught me the importance of being in a community of practice. Talking with others in my cohort continually gave me new perspective and support for what I was trying to contribute and affirmed the feeling of being a part of something bigger.
What is your most memorable experience from your time at UNSW and why?
I feel extremely lucky to have been taught by lecturers like Tom Ellard and Simon Hunt and to be on the receiving end of their knowledge and enthusiasm for the next generation of creatives. Their lessons emphasised the rapport between passion into craft, and much of my inspiration and acumen comes from concepts they suggested to learn and build on continually.
2020 has been a challenging year. What’s a key lesson, piece of advice or thing that’s kept you motivated that you will take away from this year?
Given the circumstances and the course of events around the world, it would be remiss not to consider the impact this situation has had on us as students. Rather than letting dreams and ideas become sequestered to after-the-fact, I felt motivated to realise what I wanted to make as a healthy escape. However mentally taxing, there is a payoff in knowing you’re making art to be enjoyed by others in the same predicament.
Celebrate our graduating class and see the diverse creative practices of our students by visiting the A&D ANNUAL in-person at UNSW Galleries from 9 – 19 December or online. Find more details here.