By Tanya Steele
Dripping blood, fear, nostalgia, healing and late-stage capitalism – the young artists of the Yarra Ranges have come together to unveil a collective VCE showcase that does not disappoint.
Four students from the exhibit spoke with Star Mail journalist Tanya Steele ahead of their official launch at Burrinja Cultural Centre on Friday 2 May sharing their works and process as developing artists.
With an interest in the macabre and the detail in anatomy, Harrison from Upwey High School has created a giant interactive sculpture of human organs.
Not just a visual, the piece has an interactive element with fake blood dripping from it, which Harrison said was partly inspired by an exhibit he saw in the city.
“It was part of this whole thing with pipes and wires everywhere – It was really cool. I really liked the sound of the water actually dripping through it,” he said.
After some trial and error, Harrison said he ended up creating the massive set of organs for his work.
“They had a felt filling them with random, weird materials, so that when you actually feel the organs, they’re squishy and they’re sometimes crunchy,” he said.
Artist Patience, also from Upwey High School, applied a nostalgic lens to her showcase piece.
Titled ‘Golden Child’, the circular oil painting explores themes of perfection and anxiety, with two figures representing the transition and changes between school and adult life.
“I think everyone in this exhibition– we’re at a point where we are going from childhood out of school into adulthood for the first time,” said Patience.
Putting storytelling threads into her work, Patience said she looks back on like moments that might have been insignificant at the time, but now that she is older, she regards them quite fondly.
“I actually got my friends to model – it was my first big oil painting,” she said.
Milla from Mater Christie has focused her attention on sculpture work for the showcase, exploring themes of sexual violence.
“I made it to represent the healing process victims of sexual assault experience,” she said.
A set of pristine white wings with bloodied handprints explores Milla’s feelings and processing of the horrific numbers of women who experience sexual assault in Victoria.
“I put red handprints on it to show the scars left on those girls’ lives,” Milla said.
Last but not least, Dean from Lilydale High School chatted about his two paintings featured in the showcase that critiqued late-stage capitalism and planned obsolescence.
His two different paintings show fine detail and slow decay in one, with a saturated oil pastel in another.
Dean is inspired by the world around him and said his work represents the idea that despite the illusion of improvement in technology over the years, nothing’s really gotten better.
“I like observing the world, specifically with how late-stage capitalism is sort of eating itself,” he said.
All four artists met with others from the showcase on Friday 2 May, and celebrated their work and achievements together – a chance to collaborate and connect across the Yarra Ranges.
The Creative Showcase will be on display for free until 18 May at the Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey.
