Students showcase major art works

SOME of the best artworks by high school students around the state are now being showcased at the Lismore Regional Gallery.

The ARTEXPRESS works are on display and will be featured until April 20.

The annual series of exhibitions features exemplary artworks created by NSW visual arts students for the Higher School Certificate examination.

It offers valuable insight into students’ creativity and the issues that matter to them.

Five Northern Rivers students are part of a group of 43 from across the state who have had their work selected for display.

The students are Sadie Dubb (Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School), Mieka Morgan (Banora Point High School), Savannah Roberts-Hickling (Ballina Coast High School), along with Sophie St Clair Honey and Juniper Page Stockdale from Byron Bay High School.

Lismore Regional Gallery Director Ashleigh Ralph said the students have a bright future as artists.

“After an extensive selection process, our Curator, Ineke Dane, has curated an inspiring and diverse collection of student works,” she said.

“We are thrilled to invite visitors to experience the remarkable depth and vision of these emerging artists.”

“The future of the creative industries is undeniably bright.”

Themes and ideas explored included the strength of culture, family, history and connection to land in Indigenous artworks.

There were also self-portraits reflecting childhood experiences and influences on an adolescent perception of the world.

The final works were selected by gallery curators and education officers in collaboration with the program officer.

The exhibition presents a wide range of expressive forms, including ceramics, collections of works, designed objects, documented forms, drawing, graphic design, painting, photomedia, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and fibre and time-based works.

ARTEXPRESS started in the 1950s and is a collaboration between the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Education Standards Authority.