Every year, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia hosts Top Arts, celebrating work from exceptional VCE students. In 2024, 45 student artists feature in the show, selected from a pool of nearly 1200.
Here are the works that caught ArtsHub’s attention with hopes of seeing these young artists further developing their practices.
Timothy Yap (Camberwell Grammar School)
Yap’s presentation of 10 ceramics pieces titled The beauty in chaos (2023) is a thoughtful and emotive take on the medium. The vessels are raw, tactile and dynamic, each harnessing an individuality.
The vessels are broken, some collapsing inwards, others oozing from a crack. While the pieces are now static, they signal the contortion and certain violence in the process of making, through elements such as fire, water and earth.
The works translate process into result while still maintaining that authenticity and layered expression.
Georgina Richards (Mentone Girls Grammar School)
Richards’ work, Swallowing the pretence is another that shows considered applications of medium, this time with cyanotypes. In the cyanotype photographs of her childhood, Richards has blanked out one particular figure to reveal the surface upon which these images have been imprinted – medicine boxes.
The works may be uncanny at first take, but ultimately evoke sympathy as Richardson explains her experience of masking her ADHD (a practice that neurodivergent people often employ to appear neurotypical) from a young age.
Apart from the conceptual motivation, Swallowing the pretence is intricately presented and captivating to look at.
Anne Fo (Mount Waverley Secondary College)
City of lights by Fo cleverly combines digital animation with graphite drawing on paper to create a miniature world in a densely populated urban environment. Each section of the topographical floor plan lights up with activity in succession, making the viewer a keen observer of the mundane.
Fo’s Southeast Asian background also seeps through in the details – such as a mahjong room on the centre right – that suggest a sense of nostalgia, perhaps taking reference from a grandparent or extended family’s residence.
Elliot Broome (Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School)
Titled Bottom Arts 2023 and comprising posters in block letters with QR codes alongside the motto ‘An exhibition where the only prerequisite is a rejection notice from Top Arts 2023’, Broome’s satire is certainly attention grabbing.
The conceptual framework of the piece continues this movement of challenging and subverting the often ambiguous and elitist standards of success in the arts. But the fact that this salon des refusés is included in the exhibition that it is rebelling against feels like a twisted parody of itself.
In the end, it’s a win-win for both sides – Broome’s application was successful and he has helped some of his peers gain exposure, while the NGV claims the badge of democracy and open-mindedness and is “technically” exhibiting more works than it would normally allow.
Alex Saveski (Melbourne Girl’s College)
Saveski’s realistic portrait of two young figures (presumably siblings) sleeping in tranquility is incredible to behold – never mind the fact that it’s drawn with fibre-tipped pen in pinpoint style on latex that resembles tattooed skin.
Primitive skin is presented as a body suit, laid on the exhibition platform as if shed by its owner. Apart from the detailed centrepiece, there is also a small motif of a young child holding onto a kite and the outlines of a large residential home.
Just as one can outgrow clothes, Saveski’s work suggests that both mental and physical imprints can dissipate as we age, exemplifying the constant flux of our human experience.
A commendable cohort
Overall, this year’s Top Arts showcase presents a strong suite of works by VCE students from across Victoria, who are working in a range of dynamic mediums. Apart from the above-mentioned, many exemplify patience, dedication, skilfulness in craft and mindfulness in the context of our society today – all attributes that make great artists.
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From Jasper Cali’s otherworldly coffee stain drawing to Kate Jing’s tender portraits of her siblings and Maya Donaldson’s soft sculptures that straddle the quirky and uncanny, the young Victorian artists of our day provide hope for fresh blood and more on what’s to come.
Top Arts 2024 is on view at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia until 14 July; free.
