2020 Vision, the TAFE advanced diploma of visual arts student graduate exhibition opens this Friday, November 13 – and it’s is ready to showcase the huge talent of Lismore’s artists.

The annual exhibition of work of TAFE art graduates always sets the bar high – and this year is no exception. 

The opening will be streaming live on the TAFE arts northern rivers Facebook page from 6pm. The exhibition will be on display from 10am to 3pm daily from November 16 to 21 November at TAFE NSW Lismore’s Drill Hall and Space Gallery.

It’s just the first of four exhibitions on offer from this year’s graduating students.

Adaption 2020

Next is Adaption 2020, an exhibition which celebrates the Diploma of Visual Arts, Cert 4 Design and Aboriginal Cultural Arts exhibition. It opens on November 27 through invite only and Facebook live and runs for the following week.

Unearthed

Then is Unearthed, which celebrates the graduate students in the diploma of ceramics. It also opens on November 27 through invite only and Facebook live.

Grit

Finally, there’s Grit, celebrating the graduating Diploma of Ceramics class. It also opens on November 27 through invite only and Facebook live.

Grit features the work of 2020 Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize winner Antoinette O'Brien. TAFE Student and ceramic artist Antoinette O'Brien was last week named the winner of this year's national $10,000 Hurford Harwood portrait prize for a piece called Lacuna, - which was a ceramic bust of care giver Helen Deravencheko. Her winning entry will now become a part of the collection of Lismore Regional Gallery.

The community is invited to join the event online, or register to attend here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grit-2020-tafe-diploma-of-ceramics-graduating-exhibition-tickets-126176123181

All visitors to the campus are to register at student central (off Conway street) before entering the exhibition space.

Student Lynne Sealotus Edmondson with her Fire Ovum painting.

Commitment

TAFE NSW Head Teacher of Creative and Design Ideation Rohan Langford said the 2020 exhibition is testament to the dedication, commitment and hard work of the Diploma of Visual Arts graduates.

“The exhibition is a great opportunity for the graduates to showcase their impressive creative skills across a range of disciplines including drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture,” Mr Langford said.

“The Diploma of Visual Arts is a hands-on course which provides students with the opportunity to hone their artistic talent, develop their professional practice and build their individual profile as an artist so they can work successfully across the artistic and creative industries.”

One of TAFE student Daniela Bradley's works.

TAFE NSW graduate and Nimbin local Julie De Lorenzo said she is very much looking forward to the exhibition, as it is a great opportunity to showcase her work.

“I found the course very useful and stimulating. It’s centered on improving our art practice, becoming more professional and extending our involvement in the art industry, and the exhibition is a very important part of that,” Ms De Lorenzo said.

“I look forward to continuing to develop my work and to gain exposure in the industry so that I can share my ideas and creativity with the world, and ultimately inspire others to do the same.”

Daniela Bradley.

Opposing Gravity

One of the graduating TAFEstudents Daniela Bradley works across painting and sculpture. She is described as an artist who contemplates the meanings behind her work deeply and new body of work 'Opposing Gravity' is about levity, ascension and weightlessness. 

"My ambitions became strong in my artmaking in 2020 to find levity and hope in the face of so many anxieties it presented around drought, fires, ongoing impacts of climate change and of course covid19,” she said.

"Each of my artworks is a psychological-tragedy or drama related to the issues of our world today but the wings hope to alleviate their weight and allude to the boundlessness of alternative outcomes."

One of Daniela Bradley's works.

Graduate student Beau Ravn's body of artwork is rooted in sacred Norse mythology. Beau said it explores how it can be relevant to our age of technological modernity both in terms of materiality, but also philosophical thought.

Beau's art is primarily informed by the ancestral and cultural heritage of his Anglo-Nordic origins, however, it disturbs him greatly that the symbols and rich heritage of his culture and spirit have largely been misunderstood and misrepresented by extremists and white supremacists. 

Graduate student Beau Ravn.