my first post...

It's hard to describe ArtExpress and HSC Visual Arts – there's so much to say! I think I'll write a couple of posts trying to deal with different aspects/ ideas etc.

Being chosen for ArtExpress was probably one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced. I found out about having been pre-selected as I walked out of my final HSC exam which was Visual Arts. I was so happy to have been pre-selected AND to have finally finished my HSC exams that it was almost too much to deal with! It was a great feeling though, I was just beaming – filled with a sense of accomplishment and completion both in terms of my HSC and of Visual Arts and my work's pre-selection.

Getting chosen for ArtExpress is a huge honour. It's not something I was specifically working towards. I just wanted to make a major work which was something of which I was proud and was to the best of my ability. The completion of a major work – an artwork that I completed fills me with a sense of pride because I can look back and say that I DID that. I dealt with a subject matter – that of migration and multiculturalism, in which I was interested so I can honestly say that when you're doing something you love and are interested in it actually feels like a release particularly because you're always doing different things as opposed to the monotony of the learning and studying for other subjects.

My artwork, entitled "Scattering the Grain" is a work that is comprised primarily of print-making and through the additional incorporation of sculpture the way in which various cultural identities have combined is expressed. It is unconventional in that the panels of my major work (of which there are four) are displayed on a table top and thus are viewed from above. The photo I have uploaded (if it worked - I was having trouble uploading it) is an aerial view of my work. In short, the idea behind my work is that in a multicultural society people come with an initial, unique identity – as symbolized in my work by the different types of plants for example wheat is synonymous with Europe, bamboo with Asia etc. The use of books and stamps convey the notions of language, movement and dispersion. The works are displayed in and out of museum boxes implying that cultural uniqueness and identity is at its essence engrained but is simultaneously vulnerable to corruption as the essential grain can be modified.

That's all from me for now and I will write again soon!