Held annually, and now in its twenty-eighth year, Top Arts celebrates the artistic dynamism and achievements of young Victorian artists. As part of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (VCAA) Season of Excellence, Top Arts 2022 presents exceptional works from students who have completed VCE Art and VCE Studio Arts at metropolitan and regional schools across the state.
This year, more than 1300 submissions were reviewed by a selection panel comprising: Deryck Greenwood, VCAA State Reviewer for VCE Art; Giuliana D’Angelo, VCAA State Reviewer for VCE Studio Arts; Rachel Castricum, VCAA Regional Representative; and David Menzies, NGV Top Arts Co-curator and Educator. Forty-seven works were selected based on key criteria, including the development and resolution of concepts and ideas, technical excellence, aesthetic considerations, individuality and innovation.
The students of 2021 undertook their VCE studies against a backdrop of an ongoing global pandemic with the many challenges and uncertainties it entailed. For most Victorian students, it was the second year of extended periods of lockdown, with remote learning and restricted access to materials, workspace, teachers and peers. It was a tough year, and demanded resilience, flexibility and perseverance from students. Considering the difficulties faced, the achievements of Top Arts 2022 exhibitors are even more extraordinary.
In both VCE Art and Studio Arts, students were required to undertake an extended exploration of a theme or idea, providing the opportunity for focused reflection and expression. This year, the effects of the pandemic, including the stress of isolation on mental health and relationships, the weight of anxiety and loss, and a greater focus on home, health and values, are evident themes in the works made by exhibiting students, as too are works full of joyful creativity and imagination that celebrate the process of art-making.
In Top Arts 2022, several overarching themes emerged: identity, the passing of time, connecting with nature, home and sanctuary, and social justice and values – questioning what ‘a good life’ might mean for all of us.
Passing time
Reflections on the passing of time shaped the work of a number of artists.
In Exploring the night market, Jane Siew fondly remembers a childhood growing up in Malaysia. Eve Selsick’s Departure of childhood and Morgandy Walker’s Adulthood’s remorse both confront feelings about growing up and change: Selsick recreates her bedroom in miniature, abandoned; and Walker evokes nostalgia for times past in her detailed rendering of weathered hands cradling a worn teddy bear.