To keep myself occupied, when I wasn't at school or doing homework, I painted. My style was changing as I was getting more accustomed to working on canvases. I took photos of my finished work and showed Mr Colter at school. He said they were good for my portfolio. He thought I had every chance of getting into the Victorian College of the Arts if I could think more deeply about my work. He sent me home with biographies on Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon and thick volumes on post-modern art history. He said that artists need to read as much as they paint – an hour of painting needs to equal an hour of reading. He wanted to prepare me for the interview panel at the Victorian College of the Arts, he said they'll ask all types of tricky questions. I had a year to get myself ready for it. He said that my biggest challenge would be building the confidence to face the panel of high-brow intellectuals. His stomach still curled when he thought about his own interview. He told me it was gruelling.
He wanted me to develop a body of work with a unique concept and my own style. 'Yes the panel want to see that you have skill and passion. You have that already. The real test is how do you switch a light on inside of them. How do you move them? How do you give them a new insight? How do you make them think about something they haven't thought about before? What are your core beliefs? You need your own signature style. Think Charles Blackman's schoolgirls and how he explored loneliness and alienation, Patricia Piccinini's hybrid animal-humans and genetic engineering, Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly series. When you look at their work, you know it's them. They have a style that is theirs alone and they have something important to say.' I dug deep into my artistic soul and discovered I was mute. I didn't know what I wanted to say.
I put down my paintbrush and said, 'There's an artist. Her name is Pigmentation, and she's asked if I'd like to be her studio assistant. It's a good opportunity for me, her career is taking off and I could learn a lot. But ... I ... I'm worried my parents are going to say no.'
Mr Colter thought for a moment. 'You have to grab opportunities like that with both hands, because they don't come along every day. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. My advice is ... find a way to do it, because it's better than working in the deli at Woolworths. A person like you could really blossom with such an experience.'
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Repeat After Me
Teen FictionAn impossible love between two young street artists. *** Ivy is a 16 year old street artist who finally has the streets to herself when Melbourne goes into the first COVID lockdown. She meets another street artist, Asten, and can't help falling for...
