Artworks by 148 students from 24 high schools across Far North Queensland are being showcased at Tanks Arts Centre as part of the 28th annual ENERGY exhibition.
Curators from the region’s major galleries and the Peninsula Art Educators Association (PAEA) last week awarded prizes to a handful of young artists featured in the exhibition, with one student given the opportunity to develop their own solo exhibition in Tank 4.
Trinity Anglican School student Thomas Chen, who was recognised by the PAEA for his photographic work, titled ‘The Duality of Mankind – as I feed the lion / as I tame the lion’, also earned the Tanks Curator’s Award, and the Northsite Curator’s award.
As part of the Tanks Curator’s Award, Thomas will be supported to develop and promote his own solo exhibition within 12 months of finishing high school.
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said the award was a unique opportunity.
“Young artists who have won this award have had great success, with one past winner selling out every piece of art she produced within a week of the exhibition opening, and others going on to study visual arts,” Cr Manning said.
“When art students leave school, they may no longer have access to an art room and equipment, and they don’t have their art teachers and classmates to encourage them.
“Council is pleased to be able to support our developing artists and Thomas’s work shows great promise and maturity.”
Thomas said he drew on his cultural heritage and his experience lion dancing with the Cairns and District Chinese Association (CADCAI) when putting together the work.
“My family – mainly my grandfather and my sister – helped me with staging and lighting for the images,” Thomas said.
“Through art and photography, I am able to express my feelings and process what is going on around me, and I have fun with it.”
“I see my future in design engineering and I am very excited about the opportunities from this exhibition.”
The ENERGY exhibition features works submitted by students to be considered as part of Education Queensland’s state-wide Creative Generation Awards for Excellence in the Visual Arts. Selected Creative Generation works are displayed at the Queensland Art Gallery.
Cairns State High School year 12 student Xana Robbins was recognised by the PAEA for Excellence in Sculptural Work and installed her own piece at Tanks.
“I’d like to be a curator or art teacher when I leave school… my piece is more of an installation with mixed media and is a stream of consciousness. It’s about reflecting my situation and my thoughts,” Xana said.
“It can be cathartic and although some of the imagery might be seen as a bit dark, the process is a release.”
Several local arts and corporate organisations sponsor awards, including Peninsula Art Educators Association, Ergon Energy, Cairns Art Gallery, TAFE, Oxlades, Northsite and Inkmasters. The culmination of the awards program flowing from this exhibition will be the announcement of the Creative Generations Award winners.
This year, 30 works from across the state have been recognised in the Creative Generations Awards by a panel of industry experts in Brisbane.
The judging has just been completed with five works from Cairns and Far North being highly commended and three works selected to be displayed in the peak exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in 2023.
The highly commended and state selected students will be announced at a special awards ceremony this Thursday 15 Sept from 11am until 12:30pm at Tanks Arts Centre.
