PERTH Institute of Contemporary Arts has given more than 1000 emerging artists a helping hand over the last 25 years with annual survey exhibition Hatched: National Graduate Show.
This year’s milestone event has been curated by Nadia Johnson and will showcase the works of 34 artists chosen from more than 90 nominations across Australian tertiary art schools.
ECU Mt Lawley graduate Rebecca Jensen had her work For Those Who’ve Come across the Seas selected by the judging panel.
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READ NOWShe created the bulk of her piece during second semester of last year while completing a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts, major in visual arts, minor in Mandarin.
“It’s a large-scale installation made up of about 680 individually letter-pressed pages,” Jensen said.
“Using an old school newspaper press from 1901, I’ve individually hand-set the letters, spaces and punctuation, which was quite a laborious process.
“All of the content of the work is sourced from social media. It focuses on aggressive nationalism, xenophobia and I’m particularly interested in the things people put in the public sphere.
“It’s almost like anonymity is offered by safety in numbers.”
Jensen said she was thrilled to be part of Hatched: National Graduate Show 2016 to put her work in a broader sphere.
She is also looking forward to viewing the other works and meeting the artists behind them.
“In the Perth scene, Hatched puts you in a place to watch, which is invaluable because exposure is pretty much everything in this industry,” the 23-year-old said.
“It’s such an exciting experience and I’m eager to see it through.”
The future looks bright for Jensen, who has a few more exhibitions in the pipeline and is interested in pursuing study in China.
“My minor was in Mandarin and it’s something I tapped into last year when I got a short scholarship to travel to Shanghai,” she said.
“It’s something I’m keen to do; I’d love to do my Honours there.”
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Hatched: National Graduate Show 2016
Where: PICA, Northbridge
When: May 13 to July 17
Entry: free