NCAT CREATE 17 EXHIBITION 'FOUND'

© Image: Aylsa McHugh, 'Untitled No1'

'Found' is an exhibition of work by 2017 graduates of Northern College of Art and Technology's Create course.

Each Create artist brings with them a wealth of previous study, working life and personal experience and this is reflected in the depth and breadth of the work produced.

The 28 artists forming the Create 17 collective have explored feminism, motherhood, health and the human body, Australian landscape and environmental sustainability across a broad range of media. Sitting together in the studio, artists shared stories of searching for home and belonging, in new places, new careers, and in creative communities. The work spans from memories of childhood to recent experiences of mothering, caring for ageing parents and dispatching stereotypes.

The show opened on Friday 9th February 6-9pm at Neon Parlour, a multi-purpose creative space in inner Melbourne's Thornbury. It was opened by NCAT Create Program Leader, Tracy Paterson

ARTISTS: Ali Griffin / Ali Ferrett / Aylsa McHugh / Bella Wenging Hi / Bronwyn Calcutt / Cate Laidler / Chantal Camilleri / Christine Pike / Chrissy Imbessi / Clare Rantall / Cy O'Neill / Nardine Keriakous / Helen Meikle / Judy / Schaube / Julie Vinci / Kate Clifford / Katy Hood / Leanne Coughlin / Maribel Arcilla / Mel Vizard / Natalie Kouts / Nicola Hoyle / Nicole Thibault / Nikki Frankel / Ruth Shepherd / Sarah Coffey / Serina Mukerjee / Shirley Billing

Opening night featured sound by DJ Helter Stupid.


    

                       

 EXHIBITION: Wed 7 Feb - Sun 25 Feb 2018

OPENING NIGHT: Fri 9 Feb / 6 - 9pm
Neon Parlour, 791-793 High Street, Thornbury, Victoria, Australia

NCAT Create | Folio Preparation Facebook Page

Neon Parlour Facebook page

STAFF PROFILE: NCAT CREATE'S TRACY PATERSON

Tracy Paterson, artist and art educator, NCAT. ©Image Tracy Paterson

Tracy Paterson has been heading up the NCAT Create course, a part time visual art course for adults, at The Northern College of the Arts & Technology, since the course's inception in 2014.

For Tracy, designing the Create program came out of a desire to give adults an opportunity to learn to build art into their everyday lives. "Practising art is a discipline and as such needs to be learnt. There are so many people out there who dream of being an artist but simply don't know where to start nor how to make art fit into their life. We work with them to build their creative confidence as emerging artists." she says. Students also build a substantial body of work which can be used as a portfolio for entry into further education.

Tracy, who has been an art educator for over 25 years, is a practising artist herself. Her main discipline is Life Drawing. "I have had an ongoing love affair with life drawing for many years. For me the human form provides constant challenges and is as much about a celebration of difference as a drawing style. Life drawing is about a dialogue between myself and the model; It is collaborative. I love that when I draw I am so totally in the moment. It is about the process and as such, the output is of far less significance to me than the doing."

Life Drawing Pastel on paper ©Tracy Paterson

Life Drawing Charcoal on paper ©Tracy Paterson

Life Drawing Charcoal and Pitt Crayon on Paper
©Tracy Paterson

Life Drawing Charcoal and Pitt Crayon on Paper 
©Tracy Paterson

21 Landscapes Watercolour on individual wood panels
©Tracy Paterson

In addition to life drawing, Tracy is also a painter - previously specialising in portraiture - but now exploring landscape. She grew up in outback New South Wales where the landscape of the flat Hay Plain has a low horizon and huge skies. These brooding and potent skies appear as a regular force in her art. "The landscape of my childhood has informed much of my work and is something I am continually drawn to."

As an art educator, Tracy has built wide ranging skills in drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, illustration, photography and graphic design. She has worked as a freelance photographer and is rarely without a camera in hand. "At NCAT and in my life generally, I am the documenter. I am comfortable behind a camera and I enjoy searching for that elusive moment."

The Create staff skill their students in three broad subjects. Studio, taught by Tracy and Ali McCann, explores art practises such as drawing, painting, mixed media and printmaking, and pushes students to think conceptually and thematically. Digital Media, taught by Mark Russell and Bei Janetzki, focusses on digital photography and the Adobe Suite's Photoshop and Illustrator. Life Drawing, tutored by Tracy, gives the students valuable underpinning drawing and observation skills. Students also explore the creative arts industries, delving into social media and possible future creative pathways. They also learn how to write an effective artist's statement and art based resume.

5 fast Life Drawings. Willow Charcoal on Paper
©Tracy Paterson

Over the years Tracy has supported many ex Folio Preparation students as they have transitioned into the creative industries. An avid social networker, she has enjoyed helping them build and publicise businesses, find jobs, advertise exhibitions and welcome new websites. Tracy sees herself as having a responsibility to support these upcoming generations of talent long after their time at NCAT is over.

More recently, the Create students have gone on to Fine Art, Visual Arts, Illustration, Textile Design, Creative Arts Industries and Graphic Design courses (Post Graduate, Degree and Diploma). Others have moved into studio spaces together, applied for and attained arts grants, exhibited and built freelance businesses. For Tracy and her staff it is thrilling to see their dreams begin to take shape. 

The popular NCAT Create course runs on Thursdays and Fridays with a single intake per year. Applications are now open for next year.

All images: 

© Copyright Tracy Paterson

@lacontrapposto

NCAT Folio Preparation collaborates for Northern Exposure Success

A roving poet performs in front of the windows

NCAT Folio Preparation staff member Tracy Paterson has curated an exciting collaborative art installation called 'ABOUT FACE' for this year’s Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival. 

Wanting to reconnect, Tracy sent out a call for self-portraits from ex-students of the College’s long-standing Folio Preparation course. The reaction was fantastic, with many of the ex-students submitting fabulous images - 120 to be exact! They ranged from Facebook profile images to elaborate photo shoots. Students sent in digital files that Tracy converted to coloured duotones and printed onto transparency film. They were then connected together and suspended in the windows of a vacant High Street Shop, to make a screen of portraits. Backlit, the images produce a stunning glow.

Two of the ex students who participated took on other roles in the festival. Yasmin Yusuf Les (currently studying Visual Communication at Monash University) produced paste ups which can be viewed on her Tumblr Quietlines and Helen Tran (currently studying VPhotoimaging at RMIT) was the festival's official photographer. Her work can be seen on her Tumblr A/P

High Views – Art in Windows are installation-based projects of site specific artworks that engage with the High Street precinct and aim to provoke, surprise and delight the viewer. The Festival is an exciting feature on the Northcote, High Street calendar of events. The theme of this year’s Northern Exposure Festival is change, which fitted with the idea of bringing together ex students in an artwork. Inspiration came from this quote:

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly" - Henri Bergson

The piece has been reviewed in this week's Northcote Leader. The review can be found here.

Participating ex-students Helen & Yasmin

About Face can be viewed in the windows of 238 High Street, Northcote (The old Disco Beans shop). It is best viewed at night to the full effect of the glowing back lighting. 

NCAT also produced work for Small works - Small Spaces and High Events as well as a Visual Art Town Hall Exhibition titled Troubadour.

Northcote's Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival opened on the 12th July and runs through to the 28th July, 2013.

A portion of the windows

Life Drawing in the drawing studio at NCAT when the model is a no-show... stuck drawing the teacher!

Every now and then the life model can not make it. Sometimes when this happens, we draw hands and feet, but every now ad then, the students ask to draw their tutor Tracy Paterson. Tracy is a fairly reluctant model but it makes a change!

Life drawing is an integral part of the portfolio building course, acting as the scaffolding for the students drawing experience. Life drawing classes are held once a week and run through the year.

Below our students are critiquing their drawings during a break