Course Information

Offering Studio

In this course you will engage with a wide range of concepts and material investigation into abstraction and non-objective art practices, leading to an individualised studio practice. You will produce experimental research work that emphasise the importance of materiality, scale, colour, composition, pattern, structure, surface, matter, Zen, calligraphy, gesture, play and chance associations. The rich legacy of Western Modernist abstraction and Contemporary abstraction will be at the core of your studio work. You will experience a variety of strategies to generate new ideas, concepts, techniques and material process in a variety of media. You may experience the use of abstraction through, painting, print and digital technologies, drawing, collage, frottage, photography, the object, installation and other media. The use of found objects, photography, nature, urban environments, signs and symbols, ephemeral works, response to sound and light may be stimuli for your production of work. You will develop a draft studio work proposal that is directed to your own individual studio work. You will experience student presentations, visual lectures, individual and group tutorials and feedback and field trips to exhibitions in a supportive stimulating environment.

This course focuses on the evolution of ceramic craft practices historically and across a range of places and regions. It considers the meaning of ceramic craft-based practices in the context of contemporary art. In this course you will also research, design and create ceramics using the material of porcelain. You will implement techniques such as hand forming, wheel and casting in the material of porcelain to construct a range of forms that reflect your aesthetic and ideas. You will explore a range of concepts that examine the inherent characteristics of the material, such as its fineness, whiteness and translucency.

"In this course offering you will be introduced to local and global ideas and practices examining modes of representation and ways of seeing. Linking theory to practice this course will develop your formal and conceptual understanding of representation and your knowledge and application of these fundamental ideas.
The objectives of this course offering are to understand how knowledge and making are linked through ways of seeing and thinking, to investigate pictorial languages and conceptual approaches to communication through the making of creative works, and, to relate critical concepts, texts and practices to your studio production. The course looks particularly at the idea of human presence in photography specifically to do with; picturing people, voluntary and involuntary portraiture, series and sequencing, (Re)presenting absence and a range of alternative representational strategies in photography."

This course explores a range of experimental processes and alternative techniques used in photography relating to exposures, post processing techniques, light sensitive papers, and dark room processes, the course explores processes including; photograms, photomontage, the pin hole camera, and solarization.
As well, the course covers the teaching of photography as a visual language covering issues relating to the role of art and linguistics, visual signs, grammar and syntax, and images and words will be explored. It approaches photography as not just a technical process, but also a complex visual language which engages meaning and aesthetics. It is based on the idea that photography has a structured visual language.

"In this course you will develop your own unique studio practice in relationship to the expanded field of painting that may include painting, collage, works on paper, the object and installation. You will experience new strategies for generating ideas and stimulating your imagination, that lead to the development of a flexible studio work proposal that is sustainable and research focused to your own individual ideas. Themes in contemporary art will be investigated to demonstrate how artists initiate, expand and maximise outputs through experimentation and research. Ideas may include: the body, nature, abstraction, materiality, colour, chance, series, memory, the known and the unknown. You will identify your field of practice and participate in an Exhibition Project where you will curate, exhibit, critique and document your work in a collaborative group exhibition. This will provide valuable information and experience in exhibition practice, gallery installation strategies and professional practice that will prepare you for a career in the arts industry.
You will experience individual tutorials, peer-to-peer discussion and group feedback sessions, field trips to local museums, demonstrations and health and safety; experiences that will enrich and sustain your continued development as artists in a supportive and stimulating environment."

This subject develops knowledge and facility in the study of the human body and aspects of the natural world. It provides practical, technical, interpretive and theoretical methods for studying and translating the human body, flora and fauna, geological structures and a range of other natural forms and phenomena. It will employ standard modelling and plaster casting processes and techniques, and a range of other 3D transformation techniques.
Over the course of the semester a series of practical studio classes, theoretical discussions and projects will address both contemporary and historical perspectives in sculpture as it relates to the body and nature.

This course explores the contemporary ceramic vessel and how the vessel responds to socio-economic, political and environmental conditions. Students will explore and experiment with different ceramic forming techniques and surface finishes in relationship to their concepts and ideas. The course also takes into account contextualising issues around form and function in historical and contemporary ceramics.

In this course you will develop practical skills across a range of processes and materials which are commonly used in sculpture practice. This course aims to further develop your sculptural practice by focusing on an individual and hands-on approach to making. This will allow you to be productive in an intuitive and creative way and build a deeper understanding of your own interests. You will be introduced to particular methods and materials through specific projects, with an emphasis on the relation to individual concepts in art making.
It focuses on an individual and hands on approach to making, explore your individual intuitive and creative techniques in contemporary sculptural form. You will be given practical instruction and experience in the use of workshop equipment together with relevant health and safety training.