Crest: QUT Visual Arts: Honours Graduate Exhibition 2018

On behalf of the teaching staff in Visual Arts I would like to congratulate the 2018 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) graduates for Crest. This show not only displays artwork produced during your final year of study, but also represents the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. This is a time in which you have acquired skills in art making and professional practice in contemporary art, and a time in which you have offered support to each other as a ‘creative community’ as you have learned and grown together as artists.

The exhibition title Crest is particularly apt in this regard. A crest can be an emblem that symbolizes an identity and/or a set of achievements, and represents a sense of belonging that can be promoted with pride. It can also represent a summit, a high level of achievement; a high point or a peak moment; and a culmination of activity after considerable efforts. These attributes are all relevant to what you have achieved during your visual arts degree.

These accomplishments have been earned in QUT’s Open Studio art teaching program that foregrounds art thinking related to speculative inquiry, conceptual proficiency, self-directed practice, and a transmedia approach to creative practice. Studio critiques, discussions, and an engagement with art history and theory have all supported your skills as artists and professionals in preparation for a career in the arts. During this period, you have met and overcome constant challenges while striving to always do better and have reached a level of creative expertise that gives you the confidence to apply your talents in the art industry and contemporary art.

I wish to thank Visual Arts’ teaching staff for their efforts and can add that we all feel a great deal of pleasure seeing how much you have gained during these last three years. We see Crest as a demonstration of your talents as artists, as well as a showcase that displays your potential for achieving even more in the future.

DR MARK PENNINGS Senior Lecturer and Study Area Coordinator Visual Arts, School of Creative Practice