Graduate Exhibition: Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts), 1989

This is a catalogue showcasing the Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) Graduating Student's Exhibition works.

INTRODUCTION The work in this exhibition reflects our intention at the very beginning when we tried to find a direction for this course. Emphasis has been placed on making sound aesthetic judgements, and the students have been allowed to grow in their own way. They have been encouraged to try new paths, without over-direction, so that they can discover what lies within themselves. Each student has produced work expressing an individual personality. It is very difficult to offer more in an art school. The school provides resources and staff, but finally the student must work alone to form an understanding of their own personality, life and vision. Personality may be affected by life, but it is also something distinctive within the individual when they are born. The very marks we make in some way reflect whether we are aggressive, gentle or contemplative, or even whether we calculate. This is only the beginning, the harder path for the artist still lies ahead, for it is unlikely that there will be that complete support system that exists when we are students. Now the artist must work alone, whether favourable criticism is being received or not. That belief in one's own work must sustain each artist throughout their lifetime. It seems that, on the law of averages, everyone may not succeed as a professional artist. The course never really pretended to produce people who could earn their living by making art, and no art course which is honest could claim to do this. What the course has produced is a way of life, an enrichment of knowledge, good friendships, perhaps lifetime friendships, and the ability to think with an open mind. In this way it fulfils the criteria for an art course, whether it be in languages, history or fine art. This is my last year of teaching at BCAE, and I intend to paint full-time now, instead of combining teaching and painting. I hope that all of the graduating students will have a rewarding life, and that in some small way I have been able to give them an insight into their own potential. I would like to pay a special tribute to the respected artists who have been involved in the education of these graduates. They have encouraged, with warmth and sensitivity, always placing the students interests first. Life is still to unfold for these young artists, and will ultimately affect their work. Their vision hopefully will always remain clear, truthful and uncompromising. Bill Robinson, 1989