Scholarship – 2012:
Sculpture (93308)
Examples of Candidate Work
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OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP
This sculpture submission circumnavigates a range of conceptually related propositions. The candidate states
early on that their interest lies in finding things in secondhand shops and being inspired to make them into
something else. This notion also acts as their primary method, one thing ‘inspiring’ another. They employ an
intelligent approach to the selected subject matter and extend the conversation through high-end negotiation
and thought process. The folio work serves as a series of investigative projects in relation to recycling and
found objects, specifically clothing. Each project takes on a different intent. Works unpack formal and
conceptual aspects - fabric as form, fashion as object, and moves between abstraction and pattern, form and
functionality, handmade and manufactured, craft and mechanical. Making is technically sophisticated and
advanced for this level. Documentation is clear and appropriate for each project, with necessary conditions
(such as a client contract) and contextual details are noted on the folio.
Processes of recycling form the conceptual underpinning for the work. The candidate collected unwanted
clothes and turned these into a quilt, an object of value. An interest in repurposing, taking the old and making it
new, led the candidate to further stage a work that involved people donating clothes they disliked, which were
then repurposed into something more pleasing. The candidate uses recycling processes to ‘upcycle’ garments
from seemingly low value to high value through innovative re-use.
The folio shifts between drawing-led investigations and sculptural practices (object, interactive art, installation,
solo performance and public performance). A performative approach shows a keen awareness of contemporary
contexts. For instance, Duchamp’s Large Glass is used as a referential format for a washing line installation.
Drawing is treated as a proposition in its own right and used to speak to formal qualities under investigation
related to pattern; form, shape, motif, 2D to 3D (the translation of flat plane to object).
Early experiments involve working with the visual and physical properties of clothing patterns - the one-sided
symmetrical nature of a dress pattern (patterns only provide one side of the object), the fragility of pattern
paper. The candidate engages in a responsive making process, starting with an cutting a pattern into a sheet of
fabric, a curtain, which then opens up further ideas about positive/negative space and essentially reduces form
to nothing but leftovers (new form, new idea). Each work is a kind of re-purposing. The labels from found or
received garments are assembled into book form, like fabric swatch books. In a large-scale performance work,
six models wearing tailored clothing made out of dress patterns pose (fitted and sewn by the candidate), stand
and sit casually in between public at an Arts & Cultural dinner. This work is an ambitious undertaking and
successfully concludes what is an articulate and sculpturally informed enquiry.
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SCHOLARSHIP
This submission presents a candidate-led proposition of highly experimental inventive works and installation.
From the outset we see an imagination in action. One of the main themes is power - higher power over a smaller
power and the potential destruction this brings. This is managed through an combined exploration of symbolic
object, material process and staged installation. There is a strong material focus underpinning each work or
series. Materials are used to accentuate action.
Objects are expressive; there is evidence of the candidate’s hand in the making. Materials such as clay, mince,
bread and jam are shaped, formed, pushed, moulded, smeared, squeezed, grabbed, peeled. Sometimes this is to
express a gesture in reference to the absurdity of power. At other times materials are stuffed into forms and
objects so they can spill out or be squeezed out to create effect. It is this material dramatisation that draws us in
and then pushes us away. The candidate uses process/media/materials in abject ways to refer to heightened
sensibilities (brutality, savagery, failure, destruction, etc.) This approach builds concept.
The folio presents a series of works that direct a sculptural conversation linked by association and metaphor.
Many of the scenarios reference animation. Ideas are played out in various forms, but are always solved in
sculptural language (one form expands/ another deflates). Metaphor is a tool. On board 1 the ‘little guy’ is being
minced and the blue hand is trying to control (trying to create authority). There are also many instances when
‘something’ is happening that verges on the grotesque and potential revulsion, such as … the little guy being
eaten alive … skinning their face off. These actions are all translatable into sculptural verbs (material actions).
The candidate demonstrates technical confidence with materials through their handling both literally and
metaphorically. When an object or surface is caked in clay, it has a material presence that recalls the process of
its making and reveals an absurdity or incongruity. Strange figure forms are moulded in interesting ways;
materials cover the ‘host’ form in such a way that it seems to become a new object, but with an echo of the
original. This echo adds an eerie element, with one object being given power over another.
Photographic documentation is excellent; images are well directed and composed. Each image is understood in
context. There is no extraneous information or visual distraction. Appropriate elements are used to display or
present objects. Props are often objects (sculptures) or part of an installation. Lighting is used to create effect and
also animate imagery. This is purposefully managed in relation to the various outputs.
This is an ambitious folio and workbook. The candidate moves fluently and holistically between the miniature
and real-scale, showing a versatile range of skills that are appropriately linked to concept. The workbook reveals
an enquiry underpinned by a well-considered rationale related to the narrative, and shows evidence of a good
understanding of established practice.
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