Visual Arts student awarded prize by Art Gallery of NSW

Bachelor of Visual Arts student Charlie Tapper won the prestigious Robert Le Gay Brereton Memorial Prize by the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW). The prestigious prize was judged by a panel of Art Gallery of NSW curatorial staff.

Earlier this year Charlie found out about the call for submissions when one of her lecturers posted about the opportunity on the Sydney College of the Arts online student platform and encouraged her to apply.

“It caught my eye because of its emphasis on figure drawing, which is something I enjoyed when I was younger and re-discovered during the pandemic through online life-drawing sessions,” Charlie says. To succeed, she had to submit two life-figure drawings, a study of hands and feet, studies of a head, and additional sketchbook images.

Charlie, who is also an administration officer in the School of Art, Communication and English, was caught by surprise when she opened an email confirming that she had won the prize while working away in her office. One of her colleagues read out that notification to convince her that she had indeed clinched the award.

We sat down with Charlie to find out more about her studies and what drives her as an emerging artist.

At the beginning of this year I decided it was time I started applying for small prizes and group shows. The Robert Le Gay Brereton Memorial Prize felt like a good starting point, because I love figure drawing and had recently done some drawings that fit the criteria. Drawing is an ongoing practice for me and forms the basis of much of my work.

When I was younger I saw an exhibition of works from Florence’s Uffizi Galleries at the AGNSW. It made me realise the importance of drawing in translating the three-dimensional world into two-dimensional images. That revelation stayed with me and has been part of how I’ve approached my work ever since.

Studying at SCA has helped me expand that practice to include a more conceptual approach, which is now as important to me as the more foundational technical drawing and observation skills I brought into my study here.

I have been inspired by the drawings of Nora Heyson, Tom Nicholson, and Tacita Dean, among many others. I’m interested in the full spectrum of drawing, from quick observational studies to conceptual work.

I have a soft spot for the greyhound drawing which I made at a life drawing session at Woollahra Gallery with two rescued greyhounds that were up for adoption. They were so beautiful, and drawing from life is such a challenge-especially with animals that never stop moving! That might explain the gestural approach of the drawing, compared to the nude studies I submitted.

The geometric charcoal drawings emerged from a series I started while doing the Non-Objective Painting unit at SCA. It forced me to think about drawing and painting in a completely different way, and to make the process a visible feature of my work.

Thankfully, yes! I submitted two class exercises from unit, Contemporary Drawing: The Figure, I took fortuitously in the first semester of this year. One was a ‘blind’ self-portrait (drawing while not looking at the paper), and the other was a class exercise based on Associate Professor Julie Rrap’s 2022 video work The Dust of History.

SCA’s emphasis on the conceptual attracted me because I knew it would challenge me in new ways and broaden my range. I was also keen to learn from many of the staff whose work I already knew and admired.

I love the Old Teachers’ College, – the facilities are great. I felt very lucky to be in the first cohort on the main campus with all the new equipment.

As well as being incredibly knowledgeable I have found all SCA staff – both academic and technical - to be unfailingly supportive. They make sure you push your ideas as far as you are able, whilst ensuring the execution is as sound and proficient as possible. It feels like everyone is invested in helping you make the best work that you can.

The core units in first year were really exciting because they allowed me to explore all the areas of specialisation on offer at SCA. Non-objective Painting has been my favourite unit so far because it really opened new ways of thinking for me. I also really enjoyed Photography and the Dark Room.  

My focus now is making the most of the time I have left at SCA, and slowly building a portfolio of work to start exhibiting and entering other prizes. Finishing the degree will be very bittersweet. While balancing part time study and full-time work is tricky, I will definitely miss the opportunities and excitement that being at art school brings. Thankfully I have a couple more years before I have to worry about that.

Banner image: Process drawings by Charlie Tapper