Nicole Zhang

James Ruse Agricultural High School
Nicole Aged 8 (Revisited by Nicole Aged 18)
Painting

It's a bizarre feeling to stare at a childhood drawing, remembering the table you sat at, where the first stroke began, how each pattern was filled in, but have no idea how to draw that way again. As I flipped through the countless drawings by my eight-year-old self I began to envy the spontaneity and expressiveness of the animal forms. I wished to appropriate them, ultimately undertaking an approach that was both planned and spontaneous. On a canvas I carefully painted an abstract pattern with no recognisable shapes. Then I imagined animal forms hiding within the pattern and brought them to life.

ARTEXPRESS is a joint venture of the NSW Department of Education and the Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards NSW, hosted by Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre.