Going through medical paperwork for her brother was confronting for Taylah Moir as she researched her HSC arts project.
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But the emotions that arose for the Albury High graduate spurred a moving photography series selected for ARTEXPRESS at the Art Gallery of NSW.
“My piece is about my younger brother and his disability, our relationship and how society views him,” Ms Moir said.
“In each photo there is lettering in the background, with statements from doctors like ‘appears to be deaf’, and ‘is a risk of injury to himself and others’.
“The last one at the bottom corner is blurred and says ‘he will never love you’.
“He’s human and he has emotions – he’s just unable to express them verbally.”
Ms Moir’s piece is among 56 HSC works chosen from 8770 HSC submissions for the exhibition, which is running for the 35th year at the gallery in Sydney.
“I was gobsmacked when I found out I was chosen,” she said.
“I was at the opening and you haven’t seen work like that before, it’s not cliche and you can see why they’ve been chosen.
“I’ve always been creative so I’d love to continue that in some way now that school has finished.”
Ahead of the opening last Wednesday, Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand congratulated all of the successful students.
“ARTEXPRESS 2019 shows the depth of talent among students in NSW,” he said.
“These sophisticated, imaginative and highly resolved bodies of work reveal complex investigations by today’s student artists.”
ARTEXPRESS began in the 1950s and is now a joint partnership between the NSW Education Standards Authority and NSW Department of Education in association with the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
It is on show until April 25.
