TURNING his passions and hobbies into clay sculptures has led Newcastle's Jayden Peter to sharing a piece of himself at one of the largest art galleries in the country.
The former Warners Bay High School student was selected for the ARTEXPRESS 2024 exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW for his ceramic works titled 'My sentinels' - a collection of protective personal totems.
"I submitted three pieces all of which are surreal totems, symbolic of all my personal interests, hobbies and childhood memories," he said.
"There's a soccer ball because I love playing the game with my mates, there's alienistic features which could be perceived from movies and sci-fi films which I hold really dear to my heart and technicaly car parts which is a real interest of mine and the motorsport world."
The 18-year-old has aspired for ARTEXPRESS since first hearing about it back in year 11, and has grown up enjoying art.
"Our teacher was talking about it and just saying how really prestigious it was and so once we went on excursion - I saw the artworks - I thought this was something that I could achieve and I wanted to push for," he said.
Mr Peter said being selected for the exhibition after months of hard work and long hours crafting his pieces, was nothing short of a joy.
"It's just added an extra layer of pride to what I'd already achieved, and just to be selected and noticed by the curators and judges feels really good," he said.
Joining Mr Peter is St Philip's Christian College Port Stephens graduate Eleni Dimitropoulous, who was also selected for her collection of works titled Hellenic echoes: sky & sea, vessels which depict the colours, landscapes and textures connected to her Greek heritage.
ARTEXPRESS 2024 features 50 works, selected from over 8000 submissions by students in regional and metropolitan areas from all school sectors showcasing the most outstanding creations in the 2023 HSC Visual Arts examination, and will run from February 8 to April 21.
