Side hustle a reality for crop of up-and coming artists
Tess Hider, 22, wants her soft sculptures to be colourful and fun - and to use their cuteness to say some serious things.
In a gallery space at RMIT University in Melbourne, she has sewn a spine in red, pink and white from felt and polarfleece, so long that it stretches to the ceiling.
Part of the sculpture rests on a light blue plinth that suggests a hospital bed, while a hand-sewn felt window made from ever-larger circles shows radiating pain.
"It's a window to the life of a disabled person... I want people to see in to a world they might not experience," she told AAP.
"Every surgical procedure or medical thing that happens is more inspiration for my work."
In 2019 at the age of 17, Hider was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis in her spine, and has had to undergo a series of medical procedures while finishing her fine art degree at RMIT University.
Her sculptures feature in the 2024 graduate showcase opening Wednesday at the university's city campus.
While Hider sees herself as an artist, like other students she doesn't expect to make a living from her art when she finishes her degree, and hopes to become an art therapist.
Lecturer in sculpture Fleur Summers says a second job is a reality for graduating artists, especially during a cost of living crisis.
"Rents are really high for housing and if they don't have space at home, they're actually renting a studio as well, so it's a really difficult place to be," she told AAP.
She sees government funding for artist-run collectives as a positive development, and says the 2024 crop of graduates is a diverse bunch, with the capacity to produce major artworks for public show.
Ceramicist Jade Power, 33, is another graduate juggling her art with work as a library technician.
Her work in the exhibition uses a burnout casting technique in which porcelain is wrapped around lengths of rope, which has burned away in the kiln to leave a mass of cracked tubular shells.
"Because my work is not functional, it's tricky to see how I can make a living from art," she said.
Representation by a commercial gallery is a dream for the mature-age student, but she says ultimately her work is not about money.
"But at the end of the day for me personally, I don't think I would get to the end of my life and feel fulfilled if I didn't follow this," she told AAP.
Art is a measure of humanity, whether people are buying it or not, she said.
"It's how people relate to one another, it's how people express themselves, I just don't think we're human unless we have art and relate to art," said Power.
"It's disappointing that potentially society is getting to a point where we don't have the money to fund it, but that's not really going to stop me."
In the exhibition's printmaking section, Sara Cope takes a lighter approach, referencing her childhood on a farm in Byawatha in Victoria's north east.
Her photographic etchings have been developed from images of chook scratchings, in a series titled What a Relief.
Other standout pieces in the ceramics gallery include Madelyn McKenzie's An Ode To My Ballerina, a tangle of clay inspired by decorative arts such as Victorian era wrought iron, and Heidi Kwong's earthy stoneware pieces Subtle Grounds.
The RMIT fine art graduate showcase runs until Sunday.
