At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are open 12–5pm. Our exhibitions are always free.

2002

2002

Now in its eleventh year, the Hatched: Healthway National Graduate Show, which comprises an exhibition, a catalogue and a symposium, is the largest and most comprehensive project supporting emerging visual artists nationally. For many graduating artists it provides a significant opportunity in that difficult period following the structured and resourced life of a tertiary institution and the hard realities of starting out as a practicing artist.


Participating art schools take on the onerous, if not impossible task, of selecting up to four artists to represent the diversity and excellence of their students and the broadest possible range of media utilised by contemporary artists today. Consequently the show focuses on four broad areas of practice: Fine Art & Objects: incorporating painting, sculpture, print-making, ceramics and glass, jewellery and metal; Film & Video in a range of formats; Multimedia/installation: This includes computer generated work, electronic media, digital imaging, interactive media, installation and time based work and Design: including graphic design, industrial and product design.


This ensures that the spectrum of possibilities available to visual artists from painting to multimedia, are seen, not in opposition to each other, but as part of an art historical continuum of exploration and refiection. Nor does the exhibition conform to a curatorial framework. Hatched fulfils several roles, firstly, by providing a national platform for emerging artists and by giving them with the opportunity to have their work exhibited in a professional and supportive environment. For local graduates, Hatched is particularly significant in allowing their work to be seen in the company of their peers – thus Hatched goes someway to addressing one of the key problems confronting artists in WA – their geographic isolation. Simultaneously, the exhibition and symposium seeks to develop audiences: not only to engage them but also to inform, excite and sometimes challenge them. This year’s exhibition sees sixty-nine artists from eighteen university art schools located in regional and metropolitan centres from every state and territory participating.


This year’s symposium explores two broad questions: the first, “Why be an Artist” references a perfomative video work undertaken by Tasmanian artist, Leigh Hobba at PICA in the early nineties in association with PICA’s inaugural director, artist Noel Sheridan. Artist and Lecturer Joan Grounds and newly appointed Heads of School, Artists Domenico de Clario, and Kay Lawrence will speak to this topic. Whilst Professor David Williams, Dr Ian McLean and Michael Snelling will be speaking about a range of issues under the umbrella title, “The Visual Arts and Public Culture”.


Hatched is endorsed by ACUADs, the Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools.


Hatched: Healthway National Graduate Show & Symposium ’02, is the result of the hard work and commitment of an enormous number of people. PICA wishes to particularly thank our major sponsor, Healthway, the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation and the FPWA whose message, “Play it Safe”, we are proud to support. PICA is delighted to acknowledge the generous support of the Ian Potter Foundation whose financial contribution has made this year’s Hatched Symposium possible.


The financial support of the participating University Art Schools and their commitment to recent graduates is crucial to the realisation of Hatched and we thank them for it.


Special thanks to X-Press Magazine, whose ongoing commitment and promotion of Hatched has been critical to its continued success. We also wish to thank RTRfm, LunaPalace Cinemas, Campus Cards, Chailee Brehaut at the Curtin Student Guild and Ben Hammond at the UWA Student Guild. We wish to particularly acknowledge Printezy, especially Barry Mather for their assistance with the catalogue and in this context too, I’d like to thank our in-house designer, Publicity and Marketing Coordinator, Brad Rummer, who has done a great job. We’d also like to thank the John Curtin Gallery for their assistance with projectors for the exhibition and Imago Multimedia Centre for computer support.


The majority of the work of the Hatched exhibition has fallen to PICA’s newly appointed Exhibition Coordinator, Bee Dean, whose job it has been to coordinate and collate all the information on the participating artists and schools and to work through the complex freight and collection details, the design and installation of the exhibition and also, in conjunction with Production Manager, Mike Nanning, organise the ever increasing amounts of technical equipment required. Thanks too, to Damien Haydock for his assistance in building the new studio. Special thanks to PICA’s installation crew: Adrian Reeve, Jake Snell, Briony Paul, Ben Laden, Richie Kuhaupt and Annabel Dickson and volunteers Jess Olivieri and Emma Porter.


A very big thank you to all the participating artists – the ‘class of ’01’ – for making their work available to us and in some cases travelling to Perth to assist with the installation of their work. We wish them every success for the future and hope that Hatched: Healthway National Graduate Show ’02 provides an auspicious beginning to brilliant careers.