Friday 18 October 2024
2-3pm
Online

During this free online event, students will be guided by Atong Atem in a series of warm-up activities and developmental drawing exercises to help them imagine and compose a unique self-portrait depicting or celebrating a mythical figure. This program will also include direction to help students turn their preliminary drawings into a finished work of art beyond the event.

Presented in collaboration with The National Portrait Gallery, this program will give students an opportunity to explore personal storytelling and to consider their own cultures and beliefs.

Students will:

• Understand and apply the developmental stages of a creative process.
• Consider the ways mythical creatures or figures can inspire and inform a unique self-portrait.
• Develop techniques that can be applied to the development of an artwork.

Students participating in this program will need:

• Paper
• Graphite and coloured pencils
• Images of mythical, cultural or imaginary creatures/figures* that they can reference during and after the program (optional).

Guidelines for helping students select personal and meaningful reference material will be distributed to registered participants closer to the program date.

Cost: Free
Duration: 60 minutes

About the Artist
Atong Atem is a South Sudanese artist who was born in Ethiopia and migrated to Australia as a child. With an ongoing interest in portraiture, Atem uses photography to explore and examine postcolonial practices among the African diaspora in Melbourne. Many of her photographs take the form of self-portraits and portraits of friends, as well as installation and video works exploring migrant stories, cultures and identities.