A series of five scenes set against a stormy sky.

Sydney Distance Education High School

Gadigal Country

Byte by Byte

Painting

Acrylic on canvas

The genesis of my body of work was realising that phone addiction has a pervasive grip on contemporary society. I use the age-old story of the forbidden fruit, the apple, to represent the timeless allure and temptation of technology and allude to a prominent tech giant. This work examines the perils of tech addiction, incorporating references to vanitas art to convey the fleeting and often hollow aspects of our virtual preoccupations, while also drawing attention to the widely criticised ‘screen kid’ epidemic. My intent is to urge the audience to safeguard our core humanity and confront our digital dependencies.

My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: David Ligare, Still Life with Peaches and Figs, Woman with Box (Pandora); Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory; René Magritte, The Son of Man.

ARTEXPRESS 2024 is a collaboration between NSW Department of Education and NSW Education Standards Authority, curated and presented by Hazelhurst Arts Centre.