Top Arts 2026 NGV For Former Student

Congratulations to former student Audrey Jacques, whose artwork was selected from more than 1,100 applicants across the state to be exhibited in the NGV Top Arts exhibition.

Audrey’s dedication to her Year 12 art creative practice has resulted in a powerful and thought-provoking response to the theme of identity. Her work reflects both creativity and commitment, and we are incredibly proud to see her achievement recognised at such a prestigious exhibition.

Well done, Audrey! 👏🎨

The Echo of Someone Else’s Memory explores how my family have made me who I am.

What inspires you? List three major sources of inspiration and briefly explain how each one informed the work selected.

Zdzislaw Beksinski – This was the artist I primarily researched this year for my class. I found his meticulous oil painting process and attitude towards the interpretation of his work very interesting. I used his thin layering technique and a similar approach to colour in my work.

The Picture of Dorian Gray – I read this book during the later stages of creating my selected work, and the title, The Echo of Someone Else’s Memory, is a quote from one of its characters, Lord Henry. It is from one of his monologues on how he believes people to be solely the “echo” of their experiences and other people – which I found spoke closely to my work’s theme.

The Lonely Pallette – This is a podcast whose aim is to “return art history to the masses”. I have a great interest in art history and I owe a variety of ideas for The Echo of Someone Else’s Memory to the knowledge of different movements and artists I have learnt about through this podcast, such as Rene Magritte and John Bratby.

What materials and processes did you use?

For this work I used an acrylic paint underpainting and oil paints on a hand stretched canvas. I felt hand-stretching the canvas was important, as a lot of this work calls to attention the importance of its process – the underpainting is visible, and the sides expose the raw canvas. The underpainting primarily relied on warm tones to provide warmth to the portraiture, and the oil paint was applied in layers, thinned with baby oil, to build up depth of form and tone.

What did you find most interesting and/or challenging about creating your work?

Stepping out of my comfort zone to create a less literal presentation of my concept was the most interesting and challenging part of my process. Typically, I tended to lean more into my ability to portray realism in order to present an idea. However, for The Echo of Someone Else’s Memory, I wished to explore not only surrealism, but the idea of creating a self-portrait without myself in it, both of which required me to step out of my artistic comfort zone and think more conceptually.

What advice would you give current and future students undertaking VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) Art Making and Exhibiting or Creative Practice?

I would advise current and future students undertaking a VCE art course to prioritise making, and to make as much art as possible. All the work I did working up to, and in making The Echo of Someone Else’s Memory, was out of the love of creation and expanding my creative practice. It was through making, creating experiments and testing different compositions that I could truly explore what I wanted to portray.