Visual Arts in Focus 

Imogen Nicholas hits the Hobart city art scene

Huge congratulations to Year 11 student Imogen Nicholas, whose artwork was selected for the brand-new Art on Victoria display in Hobart. Imogen is one of just eight local students chosen for this public exhibition, which officially launched on 2 June. You can check out the work behind Artery at 30 Victoria Street.

Art on Victoria is a collaboration between the City of Hobart’s Youth Arts and Recreation Centre, Community Safety and local partners, including Artery and LJ Hooker. The goal is to give young artists a real-world platform and let the community see what emerging creatives are doing right now.

The current exhibition is inspired by Salon des Refusés, a famous 1863 exhibition in Paris that showcased artworks rejected by the mainstream art world. It ended up changing art history by challenging ideas about what art "should” be. This version flips that same idea into a modern context, celebrating creativity without limits. Many of the artists are exhibiting for the first time, proving that you don’t need approval or experience to make meaningful work, just the confidence to put it out there.

Imogen’s inclusion is a massive achievement and a great example of what happens when young artists take creative risks. Go check it out and support young local artists!

These Hands of Mine

Former St Mary’s College Visual Arts student Zoe Lovell, who studied Art in Years 11 and 12 at SMC, is currently exhibiting at Social Gallery in Salamanca.

Her exhibition, These Hands of Mine, explores the subtle ways we communicate beyond words, capturing moments where emotion is expressed through gesture, posture, and presence. Each painting focuses on cropped sections of the body, including faces, hands, backs, and torsos, inviting viewers to interpret the emotional subtext within each image. 

Rather than presenting a single emotion, Zoe’s series offers a range of human feelings across the body of work, encouraging reflection on vulnerability, memory, and unspoken experience.

Zoe is now a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Hobart. She graduated from UTAS with a Bachelor of Visual Communication in 2016 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with First Class Honours. She has since undertaken multiple artist residencies across Tasmania and exhibited in both solo and group shows.

It was also a pleasure to catch up with Zoe’s mum, who was proudly assisting at the exhibition in support of her daughter’s work and chat about Zoe’s creative journey since graduating from SMC.

Tell me about your artwork…

How to talk to your daughter about art (without saying “That’s nice”)

When your daughter brings home an artwork, it can be tempting to respond with a quick “That’s beautiful!” or “I love it!” While encouragement matters, there’s a whole world of thinking behind that artwork waiting to be discovered.

In the art room, students aren’t just making things. They’re making decisions. Every colour, line, material and composition choice reflects ideas, experimentation and sometimes even a bit of risk-taking. So how can you support that at home?

Instead of focusing only on the finished piece, try starting a conversation.

You might ask:

• “What was the most challenging part of making this?”
• “Can you show me how you did that?”
• “What were you trying to express or show?”
• “Did anything change from your original idea?”
• “What part are you most proud of?”

These kinds of questions shift the focus from product to process. They tell your daughter that their thinking matters, not just the end result.

You might also notice things together:

• “I can see lots of strong lines here.”
• “These colours feel really energetic.”
• “This part draws my eye. Was that intentional?”

There’s no need to be an art expert. Simply being curious is enough.

Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can say is “tell me about it." Behind every artwork is a story of problem-solving, imagination, persistence and growth. When students feel that their ideas are seen and valued, they’re far more likely to take creative risks, try new things and keep making.

So next time an artwork comes home, take a moment. Ask a question. Start a conversation. You might be surprised by what you discover.