Piper Stewart is one of 30 women and 50 students whose pieces are on display at the Art Gallery of NSW as part of the annual ARTEXPRESS Exhibition.

The recent graduate of Murrumbidgee Regional High School – Griffith is one of more than 8000 art students who created works for the 2023 HSC.

Her piece ‘Woven Together, My Culture, Our History’ is a textile and fibre artwork and a way for her to “connect to her ancestors and culture” through traditional weaving practices.

Piper grew up surrounded by paint, brushes and canvas. Her mum is a Griffith-based Aboriginal artist.

“I’ve always grown up creating and around art, and my mum’s love for it has definitely been a big influence on me,” Piper said.

“It was when I started high school that I started dabbling in different art expressions such as pottery, which is probably my favourite art form and why I included pots in my HSC work.”

While on a family holiday to the Northern Territory to explore and connect with her Aboriginal heritage, the Gulidjan woman participated in traditional basket weaving workshops.

Piper spent five hours every week for a year weaving and creating colourful baskets, pots, dishes, trays and bags made from raffia, hemp cord and emu feathers.

“The ladies in the Northern Territory created the most amazing art, and it was definitely them who made me go, I definitely want to do weaving for my body of work,” Piper said.

“I was also inspired by learning that British museums hold many valuable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage artefacts, including some from my family.

“Much of the Aboriginal artwork you see are paintings, but Aboriginal artefacts can also be artworks, and this is what I’ve tried to show through my pieces.”

Piper is also inspired by female artists who have challenged traditional art-making practices, such as pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago. 

“Judy and people like her who have challenged the traditional ideals of women and what they can do in life are so important and inspiring,” Piper said.

“I think one of the biggest issues facing women in the arts today is that they are still undermined.

“Women have traditionally been the art objects rather than the creators, and I think this is a challenge that is still in the process of being overcome.”

Piper encouraged young women in the arts to create works that “exude passion and loudly show what it is to be female”.

“Don’t give up, don’t get intimated by others and speak your truth,” Piper said.

ARTEXPRESS 2024 is on display at the Art Gallery to 21 April 2024. Entry is free.

ARTEXPRESS 2024 exhibitions in NSW can be seen at:

• Art Gallery of New South Wales | 8 February – 21 April
• Hazelhurst Arts Centre | 10 February – 7 April
• Tamworth Regional Gallery | 24 February – 28 April
• Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery | 18 May – 30 June
• Yarrila Arts and Museum, Coffs Harbour | 7 June – 9 August
• Cowra Regional Art Gallery | 18 August – 22 September

Visit https://artexpress.artsunit.nsw.edu.au for more information.