World-leading technology developed by an Australian start-up in collaboration with the Department of Education is bringing ARTEXPRESS works within reach of all NSW residents.

The innovative 3D technology allows viewers to “lift” artworks and sculptures and examine the techniques used in their creation in detail.

It also creates an authentic gallery experience in the virtual world, with viewers able to “walk” between rooms and view artworks in intimate details where they hang.

Speaking at last night’s launch of ARTEXPRESS Virtual 2021, Student Support and Specialist Programs executive director Sylvia Corish said the artworks demonstrated the “informed and insightful creativity of young adults from across the state, exploring themes and issues that affect today’s HSC students”.

“They encompass the feelings, experiences and, importantly, the resilience that emerged in 2020,” Ms Corish said.

The 2021 ARTEXPRESS Virtual exhibition includes 54 bodies of work across the 12 expressive forms within the NSW Visual Arts HSC syllabus.

In 2021, there are 10 ARTEXPRESS exhibitions showcasing 270 outstanding bodies of work from the 2020 Higher School Certificate Visual Arts practical examination.

Each exhibited body of work was selected from 8,617 artworks submitted for the practical Visual Arts examination in 2020.

ARTEXPRESS project officer Jenny Beachum said the artworks in the virtual exhibition had been captured using 3D imagery and high-resolution photography.

The 3D digitising technology would allow users to look closely at the artworks from every perspective, manoeuvring it to magnify it, see inside it, to spin it around, and even to turn it upside down, she said.

Marker’s commentary on each artwork and selected artist interviews also add a valuable dimension to the resource and exhibition of works.

Ms Beachum said importantly the ARTEXPRESS Virtual exhibition would be accessible to every student, teacher and school, who had access to the internet, regardless of their location, making it a formidable learning and teaching tool for HSC students and teachers.

Ms Corish said the ARTEXPRESS Virtual 2021 was an exhibition that would never close.

“It is exciting to imagine that in any classroom in NSW, or in fact, anywhere around the world, the achievements of these 54 artists will be studied and celebrated well into the future,” she said.

ARTEXPRESS is a joint partnership between the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Education Standards Authority. Thank you to the National Art School, Launch Venue Partner for ARTEXPRESS Virtual 2021.