Diploma helps Chelle discover the artist within
By Greg Chapman
Chelle Ellery has turned artistic passion into a viable artistic practice thanks to her dedication and CQUniversity’s Diploma of Visual Arts.
Based in Western Australia, Chelle has always had a desire to be an artist and been involved in the arts community, but she wanted to take it further and the online appeal of CQU’s Diploma was the catalyst to make her dream a reality.
“Art was always there in the background, but I reached a point where I wanted to stop treating it like something I squeezed in around everything else,” she said.
“I wanted to take my practice seriously. I wanted the structure, language and confidence to understand what I was doing, why I was doing it, and where I could take it next.”
After enrolling, Chelle focused on enhancing her skills in painting, developing herself technically and professional practice, including exhibition planning and how create a body of work that was more than simply a collection of paintings.
“I also wanted to share my skills with others and move more solidly into the VET sector. The Diploma has helped give shape to that dream. It has given me a stronger foundation, not just as an artist, but as someone who wants to teach, support and encourage other people to find their creative confidence too,” Chelle said.
“The course helped me move from just making work to understanding my work. Which sounds simple, but it is a big shift. It gave me room to experiment, reflect, make a mess, fix the mess, question the mess, and sometimes realise the mess was the best bit. It helped me become more confident with composition, materials, colour, scale and presentation, but it also helped me understand the ideas sitting underneath the work.
“I also started thinking more clearly about what I was trying to say as an artist, not just what I was trying to paint. The course also helped me understand that an art practice is not just about creating polished finished pieces. It is research, risk-taking, editing, reflection, failure, problem-solving and learning to trust the process. Which is annoying, because trusting the process sounds like something printed on a tea towel.”
Seeing art in this new light has certainly paid off with Chelle hosting two exhibitions to much acclaim.
Her most recent exhibition, The Edge of Joy, explored emotion, uncertainty, experimentation, and her love of and connection to Western Australian black cockatoos.
“The exhibition was very personal, but it was also about letting the work breathe in a space and allowing people to connect with it in their own way,” she said.
“The course is structured in a way that it helped me make much stronger decisions around the exhibition. It shaped how I selected the works, arranged the space, wrote the artist statement, developed didactics, priced the work, documented the exhibition, and thought about the overall visitor experience.
“It helped me see the exhibition it as a whole creative experience. The work, the space, the writing, the flow, the lighting and the audience.”
Her work did indeed connect with the audience with several of her pieces being purchased.
Chelle said she plans to continue developing her artistic practice and build a pathway into art education.
“Studying Visual Arts gives you more than technical skills. It gives you structure, confidence, language, and a safer place to play, experiment and spread your wings,” she said.
