Tyler Neville-Ross from The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) and Eleanor Mason from Kildare Catholic College have had their visual arts major projects rank among the best in the state, selected from a pool of about 8,500 students.

Neither of the girls expected to reach such a height but are thrilled to have had their hard work recognised following a senior year tainted by COVID-19 lockdowns and uncertainty.

"It kind of worked in my favour because when we had our lockdown, I had all my art supplies with me, and obviously we were at home, so I just took that time and used it to my advantage," Miss Neville-Ross said.

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From starting the school year without knowing what she would like to create throughout the subject, the TRAC student's geometric artworks are a testament of her thorough self-exploration.

"I felt like I didn't really fit into the art community... I was really struggling in year 11 just because I couldn't find my place," she said.

"When I started doing senior art, I found what worked for me, which was more articulate drawing and more geometric and straight lines compared to more realistic drawings or paintings."

Her architectural interests shine brightly throughout her 20 piece body of work, enough to have scored her a place within her dream interior design course at RMIT Melbourne.

"To get into that course, I had to submit a portfolio, and I submitted my major work, explaining what inspired me but also the connection to interior design from what I've done," she said.

Eleanor Mason's career endeavours stem away from the artistic field as she prepares to take on nursing at the University of Wollongong, but her printmaking is only on pause for now.

"It's definitely something I enjoy as a pastime, but it's something I would also love to get into it later in life," she said.

Her body of work entitled Childhood Memories captures the key images that best represent her core memories growing up in regional Australia.

Experimenting with different printmaking styles, the blazing Riverina sun played an important role in her work as she utilised a technic called 'solar-etching' to communicate the dryness of an Australian drought.

"When I was making it was I was trying to portray what I saw what was just second nature to me and what growing up on a farm was kind of like," she said.

ARTEXPRESS is one of eight HSC showcases which celebrates the hard work of high achieving students from across the state.

ARTEXPRESS is now on at the Art Gallery of NSW, and at limited venues across the state throughout the year.

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