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News of OGG - May 2023
Wednesday, 17 May 2023
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News of Vicki Steggall (Mendelson, P'74), Charlie Sutherland (P'86), Jeremy Cox (Cu'89), Alexandra Lewisohn (Cl'95), Zoe Young (Ga'95), Sophia Hewson (A'02), Adriane Howell (Fr'03), Ally Kirkwood (Cl’14) and Emily Widjaja (EM’22) is featured this month.  Vicki Steggall (Mendelson, P'74)The Banolians (Hardie Grant, June 2023) is author Vicki Steggall’s most recent publication; a two-volume history of the Yencken family. The book speaks to today’s reader, taking them on a journey from 1820 and the upper reaches of European nobility, through poverty, grief and separation from Estonia, England & Ireland to Australia, The story then returns to England in the ‘Edwardian Summer’ before World War 1, including tennis at Wimbledon, student life at Cambridge, and on to the trenches of Europe, while family members wait anxiously in Melbourne. More...  Charlie Sutherland (P'86) In his debut season running in the Victorian Athletic League (VAL), Charlie Sutherland (P’86) scored the first sash of the 141st Stawell Gift athletic carnival, when on Easter Saturday, he ran to victory in the Masters (35+) 1600m. It was Charlie’s third win of the VAL season after triumphs at Shepparton (Open 800m) and Ballarat (Masters 1600m). Congratulations Charlie!  Jeremy Cox (Cu'89) Jeremy was awarded a 2022 Queen’s Birthday Public Sector Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to the people of New South Wales. He was also a NSW Premier’s Award finalist for establishing a new regulatory body to oversee NSW’s privatised land titles system, along with a world-first legislative framework and a national online platform, in partnership with private sector interests. These awards also recognised Jeremy's leadership delivering wide-ranging and nationally significant policy initiatives more broadly across his public sector leadership roles at the Commonwealth and State levels, such as working with First Nations communities to further a more inclusive and representative system of land management in support of better economic outcomes, and relevant biodiversity conservation programs.  Alexandra Lewisohn (Cl'95)  Congratulations to OGG Alexandra Lewisohn (Cl'95) on her joint exhibition 'Surrounds' opening at The Hive Ocean Grove!Alexandra's delicate gouache paintings of intimate interiors form her “Lamp series” are currently on display until May 28th. “This exhibition in some ways reflects the plurality of life during lockdown, desperately wanting the space and clean air and access to flowers from the garden in Daylesford, yet working calmly in a tiny studio in town and buying flowers at the market instead" Since graduating GGS, Alexandra has completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Secondary Teaching in Visual Art at Melbourne University since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Ceramics from RMIT University. This has enhanced her enjoyment of art education for the young.  Zoe Young (Ga'95)  Zoe was a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize Exhibition.Her entry 'Latrell and Winmarra' came as a result of asking her 10-year-old son Wilbur to choose the subject. He chose Latrell Mitchell, a proud Biripi and Wiradjuri man, father, farmer and rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Zoe found herself sketching at Redfern Oval the day after Mitchell agreed to the sitting which resulted in a diptych exploring the tension between our public and private selves; in this instance Mitchell’s public life as a sporting superstar and his personal world, connecting to his family, Ancestors and Country. Picture: John Feder  Sophia Hewson (A'02)  Sophia was a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize Exhibition.With a joint entry, 'Atong', Shevaun Wright, an Indigenous lawyer and artist and Sophia Hewson, an artist and practising psychotherapist who has been an Archibald finalist on three previous occasions, like Atong Atem, share an interest in the formation of identity, and the ongoing costs of colonialism. Born in Ethiopia and based in Melbourne, South Sudanese artist and writer Atong Atem works mainly in photography. Her work often explores colonialism and ethnographic portraiture through the lens of ‘otherness’. ‘Incorporating Atem’s childhood blonde-haired, blue-eyed doll, this painting presents an imagined, psychic landscape full of memories and dreamlike impressions of bodies, colour and touch,’ say the artists. ‘The painting suggests the cognitive dissonance of growing up in a place where you are both invisible and hyper-visible; where the colonial project renders certain bodies good or beautiful, and others ugly or threatening. It also imagines the spectral beauty of finding your voice in all its hue, joy and power, as Atem has done, within a world saturated by whiteness.’  Adriane Howell (Fr'03)  Adriane Howell's (Fr'03) debut novel, Hydra (Transit Lounge, August 2022), was one of only six books shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize."This startlingly original novel, like its eponymous mythical creature, contains many faces, twists and turns, and yet works cohesively as a story of great intrigue and black humour." - Stella The Stella Prize is a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing.  Ally Kirkwood (Cl’14) Ally Kirkwood is leading the Casey Demon's VFL Woman’s football side in season 2023. Vice-Captain in 2022; her leadership qualities and enthusiasm for the team and the club made her an easy appointment as Captain by her teammates and coaching staff. Ally has played for Casey since 2019 and in 2022 was credited with being the crux of Casey’s success. Casey Media: “A key factor behind Casey’s resurgence to finish third on the VFLW ladder in 2022 has been Kirkwood herself. The Demons vice-captain has been a reliable member of the red and blue since 2019 and has only grown as a leader of the emerging side.” “Not many have done more for Casey’s VFLW program in recent times than vice-captain Ally Kirkwood.” “Kirkwood is a mentor to many young Demons, but she’s quick to palm off the praise. Instead, she mentions a bunch of experienced teammates as standouts for the season.”  Jam Sheahan (P’15) Jam made the move to the University of California, Berkeley (Cal) in 2020 and spent three years as the punter of the Golden Bears – Cal’s Football (gridiron) team. Jam saved his best season for his final year – 2022 – ranking second in the PAC-12 conference, and 15th nationally, for average punt distance and nominated for this year’s NFL draft. Only a few punters get their chance through the NFL draft each season – just three were taken this year – and while Jam’s name wasn’t called in the NFL draft, he was selected in the Canadian Football League draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. While there is still a chance Jam may find his way into the NFL between now and the season start in September, it’s still an incredible achievement to be drafted to play a sport professionally having only taken up the sport a handful of years ago. During his time at GGS, Jam represented the School’s 1st XVIII Football and was a member of the APS-premiership winning 1st XI Cricket team in 2014.  Emily Widjaja (EM’22)  Emily’s i’m [not] ok mixed media zine was among the 69 works selected in the Top Designs 2023 online exhibition created by the Melbourne Museum. Top Designs 2023 celebrates the innovation of Victoria’s VCE and VCE VET design students, offering insight into the future of socially conscious and responsive design. This year Top Designs showcases 69 works created by students who completed VCE Media, Product Design and Technology, Systems Engineering, Theatre Studies and Visual Communication Design, as well as VCE VET Creative and Digital Media, Integrated Technologies, Engineering Studies and Music (Sound Production). Emily’s zine was featured in the Media → Print section. “ i’m [not] okay is a mixed media zine that discusses the suppression of emotions. Focusing on young women’s experiences with this topic, the zine includes a collection of five individual reflections. These are presented through texts describing the models’ personal thoughts and emotions. The portraits included use mixed media techniques, such as image transfers and torn paper collage. With the use of tracing paper in my final product, I intended to create a layered narrative for my audience. As they flick through each model’s individual section, the viewer comes closer to unravelling the model’s pure emotional state that might otherwise be disguised. ” Take a virtual tour of the exhibition, view the works, and look through a selection of exemplar folio pages. https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/learning/top-designs-2023/ |