Unity College graduate's work chosen for SACE exhibition
A 2024 Murray Bridge year 12 artist has been selected for a state exhibition showcasing the best of the best student pieces.
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A past Murray Bridge student has been selected to display her year 12 art project in an exhibition displaying the state's best student artworks.
Madison Johncock, a 2024 Unity College graduate, has showcased her acrylic artwork in the 2025 SACE art show.
A total of 136 SACE students from schools across the state were selected to be included in the exhibition at the Light Square Gallery in the Adelaide College of the Arts.
Everything from paintings, sculptures and costumes to drawing, multimedia work and graphic design were included.
It's safe to say Ms Johncock wasn't expecting being accepted – she'd not even known she had been nominated.
"I wasn't even aware what the exhibition was ... and then I got an email saying (my artwork) was accepted," she said.
The painting Ben and Max was part of her big project for her year 12 art folio, which was completed over a semester.
"With my art, I got into really trying to convey emotion, so that was a really big thing," she said.
"For this particular piece the theme was love, and trying to capture that really intense emotion and happiness."
What better way to do that than capturing a man and the adoration of his best friend, her subjects being her own brother and dog?
"The connection between those two and my connection to them is what I wanted to show in this," she said.
Madison used acrylic paint and a thickener to build texture on the piece, creating more imperfect features.
In the past she used to be more of a perfectionist when it came to her artworks, she said, but her art teacher, Ms Stewart, left a lasting remark.
"She once asked me, 'If you're going to make it look realistic, why not just take a photo?' and that really stuck with me," Ms Johncock said.
From that point on she started testing the waters more, using unnatural colours and different textures.
For now her painting has been pushed to more of a hobby while she starts her degree in biotechnology, but who knows what the future may hold?
The exhibition closed on April 10.
