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Jacqueline Hennessy

On Stillness

Jacqueline Hennessy

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For our final instalment of On Stillness, we have chosen a work by Jacqueline Hennessy who graduated from NAS in 2019 with a Masters of Fine Art (Painting). In her ghostly paintings of female figures, Hennessy explores how to give visual form to her lived experience of being in the world. Her painting process involves staining clear primed Belgian linen with thin washes of raw umber and lead white oil paint.  Hennessy builds her images up over time in transparent layers, gradually developing fragile and ghostly feminine figures that seemingly emerge as they dissolve into the linen support.

The significance of Hennessy’s work lies in its attempt to create painted self-portraits that surpass the autobiographical and deal instead with phenomenological and conceptual concerns about the mystery of beingness.  By setting up a dialogue between painting and photography, Hennessy questions relationships between the two and explores painting’s potential to transcend the descriptive and articulate more complex and enigmatic experiences of being in the world.

Image: Jacqueline Hennessy, How to disappear completely, 2019, oil on linen, 122 x 92 cm, National Art School Collection, acquired through the NAS Collection Fund, 2019 © the artist

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We are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Prudence MacLeod Prize.

The Prudence MacLeod Prize, which will continue for a further three years, supports a recent National Art School graduate to undertake a six-month residency at @acme.art, London.

Supported by the Lansdowne Foundation, the Prize provides an emerging artist with an opportunity to step forward into an expanded, international context at a vital time in their career. The artist will live and work in London, one of the world`s great art cities, in a supportive artist community. This important opportunity will enable the artist to forge professional international contacts, explore London`s art world and rich cultural resources, and produce a new body of work.

The recipient of this Prize will receive:
– Return travel to London. To be arranged for the artist by NAS.
– Studio accommodation and workspace at Acme Studios for 6 months.
– Living stipend of $AUD3,500 per month for 6 months. Total $AUD21,000.

Application deadline: Sunday 1 February 2026, 11.59pm
Residency: Monday 6 July – Friday 18 December 2026

The Prudence MacLeod Prize is open to eligible NAS alumni who have graduated within the past five years and meet the selection criteria.

Learn more 🔗 in bio.

—
Acme Fire Station, 30 Gillender Street, 1999 © Acme Archive

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Dec 11

Open post by nas_au with ID 17852100045598290
We are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Prudence MacLeod Prize. The Prudence MacLeod Prize, which will continue for a further three years, supports a recent National Art School graduate to undertake a six-month residency at @acme.art, London. Supported by the Lansdowne Foundation, the Prize provides an emerging artist with an opportunity to step forward into an expanded, international context at a vital time in their career. The artist will live and work in London, one of the world's great art cities, in a supportive artist community. This important opportunity will enable the artist to forge professional international contacts, explore London's art world and rich cultural resources, and produce a new body of work. The recipient of this Prize will receive: – Return travel to London. To be arranged for the artist by NAS. – Studio accommodation and workspace at Acme Studios for 6 months. – Living stipend of $AUD3,500 per month for 6 months. Total $AUD21,000. Application deadline: Sunday 1 February 2026, 11.59pm Residency: Monday 6 July – Friday 18 December 2026 The Prudence MacLeod Prize is open to eligible NAS alumni who have graduated within the past five years and meet the selection criteria. Learn more 🔗 in bio. — Acme Fire Station, 30 Gillender Street, 1999 © Acme Archive

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the opening of The Grad Show!

Find works by this year`s cohort exhibited throughout the NAS campus until 14 December. Open daily from 11am — 5pm and until 9pm on Fridays.

View online via 🔗 in bio.

—
Video: Tim Connolly

View Instagram post by nas_au

Dec 5

Open post by nas_au with ID 18085817414025392
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the opening of The Grad Show! Find works by this year's cohort exhibited throughout the NAS campus until 14 December. Open daily from 11am — 5pm and until 9pm on Fridays. View online via 🔗 in bio. — Video: Tim Connolly
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