[His work] is strong and full of vigour, a little quirkiness. It's in his own handwriting and that's very important. You have to be true to yourself."
Over the years many established artists have acted as mentors to the next generation of talent. We asked five top Sydney artists to name their rising stars, and for the "apprentices" to say what they saw in their teachers.
Ernest Hemingway revered Gertrude Stein; Georgia O'Keefe was influenced by her photographer husband Alfred Stieglitz; a young Brett Whiteley looked up to his teacher Lloyd Rees. Mentors have played a significant role in the careers of many young artists.
Most well-known visual artists can identify people in their lives who have helped them navigate the uncertain road towards success and fulfilment. Entering the mainstream art world, with its professional rivalries and commercial interests, is often a daunting prospect. The relationship between a mentor and a protege can provide a much-needed buffer for a young aspirant leaving the protected environment of an art school to embark upon a career.
Every emerging artist dreams of that big commission, art prize, or acquisition by a museum. Artists at the height of their profession may appear to be enjoying their good fortune, but for many success has not come easily. Most careers have been sustained through troughs as well as triumphs. An older established artist can act as a role model, nurturing a younger artist's ambitions while offering honest advice and criticism, or engaging in a bit of cajoling in difficult times.
Five leading artists were asked by the(sydney)magazine to nominate a promising talent whose work they admire, and with whom they have forged a personal bond. In the process, we hope to unveil some rising stars.
Lindy Lee, 51, was born in Brisbane and studied at the Chelsea Art School, London. She has exhibited in New York, Tokyo and Germany and is represented in most major public Australian art collections. She teaches painting at Sydney College of the Arts and shows at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
Nell, 30, was born in Maitland, NSW, studied at Sydney College of the Arts and The University of California, and only uses her first name. Her work has been shown in the US and Amsterdam, and was featured in Primavera at the Museum of Contemporary Art. She shows at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
Lee: "Nell was one of my students at the Sydney College of the Arts. I was going away and I needed someone to look after my house and cat. Someone suggested Nell.
"When I came back I said to Nell, 'Don't worry about moving out straight away.' I realised Nell was so good to have around the house I offered her a deal. She would work as my studio assistant for one day a week for board and rent. She stayed for a couple of years.
"Nell was an incredibly optimistic person, very generous, open and she knew how to work. She knew the value of just being in your studio and working. I think Nell is actually quite unusual because she came to that understanding quite early. It usually takes art students a good 20 years to come to that conclusion.
"We've been through a lot together. It was an initiation by fire for Nell, because I remember I had a lot of shows to do. I was used to it, but Nell had to work very hard. I remember Nell made a comment like: 'You have to work so hard and then you get five minutes of fun.'
"The relationship has changed. I used to be Nell's mum, now we're more sisterly. Nell is my closest friend. There are things I'd tell Nell about my life I won't tell anybody else. Because we are so close we talk about the things that concern us; talking about 'art' can sometimes be a bit superfluous.
"From very early on I had the firm conviction that Nell had what it takes to be an artist. In the past two years Nell has come into her own in terms of her work. I don't think I would have stood it if Nell had in any way imitated my work. But from the very beginning, Nell had a very strong sense of wanting to discover things for herself. My job as a teacher was just to let her be herself."
Nell: "I came from Maitland [two hours north of Sydney] to Sydney College of the Arts, and I thought that all artists were probably drunken drug takers. Then I met Lindy who was a super-fit power walker, who used to play tennis at lunchtime and meditate, and I thought, 'yep, that's my role model'.
"When Lindy came back from her trip and asked me to stay, I thought, no, that's not a good idea, she's my teacher. But it was a great apprenticeship. Working with Lindy was a real education. I was doing Lindy's tax, organising her dinner parties and, of course, working in the studio. I also did a lot of painting panels, a lot of eating and 3.45pm sessions of Scrabble at the local cafe with the other artists in nearby studios.
"I think Lindy had fun watching me grow up through the various rites of passage, the various exhibitions, and now teaching. Some people think that Lindy opened doors for me, and in some ways that's true, it's a natural thing, but it's also not that simple.
"I've had enough life experience now that the teacher-student relationship has changed. There is always an aspect of mentorship - Lindy will always be 20 years older than me - but that's just one of many dynamics between us now. We're aunts, sisters, best friends - we have this timeless friendship. We know each other so intimately that it's quite frightening.
"I think part of the reason we are so close is because we approach art as a life practice. We also go to these crazy Zen retreats where we have to get up at 4.30 and meditate until late at night and don't speak, and that's a most enjoyable way for us to spend a week.
"As a teacher Lindy sees the best qualities in everyone and helps those qualities burn stronger. She has the ability to help artists be themselves rather than help them be like her. Even though Lindy is one of the most important people I've ever met in my life - and our work is very different - we understand each other's art practice better than anyone."
Tim Storrier, 56, is a two-time winner of the Sulman Prize and has had more than 20 solo shows. He is represented in state and regional galleries and many significant public collections in Australia, Japan, Britain and the US, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has houses in Sydney and Bathurst and shows at the Sherman Galleries.
Luke Sciberras, 30, graduated from the National Art School in 1997, and had his first solo show at the ABC Centre, followed by An Uncertain Something at the Tim Olsen Gallery in 2000. He divides his time between studios in Sydney and Hill End, 78 kilometres from Bathurst. He shows at the Tim Olsen Gallery.
Storrier: "A group of students from the National Art School came up to Hill End [in 1997] and I had a dinner at my house in Bathurst for them. I remember noticing at that time, although I didn't know anything about his work, that Luke seemed to have a fair grasp of social manners and was quite helpful at the business of conducting a dinner. Simple things like serving drinks and clearing plates, but surprisingly a lot of people don't know.
"Subsequently he spent quite a bit of time in Hill End, and I was instrumental in helping him buy a house there. Luke is often in Hill End and I'm in Bathurst, and we both have places in Sydney, and we move in the same ghastly milieu, so we run across each other.
"I'm not particularly comfortable with the word mentor, but I have offered advice on a friendly level on occasions. But as they say, the best thing to do with advice is to pass it on. There are two aspects to an artist's advice. One is technical, but the other has to do with ideas about what you're trying to achieve, the philosophy of what your endeavours are about. And historically, older artists are better at that than younger artists.
"Generally, successful artists are pretty single-minded. They do listen, and you can see influences when they are young, but as a general rule if they are any good they pretty quickly develop a cantankerous attitude to advice, and tend to ignore it, which may not be a bad thing. At that age I was very lucky, and I developed a friendship with John Olsen. He was very generous with his remarks and general help.
"It's very hard to mentor or provide advice to someone whose work is similar to your own. My relationship with John Olsen was allowable because the form of expression was very, very different, and with Luke the same thing applies. The way he structures and composes a picture is completely different to the way I go about it. That's why it works.
"Luke is one of those people with genuine enthusiasm. That sense of ebullience and joie de vivre can be very charming. It's an asset that he doesn't have any hesitation using. The key with Luke is to be as rude as you can. That might be the key to the whole thing really."
Sciberras: "I met Tim at a dinner in Bathurst when I was a student. He was abrasive and vinegary, but over time we got to know each other, and I got to realise that Tim is very sensitive and a romantic character once you reach the underbelly.
"As artists our work is very different, despite our aligned sensitivities. His approach to draughtsmanship and to the landscape is completely different. We have a friendship, largely based on fun. In terms of our relationship as artists, there's no danger of encroached territory.
"I remember staying up one night with Tim in his studio and doing some drawings. Tim looked at one of them, and he worked magic on it. He used tissues and rubbers on it, and lifted this terrible drawing into something amazing. Then he tossed it into the fire. I said, 'Hey, Tim!', and he turned to me and said, 'Luke, I just gave you something.' I thought that was great. Of course, when he was doing it I was also thinking, I'll keep this and frame it.
"Then there was the time I was visiting Hill End, looking for a place to buy. I found this little house that I liked, and that my fiance liked. I made an approach to the buyer and I didn't have enough money and my offer was turned down.
"Tim found out about it. He rang me and said, 'Listen, I've just heard what's happened, just ring the woman back and tell her you'll take the house. Don't worry about bank managers or bank loans or solicitors, I'll look after you. If it's a matter of money, I'll make up the difference.'
"I was reeling. I'm speaking to you from this same house today. Tim is an amazing person like that, when he knows something's right. He is very perceptive and sensitive."
Janet Laurence, 57, has been exhibiting since 1981 and has since held more than 20 solo exhibitions. She is well-known for her public sculptures and installations, her works are held in most state galleries and she is represented by Sherman Galleries in Sydney. Laurence is currently completing a PhD in Architecture with RMIT in Melbourne and will launch her next solo exhibition, Greenhouse, on September 23.
Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, 38, is a photographic and multi-media artist who lives and works in Sydney and Auckland. In 2002 she won the Photo Technica New Australian Photo-Artist of the Year Award. She has since held three solo exhibitions in Sydney and is represented by Gallery Barry Keldoulis in Waterloo.
Laurence: "It seems presumptuous to see myself as a mentor. I don't wear that label, but I suppose I'm aware of the fact that there are younger artists who look to my work. I love seeing young people with all this potential; I really like the fact that you can help generate things for them.
"I met Sarah about five years ago and we've developed a friendship. We can talk about work, but I also love the way she has this whole other life as well. She has enormous breadth to her life, but her work has incredible depth to it.
"Sarah is so 'there', so present; when she is with you she is so alert and 'in the world'. I think it's fantastic that on the one hand she locks herself away in this closed studio and has this very focused and obsessive way of working, and on the other she's so expansive and connected to so many different things in the world. I find her a very enjoyable spirit to be with; she's quite knowable and she somehow incorporates that in her art.
"Obviously, I'm quite drawn to the nature of her images; I'm personally drawn to elemental or ephemeral states and the idea of trying to capture them. I think in knowing her, you can't really separate her from the work and she's developed enormously quickly and her work has become quite mature.
"When I was at art school, we were lumbered with having to express ourselves as feminists. I was always getting into trouble because I was trying to deal with nature [in my work] and I was told that that wasn't where a woman should be. So I felt very against the grain when I was her age; I felt I wasn't quite fitting in. I remember writing articles where I stipulated that art could be looked at in a more spatial way, rather than just as an object in a gallery; about the possibility of integrating art into three-dimensional spaces. I suppose I dreamt that these possibilities would eventually open up.
"I develop more passion as time goes on. In earlier years, I'd question my direction and be full of doubt. I'm no longer afraid of taking on things that would have daunted me earlier on in my career. As you get older, you're also more aware that you don't have forever. You become more aware of the fragility of life; that can be a motivating factor. I still feel very connected with what I'm trying to do and it's very much about my concerns in life. Particularly the environment."
Smuts-Kennedy: "I knew Janet's work before I met her. I worked as a consultant putting interiors together and I was looking for artworks. That's when I walked into Janet's studio. We struck up a connection and then I fostered that relationship. She was so approachable.
"Spending time in her studio has had such an impact on me. It enabled me to see the possibility of it as a career for myself. She is very supportive and she is also very respectful about allowing me to follow my own process. I'm not necessarily looking for feedback.
"Of course her work is very inspiring, but it's also particularly Janet as a person. She's a very courageous woman and her art practice involves a hell of a lot of inquiry about things that I have a real affinity with, like science and the environment. Her ideas and how she manifests them are so invigorating.
"Whenever I'm in Australia, I try to make a connection with Janet. She's been very supportive of me and she's very supportive of many young practitioners. Janet's been doing this a long time and it's very exciting to have people like her in my life, who have managed to keep their art practice so alive and exciting to themselves over long periods of time.
"I really admire that she works on so many projects in a corporate context; she makes works for the domestic environment, but she also does a lot of major projects in public spaces. She does them with such a light touch; they're very ephemeral but also incredibly solid.
"I don't try to think of my own career prospects. I'm really just trying to focus on making good work. If I can keep my eye on the ball then the rest will follow. I'm not focused on the carrot on the end of my stick. I just want to participate in exciting, creative projects with good people. Although, to have a studio like Janet, I don't mind having that as a carrot."
Margaret Olley, 82, studied in Australia and overseas and travelled throughout Europe, Papua New Guinea, China, Russia and Cambodia. During the 1940s Olley became a prominent figure in the Sydney art scene and at Hill End. Her first solo exhibition was in 1948 and since then she has held at least one exhibition annually. She is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, all state galleries, many regional and university galleries, and private and corporate collections, nationally and internationally. She will have her next Sydney exhibition at Sotheby's in Woollahra.
Ben Quilty, 31, studied visual arts at Sydney College of the Arts and won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2002, and the Metro 5 Art Prize in 2004. He has exhibited in Sydney and Europe and has works in collections in the Art Gallery of NSW and Australian regional galleries. He exhibits at Grantpirrie Gallery, Redfern.
Olley: "When I was an art student at East Sydney Tech, there weren't many places where you could exhibit. There weren't many collectors or galleries. What a thrill it was when Warwick Fairfax and Goosens bought paintings of mine. It's very important for young people to be encouraged.
"Now I've reached a certain state of maturity, I've been giving back into society what has been given to me. It's part of the process of life. To give is to receive, it completes the circle. I went along to the art shows [at the major art schools] at end of year and looked for emerging painters. You go to the shows and maybe you buy something. Then sometimes they take another tack and they don't seem to fulfil the promise they had. You have to wait and see how they settle down.
"I was asked to judge the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship [in 2002]. We had to go through hundreds and hundreds of slides. It's very hard to know who has that little extra. But I finally chose someone totally unheard of to me called Ben Quilty. He travelled overseas [on the scholarship] with his partner and became great friends with [Brett Whiteley's mother] Beryl. He became very interesting. You never know what he's coming up with, so that's been one of my success stories.
"He had a show at Barry Stern, so I had a look. I have bought his work, before he started on the rise, and gave [works] to some regional galleries, so I've done my bit - helping him. I haven't really talked to him about his work, but he has at last got his signature. As long as he doesn't let fame go to his head. [His work] is strong and full of vigour, a little quirkiness. It's in his own handwriting and that's very important. You have to be true to yourself."
Quilty: "She was scary. She had a Zimmer frame in one hand and my arm in the other and dragged me out [of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship Exhibition]. She asked me if I smoked cigarettes and I said 'no'. She said, 'good', and lit one up. Then she asked me: 'Are you one of us or one of them?' I didn't really know what she meant. She said: 'Are you one of the good guys?' And I said, 'I hope so.' I'm still not quite sure what she meant.
"I wrote Margaret a few postcards when I was in Europe on the scholarship, but I didn't get to know her that well. I wanted to communicate how much we were enjoying it and how much we were getting out of it. I lived in Paris for almost four months and it was the first time in my life I didn't have to have a day job. I could totally consume myself in my work.
"It surprised me that she picked my work, that she engaged with it. I didn't know enough about her at the time [to know] that she would appreciate it.
"There's such a society of the arts, and I guess an 'us' and 'them'. There's a contemporary digital media side, and more traditional sculptors and painters, and I think that such a small country has such polarised views of what visual arts should be. Margaret doesn't get involved in this. She has not changed what she has been doing. She has total self-belief in what she does. Not even self-belief maybe, just a total disregard for what anyone else thinks about her, and that is great.
"It's so good. If you can be an artist and have that, then no matter what you do, by the end of your life you will have achieved something.
"I've been to visit her a couple of times. We talk about her inspiration. She gets her inspiration from the way she lives. I always thought she'd have a little room with her still life set up, but the whole house is a still life. She just turns the easel around and paints another corner of the house. She revolves around and around this room.
"It's helped me to realise it's about looking at your work. Don't worry about what critics are saying or what's being written. Just keep working. Margaret's been doing it for so long and is unapologetic. I get the feeling she's always been like that."
Guan Wei, 48, was born in China and came to Australia for an artist's residency in 1989, before migrating. Wei has had 25 solo exhibitions and has been included in important contemporary exhibitions in Australia and internationally and survey exhibitions such as the Third Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane in 1999. Wei shows at the Sherman Galleries.
Camden-based artist Keith Lane, 49, was born in England and moved to Australia in 1989. He has worked as a draughtsman and building designer for many years. His first solo show was at the Campbelltown Art Gallery in 2003. His recent computer-aided paintings draw on scientific investigation, language and philosophy. He shows at Stephanie Burns Gallery and Campbelltown Art Gallery.
Wei: "We know each other through an exhibition called Rose Crossing, at Campbelltown Art Gallery in 1999. I invited Keith to my studio and a couple of weeks later he gave me a call and came to my studio in Newtown. Two years later I moved to Glenfield, nearer to Keith. We were both in the same area, so I visited him and he visited me.
"When I came to Australia 15 years ago, I had a professor at the School of Art in Tasmania. He had seen my work in China and invited me to come to his art school. I came in 1989 for a two-month residence, and he gave me a big recommendation, talking about my work as if I was the number one artist in China. I was so encouraged.
"I found I could do my work and make a living here. Since I've been here I've just concentrated on my work and not done any other work [Wei was a teacher in China]. But I had many problems, mainly the language. I always struggle for the language. Keith helps me with titles and language.
"Second problem when I come to Australia is the big culture shock. I'm from Beijing. It's full of people there. My first time in Australia, I come to Hobart. So tiny, so quiet, after five o'clock nobody on the street. I was very scared. No one to talk to also, because my wife was not with me. So I did a lot of work. Now, where I live, I have a sense of community.
"I've had four titles since I came here. At first I was a Chinese artist. Then after a while a Chinese-Australian artist. Then after about 10 years, an Australian-Chinese artist. Later on they call me an Australian artist.
"My work is very graphic and also Keith's work is very graphic, and in this way we are close to each other. It is a similar way of treating things. But I also like Keith as a person. He is a very nice English gentleman, very gentle, very quiet, very helpful."
Lane: "Guan was standing in front of an eggplant installation when I met him. I said, 'Ah, you must be Guan Wei.' I had seen his work before, and I especially admired his work in that exhibition. I thought it was rather interesting, [I thought] I'd like to get to know the person that made these curious things, and we sort of hit it off.
"When I went along to the Rose Crossing exhibition I had made a decision to forge my own art career. That was part of my increased involvement with the Campbelltown Gallery, which led me to get a one-man show there. Guan Wei's influence and achievements have increased dramatically in the time I've known him. And I thought of him arriving in the country as a migrant with paintings under his arm and thought maybe I could be like him.
"I like the graphic quality of Guan's work, the line and colour, and that mix of accessibility and the unknowable. You have a sense there is something to figure out, but you probably never will figure it out. There's always a sense that you're feeling your way.
"For a number of years I've been using Chinese characters in my art. Sometimes I'd get Guan and his wife to do translations for me. I've often worked with text in my work. Guan is bringing Western influences to his Chinese background and I've been bringing Chinese influences to my Western background.
"Guan Wei is an artist, a philosopher, an intellectual and a warm family man as well. When we first met I was fairly isolated, and meeting Guan Wei was part of my breaking out and getting more involved in the art world. It's just good to meet like-minded souls, and temperaments."