#OneShow2017: Dream come true for SA's Young Ones Portfolio winners
I sat with two of the award winners: Serena-Marie van der Nest of the AAA School, who won an award for graphic design, and with Kirsten Haviland from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design, who won an award for illustration. The third award went to Lucia Petschnig, also from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design for photography, who was not there on the night.
Congratulations to both of you, what an amazing achievement. Let's start first with Serena – you won the award for graphic design. Tell me about the work that you did.
Van der Nest: This is my second-year portfolio, I’m a final year grad design this year. Most of my work is very tactile, I like making things with my hands. It was a wide range of projects and briefs that we could do. Everything is very ‘me’ – what I'm passionate about and what I like to do.
One of them is a language that I came up with that is an attempt to unite South Africa, bring down the tension and bring the people together. I love doing things like that and using my hands to create something that people can touch and that can inspire them.
What does this award mean to you?
Van der Nest: Wow, it means quite a lot actually. It means that I can trust myself, have more confidence in myself. Sometimes you look at other people’s work and think ‘How can I ever do something like that’, so this just means I’m capable and I can do this. It made me confident and excited to just go ahead now and do what I want to do.
That's wonderful, and you're in your final year at the AAA School. What are you going to be doing next year?
Van der Nest: Hopefully getting a job so I can start working. I’ve been studying for seven years now so it would be nice to actually earn money and see what the world and industry has to offer and get myself out there!
So now we come to Kirsten. Tell me about the award that you won for your illustration work.
Haviland: I won for my third-year, final year portfolio I graduated with. It was a variety of work for the whole of third year that compiled the portfolio. It’s also a lot of different mediums, which is really exciting. Each brief that we got, we had to push ourselves to work in a different medium and really push ourselves conceptually, which was really great for me. My final project, which I did my exhibition on, was based on me as an illustrator trying to break out of my box of always being a perfectionist and trying to control everything I did. So it was purely experimentation, which was very cool but also very scary because I had to force myself to express myself through image-making, which was very different and new. It brought me to where I am today, which is exciting.
And what does this award mean to you?
Haviland: It means everything! I’m confident in myself now, which I wasn’t before. I was really shocked to find out that I’d won something this prestigious and to be here in New York, all the way from South Africa – I grew up in East London, the tiniest little place – it’s my first time in New York, in the States which is really exciting. I can’t believe it, I still feel like I’m dreaming, to be honest.
Now that you’ve graduated, what are you doing at the moment?
Haviland: I’ve moved to Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal. It’s a beautiful place to live; I’m surrounded by Nguni cows and rolling hills, and freelancing as an illustrator while also doing graphic design work.
Nurock: To both of you, and obviously to Lucia as well, our sincere congratulations. Keep us posted on what you do in the future!
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About Ann Nurock
Ann is a Partner at Relationship Audits and Management, a global consultancy that measures and optimizes client /agency relationships. Her proprietary Radar tool is used by 30 corporates globally and as a result she interacts with over 80 agencies of all disciplines. Ann spent 25 years plus in the advertising industry as CEO of Grey Advertising South Africa, and head of the Africa region followed by President and CEO of Grey Canada. Contact details: moc.stiduapihsnoitaler@kcorun.nna | Twitter @Annnurock
