Student Profiles

Mary Tonkin
Monash graduate
(Bachelor of Fine Art)

Mary is a practising artist who lectures in drawing in the Department of Fine Arts at Monash. She graduated from Monash with Honours in Fine Art (Painting), travelled in Europe and studied in New York, returning to complete her Master of Fine Art (by Research) in 2002.

In 2002 Mary also won the prestigious Dobell Prize for Drawing. She commends Monash for its variety of excellent fine art studios, run by a broad variety of "passionate" and "generous" staff. In recent years she has been "thrilled to see Monash recognise drawing as an essential component in all art and design studies and employ staff with a strong understanding of, and involvement in, contemporary art practice."

Keith Wong
Monash graduate
(Bachelor of Visual Arts)

Keith Wong started at Monash Art & Design as a Visual Communication student. After a year of the course, he decided that the Bachelor of Visual Arts would better suit him. He says, 'I wanted to work more freely and creatively so decided to take a risk and pursue art as a career instead. It felt like I was doing the right thing for myself'.

Keith was initially attracted to Monash because of its outstanding facilities, 'When I chose Monash the new Art & Design building had just opened and there was a real sense that it was the fresh, new place to go'.

Keith says that the teaching staff in fine arts offer a good balance, 'there are established practitioners with strong 'painterly' backgrounds and younger staff who are really engaged with current practice. All of the staff encourage you to critically examine your work'.

Keith graduated from the Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2002 and is about to commence Honours. He looks forward to further developing his art practice and probably continuing on to do a Masters degree.