Candice candid about career

By Casey Neill
CANDICE Hopkins has a modest ambition – to be respected for what she does.
The 22-year-old artist from Endeavour Hills wants to pursue a career in photography and film.
“It can be a bit difficult. People say ‘what do you do?’ and I’ll say ‘I’m an artist’ and they’re like ‘what do you really do?’,” she said.
“To be respected for what I do as a career is a personal goal.
“I don’t want to be famous or anything like that. Just to make a living would be nice.”
One of the lecturers in the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) course she completed last year warned students that it would take most of them two decades to forge a career in the arts.
“But I’m ok with that,” Ms Hopkins said.
She’s hoping an exhibition at Limerence in Belgrave will be a step in the right direction.
The Auralen exhibition’s opening event is from 6pm to 9pm on Friday 25 February at the store.
The photographs and videos from her honour’s year at VCA will be on display until 26 March.
“It’s four separate narratives, but they’re pretty loose and very symbolic – centred around religion and spirituality, adolescence, relationships and characters,” she said.
She took the photos and video at Sherbrooke’s Alfred Nicholas Gardens, the Kallista George Tinsdale Memorial Garden, Mt Baw Baw and Lysterfield Lake.
“The landcape’s almost become like its own character,” she said. “It’s definitely centred on the characters, but the landscape plays a major part in the story.”
The Endeavour Hills artist’s love for photography stemmed from her father’s passion for the art. “My dad did photography when he was my age and he got me into it, but it was always like ‘Candice this is a good hobby but not a good career’,” she said.
She studied art and photography at high school, and set her sights on a graphic design career.
“But then I realised I was a bit more selfish than that so I went with art,” she quipped.
“I loved drawing when I was younger, but I never really got as far as I’d liked to with the vision that I had.
“I wouldn’t call myself a natural with the technical side of it, but something about photography just clicked.”
Her foray into video followed advice from her lecturers to try something new.
“They basically said to me ‘you think in photos, in stills, but you’re capable of thinking in moving images’,” she said.
The transition was difficult.
“I was a bit scared of it. I hadn’t really tried video and I couldn’t wrap my head around it at first, but once you get into that mode – it’s a different way of thinking,” she said.
Ms Hopkins would like to pursue the area. “I’ve had a few people saying to me that I should get into film, and I’d like to look into that and maybe even study film later on,” she said.
Limerence is at 2/1642 Burwood Highway, Belgrave, and can be contacted on 8288 1263.