Romy Lester has been drawing since she was a young girl.
But it wasn't until she came across the work of English artist Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic Tank Girl and of the virtual band Gorillaz, in year ten that she decided to pursue art as a career.
And now the 18-year-old, from Blue Mountains Grammar School, is well on her way to realising that dream.
Her piece, Losing our Religion, is part of an exhibition featuring the works of 41 students that are hanging at the Art Gallery of NSW as part of the ARTEXPRESS exhibition.
Lester, who is now studying at Sydney's College of Fine Arts, explored the notion of the death of religious belief for her Higher School Certificate last year.
"Religion fascinates me," Lester says.
"I wanted to explore the idea of whether or not it's plausible that religion could dissolve in the future because the world is becoming increasingly secular."
Lester's triptych features colourful hybrid gods and goddesses "ignored within an indifferent bustling cityscape".
The curator of the Art Gallery of NSW exhibition, Leeanne Carr, says she was impressed by the work's mix of art history, religion and contemporary city life.
"It's beautifully created and the concept is very strong," she says.
Carr says common themes in this year's works include concerns about cyber-bullying, the human impact on the environment (there are works about coral bleaching and pollution), and an exploration of personal issues (such as pieces on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and cancer).
The students' technique is "insane" this year, Carr says.
"Students are becoming less interested in using computers in the art classroom and want to learn more traditional art-making skills," she says.
"As they use computers in all other subjects, the art room is somewhere they can make art with their hands and explore materials and techniques."
The work of the 41 students has been selected from more than 9500 who sat the HSC Visual Arts examination in 2013.
* ARTEXPRESS is on view until May 11, Art Gallery of NSW Sydney, admission free
