News Archive

As the Michaelmas term launches Oxford University's academic year, UWA graduate Jessyca Hutchens is settling into the storied university. The winner of a Charlie Perkins scholarship, this descendant of the Pilbara's Palyku people says that in her family knowledge has always been valued.

Jessyca graduated with double degrees in Law (distinction) and Arts (first class honours in fine art history); her sister Rebecca was the first Indigenous student to win the AMA Prize for Medicine; and first cousin Aurora Milroy was the first Indigenous student at UWA to gain first class honours in Law.

"I feel incredibly fortunate to have amazing role models," says the graduate. "My mum was one of the first Aboriginal medical graduates in Australia and created an environment in which we thrived under our own steam. Our ideas and autonomy were valued, and with no pressure to achieve academically, the belief that we could achieve was instilled, along with an appreciation that many different forms of knowledge are valuable."

After graduating, Jessyca spent three years in Berlin, drawn by its status as a global art centre. She worked with an online art magazine and did archival work in a gallery before returning to Perth to tutor at UWA and work at the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation.

Working towards a career as an art history academic in Australia, the graduate's DPhil at Oxford will focus on exploring artist-in-residence programs. This topic was inspired by visits to artists undertaking residencies at Kellerberrin's International Art Space.

"Their stories of being inspired and isolated, challenged and confronted, left an impact. While critical discourse has grown around art institutions, relatively little has developed around residencies," she says.

Jessyca pays tribute to the support she received from UWA's School of Indigenous studies, the Law School and the Arts faculty for enabling her to "pursue interests that didn't fit neatly into one discipline". She joins a number of graduates currently studying at Oxford, including UWA Rhodes Scholar Freya Shearer who we profile in this issue.