Tracing Life: Noel Gray and the Human Body. By Alisa Prasnicki
- ART HISTORY
- Sep 1
- 3 min read
Alisa Prasnicki undertook a Schaeffer Fine Arts Library Internship. She is studying a Bachelor of Arts & Advanced Studies majoring in Art History.
In Semester 1 of 2025, I completed a placement program at the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library as a Library Research (Archival Collection) and Metadata Intern. Myself and two other students were part of the inaugural team of interns at Schaeffer, and were responsible for the creation and recording of metadata for an uncatalogued set of rare artists books, papers and ephemera in the Library’s collection. During this internship, I developed a newfound recognition and appreciation of the role of the archivist in the cataloguing process, and the importance of human presence when collecting metadata. Being able to physically engage in a body of work, dedicated to its preservation, was truly an eye-opening experience.
Due to the limited amount of information accessible through online databases and Schaeffer Library’s own catalogue, the metadata collection of the rare artist books relied on the physical objects themselves. During my position as an metadata intern, I recognised the importance of my presence in the data collection process especially being able to physically and emotionally engage in the work I was tasked with completing.
Despite the increasing introduction of artificial intelligence programs as auxiliary tools in the fields of knowledge production and preservation, I appreciate how the Schaeffer Library team emphasised the importance of involving Art History students specifically into their cataloguing processes.
Alisa Prasnicki, Internship - Research and Metadata as the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library, University of Sydney.
Having completed three years of undergraduate Art History before the beginning of the placement, this internship was an opportunity to engage in a professional environment that encouraged and relied upon the application of research and observation skills that were essential to the field of study. The collection that I personally worked on involved a set of 51 sketchbooks by the artist Noel Grey, which comprised over 2,200 pages of various sketches, figure studies and annotated works.
Every page in this collection was signed and dated by the artist, which helped establish a timeframe that narrowed the window of historical context. Despite an absence of available information online surrounding Noel Gray and his artmaking practice, the act of deeply looking and analysing the preliminary sketches and illustrations in these books offered intimate insight into the artist’s approach to his subjects and the various methods of depicting them. This informed my initial deliberation on a curatorial theme to construct an exhibition around.
At the beginning of the semester, our site supervisor discussed the potential of further participation in the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library beyond our duties as interns, including drafting a proposal for a potential exhibition on our work at the Library. After deliberating on a number of thematic approaches, I decided to design the exhibition around a number of figure studies spanning a number of sketchbooks. These sketches hang in the liminality of the imagination - a precursor to something more refined. Exhibiting them breathes new life into the drawings, especially in relation to how the artist differentiated in depicting male and female figures in their sketches. Women are often nude, posing in vulnerable or suggestive positions, whereas men are fully clothed and captured in conventional, every-day activities. A physical measure of our progress as interns, this exhibition is an opportunity to showcase our findings and perspectives on our work in a dedicated public space in the library.
To observe, handle, and systematically catalogue physical art media as a student of Art History has been a truly rewarding experience made possible by the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library. I want to express my gratitude to the Schaeffer Team, the Power Institute, and our FASS partners for making this placement available to students. It has been a truly rewarding experience learning different methods of data collection and archival practices and I hope that I can continue to engage and participate in this field in my future professional endeavours.
Research Seminar & Exhibition: Tracing Life – Sketches of the Human Body
Highlights: 25–40 works on display, including original volumes and scans, and a contextual letter from Noel Gray.
Date & Venue: Thursday, 7th August 2025 at 3.00 PM, at Schaeffer Library Seminar Room, RC Mills Building (A26), Camperdown, University of Sydney.
Links to Internship Video and Schaeffer Library Page:
Schaeffer Fine Arts Library Internship, Noel Gray archives
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