Win Tub of Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts will be part of a cohort of 50 for ARTEXPRESS at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for a series of drawings titled, The Enigma In Us (a raw exploration of adolescence and emotions).

Kya Stawski from Corpus Christi Catholic High School was also selected for a series of "nostalgic" paintings on wooden blocks based on childhood photos, titled When You Were Born.

"It means quite a lot more to me than I thought it would because before this I never really thought that I'd get in or get close to getting in," Kya said.

"So when I was nominated ... and got in it felt so surreal. It's still hard to believe mine [my work] was up there."

Each year through high school Kya had visited the exhibition on an excursion and the amazing works she saw always felt "foreign" and beyond her capabilities.

Art is something that will remain a constant in her life as she embarks on a degree in psychology at university this year, with the possibility to look at art therapy after suggestions from friends.

ARTEXPRESS 2024 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until the end of April and features 50 works from regional and metropolitan areas, selected from 8660 students' works.

The students hail from a variety of government and non-government schools, while the exhibition highlights the strength of young artistic talent from across the state.

It includes works across all Expressive Forms of the HSC Visual Arts curriculum, and charts a breadth of topics impacting young Australians, revealing common themes of identity, family, cultural heritage, place and home.

This year's exhibiting students will join an impressive cohort of former exhibitors who moved on to great success including Ben Quilty (1991), David Griggs (1994), Jasper Knight (1997), Julie Fragar (1995), Tom Polo (2002), Bhenji Ra (2009) and Louise Zhang (2009).

The ARTEXPRESS 2024 exhibition will be on show at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until April 21.

There are also spin-off exhibitions also on at the Hazelhurst Gallery, Tamworth Regional Gallery, Ngununggula Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, Yarrila Arts and Museum and the Cowra Regional Art Gallery.

For more details, visit: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au