Students in Art 2 class spent the first semester exploring and experimenting with a range of media and materials. They used this experience to make choices about their Personal Project, in terms of ideas, materials and processes. They chose processes that enabled them to express the ideas they wished to convey, and they formulated these into text that accompanies the pieces below. These works were partly formed during the school closure and then completed on the return to the art studios.
“Not Just a Pink Highlight” Graphite on paper, hand finished with blending tool 56 cm x 21 cm
This piece was inspired by people that I know who are currently battling breast cancer. My plan was to make something that helped people understand the risk of breast cancer and how immediate it is in today's world. When one of my close friends was diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't realise how at hand the cancer really was. One in eight women in the United States are diagnosed with cancer, highlighting how much of an issue and how prompt it is. After realising how uninformed I was, I thought that this was a perfect topic that was very pressing for my personal project.
The piece consists of 8 women, of many ages and backgrounds, drawn on the page in different grades of graphite pencils. One is highlighted in pink to demonstrate how she would be diagnosed with breast cancer. This helps to show how the one in eight women narrative that I want to preach as well as the writing I have on each side of the piece, “1 in 8.”
Walter K.
“The Man’s Hand” Graphite on Paper 30 cm x 27 cm
I had intended to make this piece with the theme of control and manipulation. I chose to represent control and manipulation through the use of a hand and a puppet. The hand was meant to represent an authority figure while the puppet was meant to represent the average person. The authority figure in this piece is manipulating the puppet through chains; this is to represent how authority figures manipulate and control average people. The chains also represent how authorities use chains to control people by use of incarceration.
The title of the piece is meant to represent the authority figure which is “The Man”, the man is a slang term for the authority of a government or someone in power. He is using his hand to influence and control the puppet thus the title: “The Man’s Hand”.
Adedamola K.
“The Year of 2020” Gelli Print, Acrylic paint 41.7 cm x 28.6 cm My artwork is about the year of 2020. The purpose of my artwork is to show that even though there were a lot of negatives, there were a lot of positives as well. Because of covid 19 the planet has had a chance to rejuvenate. I showed the planet’s healing by painting an image of nature. In the image you can see mountains in the distance and grasslands with plants and trees. And ofcourse the negative was the effect that the virus has had on people around the world. That’s why on the bottom left hand corner of the painting you can see the virus. Many people have lost family members and friends, that’s why I gelli printed “A Year of Sorrow”.
Joey E.
“The American Dream” Gelli print on paper, hand finished with graphite and acrylic 30 cm x 42 cm My parents are American immigrants, therefore I wanted to create a piece to honor their journey from their countries of birth to the Unites States. The statue of liberty symbolises the first thing immigrants saw when arriving to New York and having to go through Elis Island. This a symbol of hope and opportunity for Americans everywhere but especially Immigrants like my parents. The people in the background from left bottom to top right to bottom right are : Audrey Hepburn, Albert Einstein, Stokely Carmicheal, Jackie Chan, Elizabeth Arden, and Bob Marley. All these people are American Immigrants that have created an impact on the World and the United States, connecting to the main theme of this piece of honoring American Immigrants.
I wanted to create this piece in the most fun and vibrant way possible, so I used gelli printing. The statue of liberty is a printed copy, finished with layers of white paint, graphite, and blue acrylic finishing. The faces are gelli prints. The background is gelli print, with multiple different colors and textures.
Sara F-D
“The Year to Come” A collage of a variety of materials: newspaper, magazines, mask, and then I drew for a section. 46 cm x 20 cm
This piece is about my vision for ‘the year to come’. I created this piece to try and figure out what I wanted my goals and aspirations to be. I wanted to put behind me the struggle of covid throughout the year and maintain a positive outlook on what's to come. I expressed this in my work by each number representing an individual goal.
The first number embodies how I would like to read throughout this year and reminds me to find time to do so. The second number has the role of reminding me to stay fit and committed to the sports I do. The third number reminds me to maintain a passion for art and fashion. The last number is the most important as it exemplifies the idea of letting go of 2020 and the terrible misfortunes that happened within it.
"Positive Mindset" A collage with a variety of gelli prints 46 cm x 64 cm
This piece ties along with my other 3 personal projects through the idea of embracing the new year. This piece embodies how important it is to embrace a positive mindset.
It's important for everyone to have a reminder to keep smiling and this will be mine. I will be able to look at the quotes on my piece as a reminder through the tough times. I kept this piece bright and colourful so it matches the message that it's representing.
“Is Normal Real?” Newspaper collage alongside drawing and painting. 54 cm x 40 cm
This piece was an outtake of my last piece as I chose the most important quote to me in the last one and magnified it. This important quote was, “Normal Never Existed and it Never Will.”
This quote embodies the idea of normal just being a social construct that everyone complies to. There is no such thing as “normal”. I demonstrated this through really focusing on the word ‘never’. I changed its fonts and repeated it numerous times.
Sukira H.
"Formation" Gelli Printing; graphite; primer; collage. (37.5 cm X 28cm)
For my work I started off with a picture of these two jets, and I used a scalpel to cut out an outline. After I did this I used the cutout and made a simple outline of the jets using a Gelli block print. I did this while using two colours in order to achieve the main goal of having the outline stand out. With this blank outline standing in the middle of all of the colour I later collaged in a smaller version of the original cutout and used it to show more detail of the aircraft while also using the remaining colour to allow for the jets to stand out. The way of achieving the goal of having two separate colours mixed throughout the work and still allowing for a main area for the jets to stand out was done by setting the cutout down on a blank Gelli block and then adding blue on top. I waited until the blue paint dried and then I added a small amount of red off to the side and then I used a roller to mix the paints. After this was done I added a normal cutout back into the work.
Jackson D.
“Perspective room” Acrylic paint & water pastel on paper 33cm x 39.6cm, 48.8cm x 39cm
Threw out my personal project, I wanted to learn planometric and perspective drawing. One of the rooms is mostly coloured with dark value and the other one with bright. From this work, I wanted to show how we were tortured, depressed, and how we suffered by the pandemic. Some details such as natural environmental elements are painted bright to show how the world has healed itself during the pandemic. In the planometric drawing, I wanted to express the daily lives of opposite people who didn't suffer from pandemic. People who enjoy staying at home wouldn't have been in so much pain.