Art Exhibition 2020/21
A compilation of GCSE and A Level Art and Photography work produced by the students of St Edward’s Senior School Art Exhibition 2020/21
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Contents
06 / Molly Allwood
06 / Rachel Shorting
07 / Alex Roch-Berry
07 / Alessia Cottrell
08 / Mackenzie Jeffery
08 / Libby Rowson
09 / Samuel Gilder
09 / Mack Wood
10 / Esme Benwell
10 / Alex Rees
11 / Euan Richmond
11 / Alex Jameson
12 / Alice Openshaw
12 / Hewan Ness
13 / Samuel Hunt
13 / Charlie Steward
14 / Maria Semiao
16 / Claire Almeida
18 / Joe Bane
20 / Grace Kergel
22 / Katy King
24 / Will Maddocks
26 / Will Maddocks
28 / Alex Preece
30 / Phoebe Rendell
32 / Phoebe Rendell
34 / Grace Russell
36 / Leon Tan-Spiers
38 / Luca Zimmermann
Introduction I am delighted to be introducing this brochure of work from our talented Year 11 and Upper Sixth students who have their GCSE and A Levels in Art and Design and Photography this year. I have been incredibly impressed with how well all students have adapted to the diverse ways of working throughout these past two years. Their company in the classroom and on Teams has always been a positive experience for me. As well as a lot of hard work, there has certainly also been a lot of enjoyment too! Because we are unable to hold a physical Art Exhibition this year, due to the restrictions in place due to COVID-19, we felt it was particularly important that our students’ work should be recorded in this publication, so that we can celebrate their creativity. I cannot share here with you the huge amount of sketchbook, flip-file and power point work that has been completed throughout the last two years as I would need about 1000 pages - you will have to trust me when I say that the work produced has been impressive. What you will find on the following pages is just a small selection of their pieces. Alongside thanking all the students for their time, effort, and company I would particularly like to thank the teaching staff involved. Ms Fraser for her input prior to going on her maternity leave this academic year; Ms. Bestwick, who has covered Ms. Fraser and has been a fantastic support to both me and the A Level photography students; Miss Dowling, our art technician who has cleared up the messy classrooms repeatedly whilst supporting many in their studies; Mrs. Powell, whose positive and skilled help with Year 11 has been very much valued; and finally, Mrs Richardson, who has taught many of this recent cohort through the years and has worked with both A Level Art and Photography groups. Mrs Richardson leaves us this year and I would like to thank her for all her work over the years and wish her all the best for the future. I do hope you enjoy the opportunity of looking through this brochure as much as we have enjoyed selecting the pieces to be included. Rachel Haywood Head of Art
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GCSE Art at St Edward’s
This has been a crazy two years for our GCSE Art students and, in all cases, they have risen to the challenge. Although COVID-19 put a stop to our usual enjoyable and valuable field trip to St Briavels Castle, and working from home hindered the production of some large work in the studio, when you see the range of work produced you would never guess how disrupted the course has been. An immense amount of credit is due to all our Year 11 artists. During Year 10 the project’s theme was ‘Lost and Found’. Students started by producing an A1 graphite observational drawing from the still life. Whilst developing their own ideas under the theme pupils then produced an A1 acrylic painting from their own photographs relating to the theme. After further research students then worked in either etching or lino as their final piece, some even went further to produce another painted outcome. In Year 11 the theme chosen was ‘Change and Stability’. Students started by taking a broad photo shoot exploring the theme. This produced a wide range of responses from skips full of rubbish to portraits. All students then produced either a large charcoal or graphite study. Ideas were developed through further investigation into artists before ideas were decided for an acrylic painting. Luckily most had finished this large work before the second lock down. During which we spent a lot of time developing ideas for a final piece through further artists research, evaluation, experimentation, and review. All pupils have produced a final piece during their remaining time in school. I have been extremely impressed with the progress that this year group has made over the last two years. The variety and quality of artwork is impressive and as a group the students have been hardworking, dedicated, experimental and willing to take risks. This means that they have all now found their individual style. Many in the group are going on to take Fine Art or Photography as an A Level next year and I cant wait to see where their creativity will take them in the future. Rachel Haywood Head of Art
Art Exhibition 2020/21
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Molly Allwood
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Rachel Shorting
St Edward’s GCSE Art
Alex Roch-Berry
Art Exhibition 2020/21
Alessia Cottrel
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Mackenzie Jeffery
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Libby Rowson
St Edward’s GCSE Art
Samuel Gilder
Art Exhibition 2020/21
Mack Wood
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Esme Benwell
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Alex Rees
St Edward’s GCSE Art
Euan Richmond
Art Exhibition 2020/21
Alex Jameson
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Alice Openshaw
Hewan Ness
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St Edward’s GCSE Art
Sam Hunt
Art Exhibition 2020/21
Charlie Steward
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Maria Semiao
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St Edward’s GCSE Art
A Level Art & Photography at St Edward’s
Art Exhibition 2020/21
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Claire Almeida Claire has thoughtfully explored the theme of still life during her A Level project to create deeply personal photographic work under the theme of ‘The Life Force of Objects.’ Still life is more than a group of random objects, it is a collection of items that describe who we are and what has happened in our lives. Claire has used objects to describe her family and herself. She has experimented
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with a range of styles inspired by painters and photographers, eventually finding her own style to create portraits through objects. Claire has accepted a place to undertake a photography degree at Leeds Arts University and we are sure that she will continue to produce thoughtful photographic work.
St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
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Joe Bane
Joe is an incredibly creative and focused student. As the course developed Joe focused on the idea of fantasy and how this could be captured within the medium of photography. His aim was to combine his love of fantasy fiction with illustration. Photography is rarely used as illustration within a story book; but Joe has developed his style to create beautiful images that relate
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directly to his own written text. All his work is carefully planned and only occasionally edited using Adobe Photoshop. His final piece is a collection of images with his own fictional fantasy story. Joe’s aim is to become a creative author and we hope that he will continue to use his fantastic photographic skills within his chosen profession.
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Grace Kergel Grace has always been a creative and imaginative art student. It was no surprise when she chose the topic of ‘Wonderland’ as her A Level title. Throughout the A Level course Grace has found a fascination with illustrators of fairytales and this has fed into her work. The mystical symbolism of the tree in Western and Eastern culture has become her focus in the later stages of her A Level.
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The tree has become a pathetic fallacy in Grace’s work, reproduced in a variety of forms and media. Grace is an exciting artist who works confidently in etching and oil paint. In her own time, she creates digital artwork, and she is undertaking an Art Foundation later in the year.
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Katy King
Katy has been a dedicated Art Scholar throughout her time in school. She is an exceptional draftswoman, and she has produced an outstanding body of artwork for her A Level submission. Katy is quiet and thoughtful, and her A Level project focuses on the concepts of human masks and facades. After extensive development, her ideas finished with a painting based on
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a self-portrait which is made from stone, produced as an oil painting. Stone statues seem soulless yet beautiful, but they decay over time and their real beauty is in the imperfections that destroy the stone facade. She is an extremely talented painter and can use both acrylic and oil paint with ease. She has also produced exceptional etchings,
drawings, and ceramic work throughout the A Level course. Katy is a natural artist, and she is going to study Fine Art at degree level. She would say that she is not a conceptual artist but a scholar who is interested in producing thoughtful and beautiful artwork.
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Will Maddocks ART
Will has been fully committed to Art and Design all through his time at St Edward’s. He is a naturally expressive painter, and he instinctively uses brush marks and colours to produce powerful artwork. His A Level project focused on his love of the landscape. Will became fascinated with how colour and texture describes the mood of a place, and the time of year. Will uses a mixture of media. Working with ink, plaster, and oil paint. He works using a pallet knife, rollers, and brushes. His work aims to immerse the viewer in what it feels like to be
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standing in a particular landscape and this has led him to work on an exceptionally large scale. His final piece is 4 by 2 metres.
Will is a natural artist, always creative and not scared to share his vision of the world.
St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
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St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
Will Maddocks PHOTOGRAPHY
Will’s focus started with an investigation into architectural photography. He became aware that to make a statement about the diversity of architectural forms in the town and city that he needed to look closely at how the buildings
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formed these landscapes. Simply producing impressive photographs of buildings did not have enough artistic worth. As the project developed he became fascinated with windows and how integral they are to the design and patterns
that are created in our world. Finally moving towards the use of glass and artificial light to create the illusion of glamour and modernity. Some of Will’s most impressive photographs were taken using
a drone but he has also created an online exhibition as part of his project. He is an inventive and thoughtful photography student. We have no doubt he will continue to use these skills in his future.
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Alex Preece
The Shape of Light has been essential in the development of fine art throughout the 20th Century. Without photographers the art world would look extremely different today. The concept of light within the subject of photography and film is a fundamental aspect of Alex’s work. His A Level project explores how light can change how we view the world around us. Distortion, colour filters and camera control are essential aspects in how we read what is in the image. The photographer controls what we see as well as dazzling us with glittering effects. Alex worked hard to push his understanding of fine art photography to create thought-provoking and intriguing images. We have no doubt that he will continue to use his camera in the future, combining with his chosen path in Business.
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Phoebe Rendell ART
Phoebe is a thoughtful and expressive artist. As she has come through St Edward’s, she has developed her art skills to an extremely high level. Her A Level work has focused on the perception of women in art. In the initial stages of the course this focused on portraiture. Later, Phoebe discovered that until the last century most artists were male, and it was only their view on the female form that we saw. In recent times the female view of herself is controlled by social media and ingrained beliefs of what beauty is. Phoebe’s work describes the female as one
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that has been controlled, with her final painting mixing the concepts of doll and geisha girl like figures staring blankly out of the canvas. Phoebe uses a mixture of oil, acrylic, and ink; later works increasingly uses the palette knife. This developed style expresses a raw emotional reaction that is not pretty but honest. Phoebe is a thoughtful and perceptive art student and we hope that after a year out that she will follow her plan and continue to study Art and Design.
St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
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St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
Phoebe Rendell PHOTOGRAPHY
Phoebe has always been fascinated with fashion photography and the fantasy world which it creates. Her exceptionally well-produced project investigated the relationship between our need for escapism and our desire to aspire to be more than we are. The photographer can create a fake but alluring world. But when we look deeper it is full of juxtapositions and manipulations. Phoebe has created powerful photographs throughout her project and she has been able to coerce her friend to becoming her model in a range of uncomfortable environments. Thanks must go to this young lady for helping Phoebe to produce such amazing work. We have no doubt that Phoebe will continue education in photography or fashion at some point in the future.
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Grace Russell
Grace has always been an extremely committed art student. Her dedication to the subject has been evident since Year 7. During the A Level course, Grace became fascinated with Eastern art and how this has influenced Western Art as we know it today. Her extensive research and experimentation have led her on a journey that has explored working in new styles, adopting new techniques, and finding her own style in response to the landscape. Grace has worked in a variety of media including ink, etching and oil paint. Her final pieces adopt the dimensions, composition, and philosophies of Eastern art but are undoubtedly modern in their depiction of the landscape. Grace is going to undertake an Art Foundation course next year. Her positive, hardworking approach to the subject will be missed.
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Leon Tan-Spiers Leon’s deeply personal work has focused on his own personal conflicts. Photography is a medium that with skill can capture and communicate feelings and anxieties about the world in which we live.
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Art is a way of making sense of how we and others see us. Leon has always been extremely interested in portraiture and lock down has meant that the focus has naturally led to analyzing himself.
Distortion evokes a veil of confusion while creating thought provoking and powerful work. Leon is an exceptionally bright, funny, and emotionally intelligent young man.
His interest in psychology is obvious throughout his A Level project.
St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
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St Edward’s A Level Art & Photography
Luca Zimmermann
Luca has always worked incredibly hard to produce photographs of exceptional quality. He has developed a highly individual style which has yielded a mature and emotionally eloquent body of work. Luca has explored what it means to portray conflict through photography, finally using his own image as a point of engagement. Luca’s conclusion to his A level Photography shows a
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mature and sophisticated approach which meaningfully engages with the viewer as well as being very a visually literate body of work.
Luca will commence a degree reading Anthropology at the University of Durham in September of this year. We wish him well in his future studies and hope that he continues to utilise his skills and talent for Photography.
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St Edward’s Senior & Sixth Form, Cirencester Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 8EY T:01242 388555 E:reception@stedwards.co.uk