Art Across the School

Junior School Art: Under the Big Top

Mrs Sofia Tsolakis – Head of Junior School Art

At the beginning of the year, all students from Prep to Year 5 collaborate to produce a studio mural that introduces them to the year’s topic. This year, the focus is Under the Big Top: The Circus.

The mural depicts a collage of faces sitting down and enjoying the circus performances during a circus act. The ringmaster is Arty Mouse, who is the art studio mascot. Hands and balloons are flying by, bringing colour and joy to the mural.

Prep Self Portraits: ‘I am an artist. This is my Self Portrait’.

Boys explored the various combinations when mixing primary colours red, blue and yellow by hand.

Year 8 Art

Ms Bonnie Wade and Ms Ann McNair – Art Teachers Mr Jack Balfour – Art Technician

Year 8 Art students produced some beautiful art work in Term 1, from drawings and paintings to sculpture. Teachers Bonnie Wade and Ann McNair give us a brief overview of the aims of these projects.

Flowers Still Life

The still life project captures the vibrancy of flowers amongst the order of objects. The aim of this project was to develop observational drawing, colour principles and quality of line work. Strong gestural lines formed the starting point of the compositions later filled with washes of coloured ink to bring energy and emphasis.

Still Life: Expressive still life studies from observation with vibrant watercolour washes completed by Year 8 students. Materials include black marker, water colour, pastel and paper.

Polar Bears

The polar bear project explores the impacts of climate change using sculptures as a vehicle to display a gathering of numbers. The crackle glaze symbolises the cracking of ice sheets and the deteriorating landscape that polar bears inhabit. Using clay allowed each student to develop an understanding of form in an engagingly tactile way that produced a unique sculpture.

Top Arts Selection

For the third year in succession, an Art student from Camberwell Grammar School has been selected for the prestigious Top Arts Exhibition. Only students in the top 1% of state-wide Art and Studio Arts are successful. This year Matthew Chan (2020) was selected for his brilliant ceramic interpretation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, entitled The holy trinity of 2020 (whilst stocks last!). As noted by Mr David Williamson, Head of Art, in a challenging year for all Art students, our students who do ceramics certainly found it difficult working from home. He thanks Ms Kate Thornburn and the whole Art and Design team who worked hard to ensure that students were given the best opportunity to shine. According to Ms Kate Thornburn, Matt’s work is about commodification, and the potential disconnect between the artist’s intended meaning and messages, and the popularity of subsequent merchandise sold at galleries, such as the NGV. His sculptures are based on events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter protests. His badges and T-shirts are based on the sculptures but are deliberately visually appealing as fashion items. The idea is that the wearer may choose them for aesthetic reasons, without knowing what they represent. Matthew’s piece can be viewed at the NGV from March 26 – July 11. Visit here www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/top-arts-2021 to find out more about this exhibition.