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DP VISUAL ART EXHIBITION

TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2026

6:00-8:00 PM

DP BUILDING, MAIN FLOOR

CONGRATULATIONS, DP VISUAL ART CLASS OF 2026!

Inside this catalogue, you will find the complete and carefully curated body of work for each student in the course, along with a short version of their curatorial rationale that highlights the ideas, processes, and connections among their pieces.

Never in my career as a DP Art teacher have I had such a uniformly committed, focussed and hardworking group of students. It has been an honour to witness each of them quietly develop as artists over the past two years, creating increasingly complex and nuanced work, their skills soaring with each new piece.

My hope for each of these wonderful individuals - Chloe, Kayla, Rachel, Anthony and Kate - is that each of them, no matter what they go on to study and where they end up in life, that each of them will hold close to their hearts their appreciation for art and the joy that creation brings.

And remember, nothing that you ever do with art again will ever be as hard as this course was! Your reward is that you will never look at art the same way again, and I mean that in the best possible way.

With

enduring gratitude and respect,

Ms. Melanie Dueck DP Visual Arts Teacher

JOURNEY

ANTHONY NORDEN

THROUGH ALIENATION

My body of work explores themes of isolation and loneliness, emotions I have felt and wish for the audience to experience to bridge the gap between them and my internal state. Society is built on human interaction, and this lack of interaction can cause unease in the audience. Despite the challenges of loneliness, I have evolved to overcome these emotions, as seen towards the end of the exhibition. My pieces display this through depictions of lonely atmospheres in both negative and positive lights, allowing me to express my emotions to the audience.

The majority of my artworks were made using acrylic paint or charcoal, as my material competency allows me to explore these themes of isolation. Other media used includes ink, collage, and cardboard with mirror foil. I was inspired by Claude Monet, Yayoi Kusama, and Georges Seurat. Monet’s techniques of blending similar colour ranges influenced the light and atmosphere in Dos Perritos and Intersection at Night, emphasising loneliness. I was also inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirror rooms when creating Senbon Torii, depicting an infinite void to emphasise overwhelming isolation.

Kusama’s installations influenced the conceptual significance of the isolated environment. Voyage de Solitude was inspired by Georges Seurat’s Conte studies, where his timeless landscapes reflect how isolation can feel infinite.

All my pieces revolve around isolation and are arranged chronologically to demonstrate a journey. I focused on empty environments to communicate isolation, leaving them barren to exaggerate the absence of human figures. The first piece, X-Ray of Nana, places the audience in the perspective of someone experiencing fear of external judgement, emphasising loneliness despite the presence of others. The faceless figure creates an uncomfortable environment. Intersection at Night is similarly unsettling, using hard lighting to reveal an absence of human presence. Wanderer on Mars depicts isolation on a planetary scale through alienation and serves as the midpoint, where isolation becomes neutral. The exhibition follows an eventual acceptance of loneliness. Finally, Voyage de Solitude concludes the exhibition with an unresolved ending, reflecting the ongoing nature of isolation.

X-Ray Of Nana Charcoal

Dog Runner Acrylic and Collage

Intersection at Night Acrylic on Canvas

Senbon Torii Cardboard Mirror Sheets

Wanderer on Mars Acrylic on Canvas

Dos Perritos Acrylic on Canvas

Hachimangu Shrine After Rainfall Ink

Chime in Galiano Island Winds Acrylic

Voyage de Solitude Charcoal

KATE PHUNG

KALEIDOSCOPE

A kaleidoscope is a popular kids toy that uses small mirrors and coloured glass to create shifting symmetrical patterns as the viewer looks through it. Similarly, fragments of memories, settings and emotions come together to form a mosaic of childhood. My exhibition, Kaleidoscope captures the fleeting moments of childhood, highlighting the beauty of everyday moments that hold traces of personal history, cultural values, and identity. I aim to express emotions beyond happiness, revealing the depth and complexity in children’s experiences. Throughout my works, a similar saturated colour palette is utilized to highlight the vibrant way children see the world. The works are represented in a variety of media, including a picture book, oil painting, and mixed media, reflecting the versatile forms in which memories can be remembered and represented.

My hope for the exhibition is for the audience to recall the emotional depth and complexity of childhood, understanding that emotions such as curiosity and introspection are what make childhood special. I want viewers to reflect on specific spaces, objects and relationships that shape their identity, while recalling the imaginative way children see the world. I guide the audience on a journey that moves from personal memory to shared experiences, creating awareness of how ordinary moments of childhood carry influence and shape who we are today.

Between

Oils on Canvas

Before They Float Away Acrylic on Canvas and Oil Pastels

Kate’s Busy Day Mixed Media

World Beyond a Plate Digital Media

Looking Out

Watercolour and Colour Pencils

Beneath the Surface of Time Oil on Canvas

Through a Child’s Lens

Watercolour, Watercolour Pencil, Colour Pencil

CHLOE WONG

BENEATH THE SURFACE

Beneath the Surface represents the feeling of being underwater, where pressure builds below what is seen on the outside. As a competitive swimmer, this idea reflects the physical feeling of being submerged underwater, but also the contrast between the calmness and control I hold on the surface, compared to the pressure which exists within me. As a quiet individual, I often avoid projecting my emotions; this exhibition acts as a glimpse of the deeper and unseen weights which I carry.

In my exhibition, I evoke feelings of need for perfection, fear of failure, and the weight of expectations. In various art pieces, I convey these feelings through multiple facets of my life: swimming, soccer, school, and art. Representing these facets simultaneously highlights the overwhelming nature of carrying and balancing multiple expectations at once.

In the curation of the exhibitions and exploration of pressure, I’ve come to recognize that pressure can be used as a weight or as fuel. This dual mindset is reflected in many of my works, for example, Invisible Current, where I explore this idea through soccer. My self-criticizing thoughts can act as forces which propel me to work harder or pull me backwards and discourage me.

Although my artworks are very personal to my own journey with expectations and pressure, I hope that my artworks can resonate with people who also feel the need to uphold perfectionism and who feel heavy expectations to succeed. Through Flourish, I hope viewers can see how the pressure they experience can transform into resilience and growth.

Held in Streamline Gouache on Paper

Pulled

Pencil on Paper, Thread

Flourish Acrylic on Canvas

Shattered Self-Perception

Acrylic on Cavas

Painting Perfectionism

Gouche on Canvas

The Perfect Soup Pencil Crayon and Oil Pastel on Paper

Overloaded

Pencil Crayon and Marker on Paper

Invisible Currents Pencil on Paper

KAYLA WONG

OPEN YOUR HEART

To open one’s heart to someone is to reveal the aspects of ourselves that we keep deep within us. It is intimate, personal and vulnerable. My exhibition explores the concept of self-expression, particularly the various vulnerable parts that we keep hidden away, even if they are integral to who we truly are. This idea stems from my personal experiences as someone who finds it difficult to express myself directly and how that creates distance between myself and others. Through this exhibition, I wish to create a closer connection between how I’m perceived and who I truly am, while also inviting the audience to think about their own vulnerabilities.

All the works in my exhibition begin from things that I want to say about myself, but can’t with words. Identity is intertwined with various characteristics; hence, my works weave through the tension of confronting my fears while finding comfort in self-acceptance. Throughout my body of work, a heart-headed figure is a visual motif that serves as my alter ego. It represents emotional openness and appears in situations of both confrontation and comfort.

Pieces about confrontation are characterized by tense environments to represent fear and anxiety. In these

works, I use the repetition of elements, to create turbulent atmospheres, which aim to overwhelm the audience, mirroring the way they impact me. The uneasiness that I communicate in these works externalizes the internal turmoil I face, which pushes me to address them directly.

In contrast, artworks about comfort are denoted by bright and vibrant colours, which I use to bring a sense of joy and positivity. These works zoom in on aspects of myself that I’ve learned to recognize and appreciate. Through serene compositions and expressive colours, I create welcoming spaces that invite the audience to find moments of solace within themselves. These artworks highlight the parts of myself where I find reassurance and tranquility, allowing me to return these feelings of comfort.

As the audience moves through my exhibition, I want them to be able to understand me on a deeper level while also taking time to reflect on their own character. While the heart-headed figure represents me, it also allows for viewers to see themselves in my work and potentially find courage to open their hearts to acknowledge the parts of themselves that they keep hidden.

The Mundane is Always Present Acrylic on Canvas Paper

The Things that Keep me Up at Night Watercolour on Paper

The Swarm of Change Acrylic on Canvas

Coexistence

Acrylic on Canvas

Heartfelt Paper Mache

Door to the Heart Acrylic on Canvas

The City is Watching Ink on Paper

What the City Cannot See

Acrylic on Canvas

RACHEL XU

IN RETROSPECT

In Retrospect explores the concepts of nostalgia, memory, and the passage of time, particularly the emotional impressions tied to specific moments in time. Much of my focus stems from my personal history and emotional connection to Shanghai, China, where many of my memories are rooted. After moving to Vancouver with my mom in 2022, while my father stayed in Shanghai for work, I was physically separated from familiar places and parts of my family. This distance makes me

think more deeply about how the memory preserves those moments that can never be revisited. Family and culture are intertwined in my works as they are the foundation of my memory and sense of identity. The absence of human figures is also evident in my works, suggesting memories live on even when the people connected to them are no longer present in the scene.