GradX 2022-23

GRAD X 2022-2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RYLEE BAIRD

TITLE: Bite

MEDIUM: Oil paint on canvas

Art has truly shaped who I am as a person. It has allowed me to express myself in ways I cannot do with words, and helped me to understand and accept complex emotions and feelings of simply just being a person. I have been creating since as long as I can remember. Whether that was drawing flowers with crayons on a Montana’s paper tablecloth at age 6, to confessing my feelings in an oil painting at age 17. Growing up in the art world has been incredibly special. As a performer, writer and a visual artist, art has become a driving force in my life. It’s given me friends, experiences and added tremendous value to everything I do. In the fall, I will be pursuing the arts at the University of Guelph as I hope to enrich my life even more with the beautiful things that the arts provide.

My artwork Bite is my self-reflective piece. Here, I have chosen to address a particular struggle in my life that I’ve dealt with as I have experienced growing up. I chose to do oil paint, as it is the medium I most enjoy and the one I plan to work with most frequently in my future. I like that it is easily changeable and therefore less permanent. This is only the second oil painting I have done, and with this exploration of medium I discovered my love for colour. Oil paint allows you to play with colours in ways no other medium does and that is why it is my favourite. For a self-reflective piece it is common to think of a self-portrait, but for me I wanted to shed light on the things you might not necessarily want people to know, but are a part of you without defining it as you . With the creation of this piece, I wanted to be able to tell my story without explicit language and I wanted people to ask themselves questions; leaving this painting to invoke feelings of reflection; meaning that the piece is both a selfreflection of myself, but enables others to reflect as well.

KATIE CHANG

ARTWORK: Windmill model

TITLE: Untitled

MEDIUM: Popsicle sticks and hot glue

UNTITLED

Art has been a part of my life since a very young age. In elementary school, I took art lessons with a woman named Janice, who I credit for helping me to form a foundation in which I continue to build upon each day. To be transparent, when I attended my first art class at CDS in grade 6, I began to question whether or not art would play a vital role in my future. I was immediately surrounded by so many other students who were creating art at a level that I could not even comprehend being possible for an adult, and this initially discouraged me. Through middle school, I found that my area of strength was in accurately recreating fine details in my compositions which I based on photographs. I used this to my advantage up until I reached grade 12. This year I made the executive decision to pivot my focus to creating artwork that brings me joy during the process rather than what earns the highest mark or praise. This childhood-like sense of creativity is evident in the pieces that I am showcasing in this Grad Exhibition.

The piece that I have chosen to focus on is a model of a windmill which I made almost entirely out of popsicle sticks and hot glue. There is no meaningful rationale behind my decision to make a windmill, besides the fact that it had the potential to feature a dynamic element. My choice of materials was based on a project that I did in grade 4, where we made a bridge out of popsicle sticks. I tend to value artwork that is both visually appealing as well as functional. In terms of the principles of design, harmony is most prominently created in the shingles of the roof. The repeated scallop shapes create rhythm as the viewer’s eye moves horizontally across the roof. I chose the pecan stain as it was the hardwood floor colour of the house I grew up in, and it is a nostalgic colour for me.

GRACE DALTON

TITLE: Life Through a Window

MEDIUM: Oil paint on canvas

LIFE THROUGH A WINDOW

Being creative is a big part of my life. It has always given me a way of expressing myself as well as being an outlet for me. I use artwork like a diary a bit. I like to incorporate the way that I feel into my artwork as it lets me express things that I deeply believe in a different way other than just writing it down or saying it. I am a very visual person and it is very satisfying and clarifying to see my thoughts and feelings in a visual way.

The piece that I chose is inspired by a time when I went to New York City. Through my hotel window at night, I could see into people’s apartments/offices across the street. The fact that you can have a glimpse into a little part of anyone’s life through windows at night is very interesting to me. I remember thinking how interesting it was to see how differently every person in that building decorated their space, and how those choices in their space probably say a lot about their character. I also love the way that windows look at night. They look like floating squares full of personality. I wanted to recreate this in a painting. I used many warm tones to try to create a comforting feeling in my painting, hoping to portray that to the audience.

CHRISTIAN TOGNARELLI

TITLE: Skull

MEDIUM: Clay and glaze

As a child I would always express the way I felt about the world around me through drawings, pictures and sketches instead of the more traditional way of writing. From Junior Kindergarten until grade 12 I have always excelled in visual art by putting my great ideas into something in the physical world. I realize now more than ever that this part of my life may be coming to an end as I am graduating from school and do not know if I will have time to draw, sculpt or sketch pieces of art that may never be created and will simply just stay as ideas. That’s why this year I decided to take my time and to make sure that my last were in fact the best.

This is a ceramic skull. Skull took me many tries and different pieces of clay to get it right. Following the bone structure on my face I created a skull that was almost identical to what would be under my skin. I had originally created the skull around the same size as my head in order to get it as close as possible, but what I had not realized was that it would shrink in the kiln making it smaller than the average human skull.

SKULL

OLIVER VIEN

TITLE: Boogie Man

MEDIUM: Acrylic on canvas

BOOGIE MAN

I like to create in any form whether it was playing with Lego as a child or designing and building a lamp, it has always made me happy. I hope to continue to create and be able to make a career of designing and creating.

I am trying to show the experience of dementia from what I have seen. The paper with words on it represents knowledge and learning and the smoke from the paper represents information being consumed. The holes in the face and the chimney in the top of the head with smoke coming out of it shows that new information is being lost. The fact she has one eye, no ears, no nose or a mouth illustrates a loss of sense or loss of what is going on, she is not able to intake new information through sound, smell, taste or sight. The chimney placed on the top of her head as if her head was a house shows the disconnect from reality. The chess board hair fading away shows a loss of knowledge from experience. Her one eye looking down to the right demonstrates how she is not seeing what is happening or unknowing of her own condition. The cold tones of her skin shows her not perceiving her own image right. I used pastel for the flowers to make them look like crayons making the flowers look childish as I have noticed that some people with dimentia can recall childhood memories quite well. The darkness surrounding her depicts that is the only thing remembered while also making it feel like she is in a void.

Being able to express oneself and to communicate your ideas to society is the greatest achievement that the artist can attain. Through this creative act, they explore their humanity, test their resiliency and enrich the lives of others.

Each year, the graduating class of art students continue to share their ideas through conceptual work, expand their horizons through their experimentations, and provide discourse through their discussions.

May Art remain a part of your life wherever your future takes you. Let it uplift your soul and help you to realize your dreams.

-Ms. Castellan-