Visual Arts

Year 12 

It is hard to believe the Year 12 students have less than two weeks before practice exams start. Term 3 is very challenging for Unit 4 students studying folio subjects, with School Assessed Tasks (SATs) due. Studio Art and VCD finals are due a week apart. Consistent effort and work is needed to manage workload but there is always a frantic rush at the end. Parents too would have felt the pressure, as they support their child’s journey. It is an achievement to be celebrated and I congratulate all students. The work on display during the Art Exhibition will be stunning! In Studio Art, one of our students commandeered the tables at the back of V6 (senior art room) for weeks on end, creating sculptures and quite frankly, making a mess. However, from a pile of wood, branches, bark and dried flowers beautiful sculptures have arisen, the student working with natural materials, combining them as if they were a jigsaw. Working in her study periods, Olay M also educated some Year 7 students, sharing the space with Miss Grbac’s class often. Here is a little sneak peak of the drawings that accompany her sculptures.

Year 11

On Wednesday 4 September, I took the Year 11 Studio Art students to see Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality and Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape. They learnt about China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang, and his warriors, discovered in 1974 in China’s Shaanxi province. They are regarded as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the twentieth century and widely described as the eighth wonder of the world. In parallel to the contemporary works of Cai, students reflected on curatorial considerations and immersed themselves in the work. We had a great day.

After viewing traditional and contemporary Indigenous Art at the Australian Gallery, we finished the day viewing Lucy McCrae’s Body Architect. Students enjoyed this section, trying their hand at a ‘photo booth’, where the program is designed to recognise facial features and provide data. These candid shots show them trying to navigate the instructions and enjoying a ‘selfie’ moment.

Term 4 Long Service Leave

I take leave at the end of Term 3 and am looking forward to travelling through Europe, visiting galleries, viewing the work of masters I have only ever seen in books or online. I hope this experience, knowledge and culture inform and inspire my teaching in 2020 and wish you all an early farewell. May the year end well and the learning continue.

Mrs Linda Camilleri

Head of Faculty Visual Arts