Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Portrait Exhibition

Congratulations to the Stage 5 Visual Arts students who had their paintings selected to be exhibited at The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre as part of 2023 Blue Mountains Portraits exhibition.

The Stage 5 students include Freya Knussen, Jade Robilliard, Eva-Mai Wakelin, Robert Griffith, Madison Saez, Otto Merry, Alana Murray, Elinor Lodewyke, Ben Willa Delaney and Toby Aitken. The exhibition ran from 4th February to 2nd April. It was exciting seeing our students work in a public space and I believe both a thrill and terrifying all at the same time to have your work on the wall for all to scrutinise, fall in love with or just or walk by. It is great to see our students starting to build a portfolio of work they are proud of and being brave enough to get involved in this prestigious local exhibition.

Congratulations to Freya Knussen (pictured left), who won the People’s Choice Award with her fabulous painting of her friend, Rose. Congratulations, to Freya, who has won a cash prize for her efforts.

Student: Freya Knussen; Title: Rose; Medium: Coloured pencil on paper

Artistic Statement: This portrait uses coloured pencils on paper to capture my friend Rose Perisce-Burrell at the end of an evening netball training session. She is forcing her eyes to open to represent the tiredness caused by the pressures of balancing life as a 14-Year-old high school student.

Student: Jade Robilliard; Title: Jade

Artistic Statement: This self-portrait was intended to appropriate Edvard Munch’s ‘Self-Portrait with Cigarette’, however the tone of my artwork is different. The portrait is devoid of any emotion or meaning, and the face is fully exposed. I wanted the artwork to engage the audience to search for meaning in my own face. Portraits are supposed to characterise someone, but I want my portrait to confront the audience, and search for something in them instead.

Student: Eva-Mai Wakelin; Title: Spiral; Medium: acrylic on paper

Artistic Statement: ‘Spiral’ depicts a black and white self-portrait. This artwork is heavily based on the graphic novel series; Uzumaki by Junji Ito. This graphic novel series is a horror story based on spirals, delusion, and confusion. I adored this graphic style which incorporates the symbol of the spiral. One scene particularly caught my eye where a spiral scar begins engulfing one of the characters faces. I have incorporated this imagery into my own self portrait.

Student: Robert Griffith; Title: Self-Portrait; Materials: Acrylic Paint on paper

Artistic Statement: This self-portrait captures glimpses of the subject’s thoughtful and serious mood in their expression. The idea behind the artwork is to represent the subject and play with light in a saturated form. This light presents itself as an expanding space to provide contrast to the darkening background. The colour of the face itself is made up of many varying skin tones to show how the light affects the surface of the face, creating structure.

Student: Madison Saez; Title: Me in a Silly Hat

Artistic Statement:This self- portrait was inspired by Umberto Boccioni's self-portrait, which he painted while studying art in 1902. This composition consists of myself in front of an orange tree and plastered wall, capturing a neutral expression. The painting for me is a study of colour.

Student: Otto Merry; Title: Accidental Abstract

Artistic Statement:This self portrait is modelled on the work of Ben Quilty. I really like Ben Quilty’s style and it suits my own. I have dyspraxia which makes it difficult for me to use my hands to do things in a precise way. This means that more abstract representation is easier for me. I want the audience to understand that the different perspectives of people with disability are valuable and allow us to see the everyday in refreshing and interesting ways

Student: Alana Murray; Title: Movement

Artistic Statement: This self-portrait uses geometric shapes and techniques inspired by the art movement Futurism. The fracturing of the composition shows different angles of my face through the use of darker and lighter colours. This aims to capture movement, which is one of the key inspirations of the Futurist movement. I created this artwork by taking a photo of myself and enlarging it. I ruled out the geometric lines carefully and then painted using acrylic paint. I enjoyed the entire process of creating this artwork and I really like the unique concepts and ideas the Futurists used to convey the key ideals of the movement.

Student: Elinor Lodewyke; Title: Self Contemplation

Artistic Statement: This self-portrait aimed to capture a reflection of myself. Painting in an Expressionist style was a new experience for me and allowed me to create a self-portrait in a unique way. This composition is an appropriation of "Woman with Eyes Closed" 2002 by Lucian Freud influenced by the style and application of colour.

Student: Ben Willa Delaney; Title: Me

Artistic Statement: This self-portrait captures the inner reaches of self-perception as I found that a face, my own face, could be vastly changed by lighting and colour when captured in portraiture. The white geometric lines represent a fracturing and inaccuracy of perception when looking at oneself. To create this work, I visually appropriated one of Lucian Freud's many self-portraits, but I developed my own aesthetic and my own conceptual meaning.

Student: Toby Aitken; Title: Self Portrait at a window, after Charles Leval; Media: Acrylic on paper; Influences: Charles Leval, Paul Gauguin, Emile Bernard

Artistic Statement: I have painted myself in the style of a self-portrait by Charles Laval, a French Post-Impressionist painter associated with the Synthetic Movement of the 1880s and 1890s. Synthetic painters were concerned with the artist’s feelings about their subject and the aesthetic considerations of line, light, colour and form. In this self-portrait, I have tried to capture Laval’s Impressionistic style, including visible brushstrokes which add texture to the portrait. The sombre expression of the subject and the contrasts in interior and exterior lighting convey a brooding and wistful atmosphere. My goal was to convey the realistic nature of the figure in his darkened room, in contrast to the bright vivid greens and oranges emphasising the hues of the natural world outside the window pane.

I would like to encourage all of our students to get involved in what they love doing these holidays. Sometimes, that which brings us the most joy can become an exciting career. Perhaps research a competition you can work towards in Term 2. The holidays are a great time to use your Creative Arts voucher and do a course. If you’re not art making, then go and see some art; the NSW Art Gallery have recently opened a brand new contemporary gallery Sydney Modern Project, which is well worth the visit, as we will find out from our Art Captains.

Mrs Sally Herron

Head of Visual Arts

Excursion to the Art Gallery of New South Wales

In March, Visual Arts students in Years 11 and 12 visited the Art Gallery of NSW, where students were immersed in a number of exhibitions, including the ArtExpress Exhibition.

This annual exhibition celebrates the talent of secondary school students HSC Visual Art bodies of work. In the morning we attended a lecture where three student speakers talked about their experience of making a Body of Work for the HSC. These students, whose work was showcased in the exhibition, explained their art, the process, the challenges, their tips, and the overall experience of completing their art making. Exploring the exhibition and listening to the talks was a highly valuable experience for both classes. It inspired our art practice, stimulated ideas, and gave us a chance to see what an exceptional quality of work, both technically and conceptually, looks like. Having this experience right now is really helpful in understanding how much we need to do ourselves when returning to school after the Easter break.

In addition, we then had the opportunity to visit the new Contemporary extension, such as the Yiribana Gallery dedicated to Indigenous Australian Art, where we joined an Indigenous educator-led 'floor talk' specifically focusing on Indigenous art. The educator's knowledge and expertise in this area allowed our class to ask almost anything about the art making, values and links to ancestry and we learned a lot quickly. This talk was extremely beneficial in building our knowledge for our exams, and has set us up well to move into Year 12's next Case Study of Australian Art.

Furthermore, students had time to explore the large variety of exhibitions in the gallery. The building itself was architecturally captivating, featuring commissioned site-specific works for the spaces and intriguing spaces displaying many artworks. The new wing featured a wide range of contemporary works, a huge underground installation, interesting and thought-provoking artworks, art you could interact with and become a part of as an audience member, and so much more. We definitely recommend visiting this new Sydney Modern Project.

Angus Herron and Eva Passlow

Art Captains

Senior School

End of Term 1 Letter from the Head of Senior School