Arts update

Urban Decay - art students take inspiration from our local landscape of old and new  

This term, Miss Brewer’s ‘Art in Action’ class took part in a site-specific art making project. This involved an artist talk by local artist Wilhelm,  who spoke to students about the importance of place. Students then went on a guided walk along the Box Hill Heritage Trail and took photos of the urban landscape. 

Their images captured the changing nature of Box Hill and they were encouraged to link their contemporary images with the impressionist paintings of the Box Hill Artists of the 1880’s. 

The artworks produced by students were all on 9 x 5 inch wooden boards. This was inspired by the famous  '9 x 5 Exhibition' of 1889 where famous Impressionist artists including Frederick McCubbin, Charles Conder and Jane Sutherland painted on  wooden cigar box lids, that were used as canvases for the artworks displayed in the exhibition.

This artwork is by Lola C (Year 10). It was inspired by the idea of beauty found within imperfection. She explored the idea of Kintsugi, a Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery with gold accents. This technique emphasizes the repaired areas, rather than trying to hide the damage. 

Throughout her research of the '9 x 5 Exhibition', Lola discovered that neither Clara Southern nor Jane Southerland were included to showcase their work. During 1889, women often encountered barriers in the art world, which included limited opportunities for recognition and exhibition. Female artists struggled to gain the same acknowledgment and acceptance compared to male artists. 

In her final artwork,  she combined these ideas, displaying the overlooked contributions of women in art using the technique of Kintsugi. She layered the cracked pathway onto the wattle tree original artwork by Clara Southern called 'A Cool Corner'. This represented how female artists often fell through the cracks of the art world.

To further portray this message through her work she incorporated Clara Southern's silhouette, captured at Artist Park located in Box Hill, as a reminder of the female artists marginalised from the '9 x 5 Exhibition'. 

Her artwork is a tribute to Clara Southern, Jane Sutherland, and all female artists who encountered obstacles in the art world. Through her piece, she aims to shed light on the struggles these female artists faced and show recognition and appreciation for their contributions. This artwork is a great example of the type of Art Activism and Social Justice Art that Year 10 have been exploring this year. 

Below are some of the photos taken by students in their exploration of the urban landscape.