Visual Arts

Celebrating Julia Wang's Remarkable Artistic Achievements

I am delighted to share the exciting news that one of our exceptional Year 12 students, Julia Wang, has recently achieved remarkable success in the 2023 Young Australian Art and Writers Awards. Launched in 2006 as a national platform for students to showcase their creative talents, these awards have become a prestigious celebration of artistic prowess across the country.

Julia Wang's outstanding artistic abilities were not only recognized within the walls of our school but have now garnered external acclaim. Her artworks, "Still Life of the Miscellaneous" and "Ethereal," earned her two well-deserved awards at the ceremony held at the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park. It was my privilege to accompany Julia, along with her mother, sister and art tutor, to the awards ceremony—an evening filled with anticipation and celebration of young artistic talent.

Julia's proficiency in oil painting, coupled with her commitment to pushing artistic boundaries, has truly set her apart. These awards not only highlight her exceptional contributions to our school's art community but also showcase her ability to captivate audiences on a national level. Julia's success is a testament to her dedication, talent, and unique perspective, making her an inspiring role model for her peers.

As we congratulate Julia Wang on this extraordinary achievement, we also take pride in knowing that her artistic journey reflects the creative spirit that defines our school community. We look forward to witnessing her continued success and the bright future that undoubtedly awaits her in the world of art.

Warmest congratulations, Julia!

Harriet Turnbull (Visual Arts Leader) 

Year 12 Students Shortlisted for 2024 Top Arts Exhibition

We are thrilled to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Elodie Dillon, Gwyneth op't Hoog, Julia Wang, and Alex Saveski, four Year 12 students who have been shortlisted for the prestigious 2024 Top Arts Exhibition. This remarkable achievement showcases their creativity, dedication, and outstanding artistic abilities.

Elodie Dillon's installation, "Memoria Domus," takes a unique approach by exploring the boundaries of art's purpose. Elodie seamlessly integrates art with healing, creating a site-specific installation that interprets her grandparents' most calming memories. Through interviews, Elodie selected materials that encapsulate these memories, resulting in a biophilic textile design that reanimates and reinterprets natural spaces, offering a space of reminiscence, peacefulness, and joy.

Gwyneth op't Hoog's acrylic painting series, "A Sleeping Venus," engages with the historical portrayal of women in portraiture. Subverting the traditional reclining nude, Gwyneth's powerful self-portraits challenge the relationship between the captured female subject and the male voyeur, creating a disquieting yet thought-provoking narrative.

Julia Wang's oil painting, "In an Ancient Forest of Hundred-Year-Old Trees, You Are an Unrooted Sprout," serves as an ode to the struggle of finding oneself in a fast-paced, globalized society. Exploring themes of cultural heritage, immigration, and identity, Julia's work resonates symbolically and invites viewers into the inner realms of the central figure.

Alex Saveski's latex sculpture, "Primitive Skin," offers a physical representation of the abstract and fragmented inner journey toward establishing an adult identity. With delicately "tattooed" designs representing memories of a former identity, Alex explores the complexities of evolving and dissolving identity through life's metamorphoses.

The Top Arts exhibition presents outstanding work by students who have completed Art in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). Top Arts is an exhibition of photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed media, ceramics, film and printmaking produced by VCE art students, held at The Ian Potter​.

We are immensely proud of Elodie, Gwyneth, Julia, and Alex for their achievements, and we eagerly anticipate their continued success in the world of art. Best of luck for your selection into the Top Arts Exhibition – your creativity is an inspiration to us all!

Harriet Turnbull (Visual Arts Leader)

Year 9 - Chatterboxes

For year 9 visual art, we were tasked with choosing an artwork to analyze and make a chatterbox with this artwork in mind. The artwork I chose is called Temple by Rel Pham and was an art instillation I saw in person at the NGV and was very enthralled by. I learnt how it was inspired by symbols used in Taoist cosmetology as well as exploring themes of the digital world merging with the physical one. It took me a while to decide how I could reflect this artwork with my own spin on a chatterbox, but then I came up with the idea for The Seraph’s Gate. 

Seraph means “burning one” and is a heavenly being originating in ancient Judaism and now holding meaning to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Christian belief they are the highest of angels, and are described as beings with six wings, each covered in eyes. This depiction heavily influenced my artwork, as well as text written in Elder Futhark runes. 

 The text on the outside of the Gate is written in Elder futhark runes. The eyes on the inside are lit to invoke a similar appearance to the computer fans on the walls of the temple, and as the colours of the light changes the colours of the eyes are more or less revealed. I spent a long time on this project and I’m so glad it turned out so well!

- Wulfsbaine Raven

Red String and Wire Chatterbox

This semester in Visual Art our task was to create a chatterbox artwork that was inspired by an artist. My artwork is inspired by Chiharu Shiota’s artwork, “An Uncertain Journey” which explores the unpredictability of our journey through our lives.  I wanted to create a wire sculpture as we can fully analyses each edge of it, it reflects the only things we do know for certain about our lives. The string chatterbox is erratic and doesn’t show where the string starts and ends. It demonstrates the fluidity of our lives and how interconnected it is with our existence. After a lot of experimenting with making the wire sculpture and laying red string with glue, I created a chatterbox that conveyed this dimensional feeling.

- Phoenix Keech

My chatter box is inspired by Tarree Mackenzie’s artwork, Pepper’s Ghost Effect Circles 4, Variations. In her artwork she has used primary colours and secondary colours to create her sculpture. The concept of Pepper’s Ghost effect circles 4 variation is to use colour in different spaces. I have used this concept and put it into my own artwork. In the artwork I am appropriating it uses mirrors to reflect primary colours and create secondary colours. I have used the box that surrounds my chatterbox to act like the mirrors. I have also chosen to use this line pattern on my chatter box because it resembles the lines and shapes that the peppers ghost effect has. 

- Phemie MacGregor

In Visual Art this semester we were asked to create a chatterbox inspired by an artwork we liked. I decided to extend that idea from a regular chatterbox, to attaching a chatterbox to a ceramic sculpture. I was inspired by Chiharu Shiota’s artwork ‘A Web Above Our Lives’ and how she explored the concepts of human interrelations and social connection. After much thought the idea for this artwork was made. The ceramic crow with chatterbox beak demonstrates a ‘Mother Crow’ trying to call out to her child, but being unable to express her true self.

Overall, this task was a really fun way to in cooperate concepts from modern art with your own ideas.

-Lucinda Buckle

Year 8 – Appropriation.

This semester in art, we were tasked to appropriate a piece of artwork from history. Taking inspiration from various art movements we learnt and implemented many painting techniques to slightly alter the meaning of these famous pieces. We challenged our understanding of art principles and elements to suit the technique and create messages through art. Using this information, many took to Impressionist and Realist styles, adding humorous and scenic elements to create beautiful compositions. Overall, it was a very enjoyable task.  

By Kate Dean 8D

Year 9 Photography