Creative Arts

Year 8 Ceramics

When I was growing up, I remember the arrival of margarine in plastic tubs and the amazing invention of plastic wrap to keep food fresh. At first, my mother wanted to wash it after its single use, because she thought it was so wasteful to throw it away.

The miracle invention of plastic, which transformed how we purchase food and the convenience of our daily lives, has become one of the huge pollution problems of our contemporary world. Much of the time, we use it once and discard it. The problem is, that it will last a very long time and even the biodegradable versions litter our oceans and soils with micro plastics.

What does this have to do with Art?

One of the roles artists play in our society is to speak about the world in which they live. Sometimes they celebrate it and sometimes they challenge it. Many artists explore the beauty of the world, and many address environmental issues.

The Year 8 Art classes have looked at the microscopic world of diatoms, single cell organisms that live in the ocean and produce 40% of the oxygen we breathe on land. They form the base of the food chain. They have amazingly beautiful and complex designs, which the students have investigated and used as inspiration for ceramic coil forms. Hopefully, they have enriched their sense of the wonder of the microscopic world and the complex interconnectedness of our environment.

Back in the April 4 edition of the newsletter, we showed some of this work in progress and here we have the finished artworks.

Year 7 Ceramics - Birds

The Year 7 Art classes investigated historical and contemporary artworks across cultures related to the theme of birds. They considered the various purposes of artworks and how artists explore and convey ideas.  Through their own use of a design process, the students learnt how to get inspiration from a broad range of sources, to sketch ideas and to create designs for artworks. The results are imaginative, often hybrid forms.

Cathy Maloney

Art Teacher