Visual and Creative Arts

Art - Student Reflections

Doing Art this year was definitely harder; however, it was a blessing in disguise. Honestly, I am so grateful to myself that I chose to move into Art for VCE.

Although this year has certainly been more difficult in terms of actually getting to complete the work, I have enjoyed Art no less. Doing a folio (even from home) is a completely different way of learning, which I found was actually really helpful when I was spending hours every day at my computer for my other classes. Being able to do, even a little bit, of creative work really helped me to relax, as well as break up the intense amount of screen time we had every day.

My class is only small, so we’re all really supportive of each other in terms of our work as well as in general, so whenever we returned to onsite learning, it was always nice to be working in our little comfortable environment again. I’m definitely going to miss Art class next year.

Holly Sutherland

Year 12

Undertaking folio-based subjects this year has been challenging, however as Art students, we have been able to adapt and be inspired by alternating environments. As we undertook Art onsite and online, both locations allowed us to explore different aspects of art-making and utilise different learning skills.

Being onsite allowed us to make use of the various art materials. In addition to advice from our teacher and peers, we utilised in-person classes to get ahead on our folios. Being online required us to be innovative and find new ways to create art. That included experimenting with unconventional materials, compromising chosen mediums or being inspired by COVID times.

While 2021 has challenged the way we produce art, it has also encouraged us to create imaginative and creative pieces.

Bec Foster

Year 12

Visual Communication Design - Student Reflections

Throughout lockdowns, doing Visual Communication Design at home was both hard and rewarding. We had more time to focus on our folios; however, the lack of resources and connections within the classroom also made completing the work harder and often demotivating.

Looking back to late May when we first began our folios, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve all come. Returning onsite, if only for a short while, was a great opportunity as we had the ability to share our experiences and content and encourage each other to make it to the finish line to submit all of the hard work we had completed.

Isabella Gracias

Year 12

During lockdown there was extra time to spend on our folios, away from the stress of everyone finishing their folios onsite. However this freedom was short lived, as you do miss being able to share your ideas and look and comment on each other’s progress in class. I particularly missed live feedback. I mostly missed the luxury of being able to print and use resources whenever I needed.

Coming back onsite, there was excitement towards finally submitting our pieces and we all got to chat and discuss our designs once more, which was a nice but also a stressful way to end our folio journey.

Phoebe Standfield

Year 12

Visual Communication Design in Year 12 has been a whirlwind of an experience. We started off at school which was very much preferred. We got to gather in class and really become a team, could bounce off each other for ideas and developed close knit friendships. Online Visual Communication Design studies became very challenging and lacked motivation, resources were hard to gather and the support we brought to each other onsite at school was slowly fading. Being at school is definitely a much better experience for Visual Communication Design in my opinion.

Ellery-Rose Knauth

Year 12

Visual Communication Design this year had its ups and downs. At the start of the year, the whole class and I were very excited to begin creating our own individual concepts and presentations. Being onsite enabled our creative minds to flourish and grow, as our teacher and other classmates assisted and supported our ideas. During the limited time we did spend onsite this year, we were also offered a wide range of materials and media to help us explore many revenues for our presentations.

In the last couple of weeks, we returned back onsite and sought feedback and help to finalise our two presentations. Luckily, we were able to fully present and mount our finals, which allowed us to finally see the outcome of our ideas as they came to fruition.

Unfortunately, when we were sent back home to undertake remote learning, the materials were then extremely limited, therefore, our creative, critical, and reflective designs were put at a disadvantage. Being disconnected from our peers and teachers was a challenge.

Additionally, learning and creating at home restricted the full potential of our process. Having to present our pitch over a teams meeting was also quite difficult as we were unable to gain as much feedback as we normally would at school.

Despite Visual Communication Design being a challenge with the COVID-19 limitations, it has definitely been a worthwhile journey that I will remember forever!

Jazilah Tuhaka

Year 12

Studio Arts - Student Reflection

Planning and creating two artworks for Unit 3/4 Studio Arts while going in and out of lockdown was very hard but I was able to persevere. At the start of the year, I had begun my inspiration for my folio and started to plan for the theme, thus selecting ‘Dreams and Nightmares’. I was able to get inspiration from other people’s dreams, common phobias and horror elements. With the school’s materials I trialled multiple mediums including clay sculpture, acrylics, collage and gouache, and this guided me to create a ‘Dreams’ painting and a ‘Nightmare’ sculpture as my two final pieces.

However, due to lockdown I had to refine and create both works at home, which was a blessing in disguise, as I was able to spend hours constructing my sculpture and painting it. Although I had a lack of motivation, I continued to persist, and coming back to school meant finalising my folio and painting the finishing touches to my final pieces!

Kellie Palatino

Year 12

The following images are snippets of artworks from students studying Studio Arts