Chelsea Bayona 12WMSS1 |
My production is a music video for Avril Lavigne's song Sk8ter Boi. The music video contains a narrative about two teenagers growing close through their love of skateboarding and music, but drift apart as the years go on. He eventually becomes a "superstar" and she reminisces on the life they could've had together.
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My production is a mockumentary about Daryl Rogers who became famous when a video of him sharing his ‘facts’ about fish at an aquarium went viral and he was given his own tv show with his newfound fame. Now in quarantine living with his sister, Cass and reality tv star, Carol Spillane, he’s unable to film new episodes and decides he needs to remind the people of the wonders of fish.
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My production is a short narrative about a young influencer that is caught up in the high profile life of drama and wealth. Through an insensitive interview, and getting stuck in a mind-boggling video game given to her by her ex, she comes to the realisation that social media is a toxic environment.
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My production is a music video for Lausse the Cat's song 'Coco Channel'. The clip follows the life of a cat named Lausse who can't choose between two homes. Caught on video with another girl, Lausse is confronted by Luna and Fleur, however, seemingly unfazed by the wounds he's created. After all, he's a street cat, what more could you expect.
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Kayla Andonovski 12BRNS3During the first five years of the 1900s, the S-shape silhouette became a fashion trend. To form this unnatural shape on the woman’s figure, a corset was worn, constructed from strong sturdy material to ensure the position was held. Metal stays were placed in the front of the corset with hook fastenings. On many corsets lace was placed at the back, this would create even tighter pressure on the waist and as the waist gradually got smaller the lacing would be pulled even tighter. I intended to make a traditional corset structure, similar to ones seen the 1900s.
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Elise Baker 12CHLS3Domestic violence is something that is common in a large amount of people's lives and a large majority of our population aren’t even aware that their friends, family and even themselves could be victims or perpetrators of domestic violence. I was inspired by this topic as a theme because I find it really alarming how much domestic violence can affect peoples’ lives whether it be mental, physical, verbal and/or sexual abuse especially since it can be so easily hidden within each individual who is affected by it in any form.
Through my piece I hope it displays the ways in which domestic violence can be hidden within crowds of different people in plain view and how if it isn’t discussed and the victims don’t reach out for help it’s difficult to make changes and improve their positions. The continuous line face drawings on the rug symbolise the community and how everybody is connected. It also is representing the fact that the victims and perpetrators are easily hidden and that everybody appears to be the same despite what they may be experiencing at home which is why it is important for the victims to reach out for help. |
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Teagan Bartolo 12WMSS3This year I wanted to further develop my understanding of the person I am and my personality, which was explored through the ideology of personality being like a puzzle. The puzzle concept brought into perspective the ways in which people's personalities have been created by different traits, as well as people and experiences. The way that I adapted this concept to best fit with my final piece was by adding little segments into my piece involving people and experiences that have contributed to my life and becoming who I am. The different elements that were accumulated together to create my personality were shown as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that, when fitted together, created a full image of my personality.
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Anyka Curcic 12CTRS2The deep dark ocean is filled with so many undiscovered and beautiful ecosystems. It is truly one of the earth's amazing gifts. We are still discovering the vibrant and fascinating flora and fauna of the sea. In the north and south the water adapts to the harsh environment becoming elegant sculptures and islands made of ice. We watch as the sun sets over the beach, reflecting on the water making it shimmer and creating a sense of awe and pleasure. But with our human activity and time on this earth the temperature has risen. Fossil fuels and pollution are changing the air and atmosphere, creating holes for the harsh sun rays to seep through and cause our climate to change. As we evolve we have only negatively affected our world for the worst. The climate gets hotter and hotter and ice begins to melt into the ocean causing a rise in sea levels causing destruction to the natural environment. Habitats are lost and species will die out as they cannot adapt to the warmer climate. Our homes will also be demolished from the flooding islands and harmful waves that can now reach our homes. The earth can then fall out of balance and destroy all of our beautiful wonders including those out of the sea.
The disaster that we are causing climate change led me to explore this theme in my final piece. However, not only did I explore climate change but I explored its effects and the isolation and loss that is followed by it when the ice melts. Therefore, I created my garment to spread awareness of the concern at hand. I also wanted to and achieved making a dress which had captured the flowing and waves of water to create the melting effect. |
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Genevieve De Santis 12WMSS2Throughout the year I intended on focusing on the theme of fire and ice. After reading a recent poem titled ‘Fire and Ice’ by Robert Frost I began to foster a strong fascination for the concepts recognised within Frost's poem. The poem focused on the idea that the world or human race will end due to individuals conflicting attitudes. Frost referred to half of the society as fire and the other as ice, fire being those who thirst and yearn to be the best and rule over others, whereas those who were referred as ice are ignorant, cold and self-centred. Throughout the poem those who are recognised as fire have been titled- “desire” and those who are depicted as ice are titled- “hatred”. This poem resonated with me as I also believed within society individuals are either hateful or desirous. Through exploring this theme, I intended to present the debate argued within the poem and present the two concepts of fire and ice in a visual manner. I intended to communicate how the two characteristics are distinctively different from each other and hold opposing attributes.
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Bridget Dervan 12CTRS3I was always very interested in history and in particular, the stories of women who, in a time of female injustice, were able to make a story for themselves.
Whilst learning about women such as Joan of Arc and Matilda, daughter of Henry 1, I came across the story of Boudica and was utterly surprised at how little I and many people knew about her and her story. Boudica was both a Celtic queen and a Celtic warrior of the Iceni Tribe in East Anglia, where she led a revolt against the Roman occupation in Britain in 60 AD. She married the king of the Iceni tribe, Prasutagas, and was allowed to continue in power in Roman occupation as a forced ally. When Prasutagas died, the Romans ignored his will and seized his kingdom and took his family’s land and property. Then the Romans turned to Boudica and as further punishment and humiliation, flogged her and raped her two daughters. Enraged, she promised vengeance. She rallied thousands of Celtic Britons from the Iceni and neighbouring Trinovantes tribes and attacked and destroyed the main city of Roman occupation, Camulodunum. Her methods were ruthless, burning and sacking the towns leaving no one left in the town, having either fled or been killed. It is said that to avoid being taken alive, she drank poison. Today, Boudica is seen as a symbol of power, justice and bravery. To me, she is the epitome of a female standing up and fighting for herself. She is powerful and brave and her story is so interesting. I hoped to bring more light to the legend of Boudica. To bring more women empowerment through her story. |
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Bianca Falvo 12OBNS2Sustainability by definition is the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. Throughout history, the human race has slowly but surely destroyed the planet we call home. Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. I for one, find this reality of climate change and a dying planet quite upsetting, if not completely terrifying. Our great planet provides us with resources, clean air and a home. It is beyond me why we as a race, are so eager to destroy the one thing keeping us alive. With all this negativity, there are ways in which we as individuals can help, things such as recycling, reducing waste and being conscious of our carbon footprint all work in favour of the earth. People everywhere, of all ages and races are slowly coming to terms with this devastating reality. Young people especially are stepping up and rising to the challenge that large corporations seem to be ignoring. My thoughts are that if we do a small act that slowly we can start to undo some of the detrimental damage done to our planet, by using sustainable, biodegradable resources, we as a race can start to positively affect our physical environment.
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Stephanie Fedele 12OBNS1This year I explored my love for nature and the importance of maintaining a constant connection with the environment through constructing a lab coat with surrounding hand embroidery pieces to capture my personal connection to nature through my studies of biology. Upon slipping on the lab coat, it envelopes the one who chooses to wear it, in the same way that nature envelops us. The lab coat features a series of hand embroidery pieces centred around different aspects of nature such as trees and leaves. I incorporated the use of various stitches such as the straight stitch, satin stitch and French-knot stitch in order to express how, as human beings, we are connected to nature in various ways. Simultaneously, I aimed to explore the connection between science and nature, as they are sometimes depicted as opposing forces.
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Elizabeth Fritsche 12DLYS1I live in two different worlds. A world of thoughts and a world of ideas- an enchanted universe in the form of books, stacked along shelves and organised by the Dewey decimal system. I have fought alongside Atticus Finch to demand justice in a court of narrow-minded people, beat against the current with Gatsby, I have been given unsolicited advice from Lady Catherine de Bourgh, fought for my place as a woman in a patriarchal society as a March sister and been a resident of Villa Villekulla. It is a fantastical world full of romance and drama and tragedy, but my second world exceeds it in every way.
My second is filled with characters that are slightly less dramatic but assuredly, much more exceptional. My second is the world that I live in every day, it is filled with my own adventures and every day is a new page of my story. I explored the possibility of a garment that expressed my thoughts and feelings through the articulation of words, distinguishing my introverted personality. However, on the outside, I expressed colour and vibrancy through my own ventures, transforming the stories and dreams into reality by seizing the world as my own. I expressed this through a raincoat and an umbrella, depicting the messy, beauty of life that can only be experienced through one’s own eyes, illustrating my colourful, extroverted personality. Through ‘What is life but one grand adventure?’, I portrayed the balance yet contradiction of my personality in the form of adventure! |
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Lani Haddad 12CTRS3The many textures and patterns that have been a prevalent aspect of early Japanese fashion are making a comeback in today's modern society. The beautiful intricacy and colours embedded in Japanese designs can be seen in runway and street fashion all around the world. I aimed to explore early Japanese fashion including trends throughout history with a particular focus on patterns. One aspect I attempted to hone in on was animals that have been ubiquitous in Japanese patterns and fashion such as the koi fish. Thus, I intended to combine traditional Japanese fabrics and patterns in modern assemblies to create a mix between new and old to achieve ’Japan Reinvented’.
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Ivy Krslovic 12CTRS3My final garment displays an exploration of and inquiry into the raw notions of passion and its origins, with the use of the narrative of ‘Medea’ (Euripides) and the life of the title character as a vessel to investigate such concepts. I found myself intrigued by the wholly consuming nature of passion and the way in which it could be expressed in many forms and found that there was no better tale in which the levels of this passion were conveyed than in the tale of Medea’s life. After following her adventurous husband, Jason, from country to country, Medea is confronted with disloyalty in Jason’s searching to remarry with another woman, namely Princess Glauce of Corinth. Fury, sadness and confusion consume the now mother of two, who feels that her devotion to her husband and family, for whom she has killed and left her home country, had been betrayed. Corrupted by tumultuous emotions, Medea hatches and carries out a plot to kill her husband’s new woman and her children. Medea’s mind was calculated and her passion, explosive. This is what I conveyed with the creation of my garment.
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Phoebe Nguyen 12CTRS3The presence of women plays a large part in my life, whether it is my mother who raised me or my grandmother who treasures me or even the actresses I admire. For the things they inspire me to do, for the times they become my strength in life, and for everything else that I cannot express enough gratitude for, I wanted to give back to these women.
To really achieve my aim to pay homage to the female community, I thought it is necessary to completely represent and define what a “Woman” is. So, rather than just showing women as just “strong,” using my own personal views on the matter, I attempted to show all the facets of women, both the positive and negative aspects, and express the full definition. I think I have done so, with the help of a bodice and a large skirt, because the truth is and as stereotypical as it sounds, I personally think that a gown brings out the most beautiful physical features of a woman. |
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Celeste Rametta 12CNMS2My dad, being a DJ, introduced the RnB genre of music to me at a young age which I immediately fell in love with and continued to explore for many years to come. It still is my favourite genre of music to this day, especially the older, original RnB, specifically from the 90s-2000s. In conjunction with this, I am really passionate about dancing which is something that I first started doing at 3 years of age, of course beginning with the usual ballet, tap and jazz classes. As I grew older, however, I found I enjoyed less of the more ‘traditional’ styles but was rather drawn to hip hop, a popular street style in the 90s-early 2000s that still many people didn’t consider ‘proper dancing’ at the time. Recently, I found a vintage store when I was in Sydney that not only sold a lot of typical vintage t shirts and denim, but also used old styled tracksuit pants to rework into dresses and co-ords, all revamping the 90s street fashion. I’ve always really loved 90s street style, especially with all the dance movies and videos I’ve been inspired by, and decided I wanted to create a wearable artwork that would communicate my love for the RnB genre.
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Lauren Singarella 12DLYS1As a young child, I was really close with my Nonna, and although I was quite young when she passed away, I still feel as if she is by my side, sharing her support and encouragement with me, as well as providing a sense of comfort for me when I’m down. The time when I feel the most connected to my Nonna, is when I am surrounded by nature, as it reminds me of my constant visits to her garden when I was a child. Nature also represents growth, and new life, and is, therefore, a symbol of our relationship continuously flourishing, even though she is not with us anymore. I, therefore, depicted this through the flourishing flowers that I hand embroidered as a tribute to my Nonna, as she used to love embroidering bed sheets and cushions. I decided to leave my hand embroidered and machine embroidered material on the circular embroidery hoops to resemble that my Nonna is creating the artwork alongside myself.
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Maya Solomon 12CNMS3Gender is extremely restrictive, however, coming into 2020 with influencers such as Harry Styles and brands like Eckhaus Latta the line drawn by society in terms of what men and women should/shouldn’t wear is blurring. This played an extremely important role throughout the construction of my male intended vest and in its design. My theme is based on religion, particularly the Creation story involving Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. I have used symbols from the tale including the snake, fruit and hands to re-tell the story which over time has been corrupted. Eve ‘being the one’ that convinced/seduced Adam into eating the fruit has copped the blame for the ‘human races eviction from The Garden’ and in many ways gave way to stereotypes about gender - femininity - masculinity. The fruits selected are all very sensual and somewhat representative of sexuality and desire whilst the hands reaching for them have no distinct gender, but, are open for interpretation. The focus of the hands is rather that they are both reaching for the fruit at equal times and have both ‘consented’.
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Emily Stawiarski 12OBNS2The theme that I explored throughout the year was sustainability, focusing specifically on dyeing and the pollution produced as a result. The textiles industry uses thousands of litres of water to dye single garments and the chemical dyes that are used prevent the water from being fit for life on Earth. To attempt to overcome this I explored various different dyeing techniques that involved the use of natural materials such as red cabbage, blueberries, spinach and others, hence eliminating the chemical pollution produced. I also explored the idea of making a tote bag. This stemmed from the idea that tote bags are the quintessential image of sustainability (having eliminated single use plastic), however many are still made in commercial factories and are chemically treated so ultimately while they reduce the use of single use plastics, still create their own pollution. Combining tote bags and natural dyeing led me to the creation of my final piece.
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Deanna Borg 12BRNS2My conceptual idea came about due to my interest in the neutral colour range, along with the discriminatory behaviour in which the human race has against each other today. Through centuries, the world's civilians have fought against each other due to their differences. It seems that they are smothered in what they can see before them, disregarding the prejudice and democracy that came along with their actions. This encourages them to ignore where in fact the real problem actually was and still is.
In my studio practice, I was aiming to photograph and explore conceptual possibilities surrounding the perspectives on skin tone, and how in fact one person shares more similarities than differences. The aesthetic inspiration that I hoped to capture had a diverse and inclusive approach, with the intention of accentuating the term 'diversity within'. I want to identify all the possible tonal ranges of pink, white and brown of the human skin. As people get to interact with each other, it is only until then that people discover the similarities they withhold with someone, which is why they emulate others from within, symbolising the human-shaped stencil of multiple coloured squares. All of which should not inspire them to dislike others purely due to the stigma of racism and old school concepts recognised today. |
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Billie Chapman 12CHLS1Defying the Gravitational Forces of Society
Throughout the whole year I wanted to explore the effects of gravity, especially how it visually can depict messages and meanings through its force. In this piece through which a male in a wedding dress is falling into a dark abyss I wanted the action of him falling to be an expression of sexual identity and symbolize him ‘falling free’ from society's expectations. With the physical dress below the piece to represent a ‘landing,’ the dress also questions the symbol of a wedding dress being a notion of virginal purity. With that, the act of having a male in a wedding dress is very powerful with calling into question sexual identity within marriage. |
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Mia Colangeli 12CHLS1My main focus was ‘what is beauty through fashion?’. I researched, explored, and presented what fashion looks like to me. After exploring how fashion and beauty has changed through time and cultures I explored the beauty of the Ancient Greeks. I wanted my photographs to be taken using digital cameras and develop my skills using Photoshop while building my understanding of the shutter speed and studio lighting. The Vogue pictures inspired me and gave me many ideas.
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Kayla Corso 12OBNS1I documented a variety of different social and political events. I was able to capture imagery at the “Black Lives Matter” protest that occurred within Melbourne early July and present a point of view on a major social justice issue. The BLM protest was aimed at the injustice occurring for black individuals and the police brutality that was occurring within their lives. The images I captured spoke volumes surrounding the support from the wider community and highlighted the importance of the issue. I also experimented with film photography. I refined this idea by focusing on capturing candid human interactions on film as I was in awe of the aesthetic qualities that the film provided the images with. I further explored the impacts of Covid-19 on individuals and the idea of desolation during a difficult year feeling alone.
I wanted to explore the rawness and simplicity of life and how individuals utilise our world. My original intent was to research the movement of people, their experiences, reactions and celebrating the uniqueness of people and our world. Desiring to create different atmospheres within the streets. Trying to gain awareness into people's emotions and thoughts and behaviours. My work has evolved to become more specific in focusing on the impact of corona virus and it's impact on society and human behaviour. |
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Ashleigh Docking 12DLYS2My final piece “Untitled” portrays the emotion of severe anger, the close up shot really captures the strong emotion being portrayed due to the types of minor imperfections that I was able to bring out using digital technology. I really wanted this piece to express the severe frustrations of being in isolation for so long as well as my interest in psychology and capturing raw, realistic images instead of presenting these fake, over-edited images that are shown to us by the mass media that do not depict how real bodies or faces look which cause a range of body image issues. I was aiming for this piece to produce a sense of mystery and ambiguity for the audience as I want them to wonder and think about what she could possibly be screaming at and through this to create their own messages and interpretations about the work. In creating my piece, I was heavily inspired by Richard Avedon, a fashion photographer who shot images in black and white and used strong lighting to highlight his models faces so you were able to clearly see their expressions of disgust, disappointment or sheer blatant annoyance. Due to my lack of lighting I had to utilise what which was just the flash on the camera I was using which I think gives a very similar effect to Avedon's photography.
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Tegan Horder 12CHLS2Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is and the role they play in life, but for a lot of people it is so much more than that. Identity is who we really are as humans but it can also be the personalities and looks we create to either enhance or hide our true self. I decided to focus on this topic because I am interested in how people develop and become the people that they are. For my final piece I have created 4 different images that form a series. Each individual artwork is a similar photograph that has been taken of the model, however has a very different and complex painting that covers the model's face. This series of artworks represents my themes of focus that explores hidden identity as well as broken or complex identity. This is shown through the somewhat chaotic paintings covering the models face. Each painting incorporates the same colours, however they are arranged in different ways as well as some colours being used more than others in certain paintings.
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Emily Kersovanic 12BRNS2The concepts I intended to explore was the interconnection and influence of the zodiac signs, elements, and planets on individuals, with the influence of my personal natal chart. In my final quadriptych ‘The Interconnectedness of Astrology and Our Universe’ I decided to incorporate all of these ideas into a series of four photomontages divided into the elements of Astrology; ‘fire’, ‘earth’, ‘air’, and ‘water.’ In each individual element, I incorporated the respective zodiac signs belonging to it, and captured them using self-portraiture on a DSLR (Nikon D3200) and conveyed them through the use of makeup and facial expressions to express their influence on an individual's personality. Furthermore, I layered their respective ruling planets behind the portraits using photoshop (specifically to depict the influence that the planets have on the zodiac). I took photos using the studio lighting and colour gel photography to emphasise the colours associated with the elements and emphasise their importance and influence over aspects of the zodiac and therefore individual’s personality. I further conveyed this influence through superimposing symbolism associated with each element, as well as sourcing imagery connotated with each element and layering it behind my photos as a border. I specifically used self-portraits to communicate the specific influence that astrology has had on me as an individual, and created a focal point of the zodiac sign that has the most influence in my chart by placing it centrally in the composition.
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Bianca Mancini 12OBNS3Irreversible Time
Throughout this year in photography, I explored the idea of time through generations. This conceptual idea was mainly inspired by my interest in the way in which time changes things such as people and are not the same as they were in the past. Age is a natural occurring experience, and can be daunting for some while others may embrace it. When you are young you can’t wait to grow up and be an adult, however that perception changes as we get older. Time not only changes an individual physically but can also change who they are on the inside. Every wrinkle, every crease tells a story and shows time passing, and marks how an individual has changed and developed. Eyes are also a strong feature that can tell an entire story and show the evolution of time, just by a single glance which is quite powerful. |
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Sienna Porter 12DLYS3The Object of Your Affection
My series consists of 5 photos of a 5x7 size which explore the perspective of a sexual predator in the face of a young male. The normalisation of sexual objectification and assault has become a massive issue in the twenty first century society when we are seemingly “progressive”. My work shows a literal interpretation of sexual objectification and how women are seen as mere objects of sexual pleasure with no regard for their safety, age or feelings. I aim to convey a feeling of discomfort and unease as these issues shouldn’t be something we ignore, but rather something we should be aiming to change, to shed light on the increasing number of females who are sexually assaulted, objectified and raped as a minor, but also who are adults. |
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Olivia Purcell 12BRNS2Waves
My artwork explores the concept ‘Eyes: A Window Into the soul’. I decided to explore the way in which the eyes are able to demonstrate a certain emotion, without having to show it through a certain facial expression. The emotion is depicted through the image of the water, distinctly portraying sadness, whilst highlighting the beauty of the eyes. Using Photoshop, I edited the image of water coming down from the eyes into vertical lines. These harsh lines are striking, and it was my aim to use these lines in order to mimic the line of gravity that tears would follow. This allows for the emotion to become a prominent aspect within the image. Using warm toned lighting, I wanted to capture a more natural aesthetic, to ensure that the eyes were not distracted from. I also incorporated pink toned eyeshadows, to further emphasise the eyes, due to the contrast between the green of the eyes and pink in the eyeshadow. This ultimately allows the eyes to stand out to the viewer, while still opening a ‘window’ into the subject’s world, and therefore emotions. |
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Caroline Timpano 12CNMS3Nyctophobia
This final series explores the topic of phobias, in specifically nyctophobia and the way in which it can cause people to react in different ways, the way it can make people feel and even the way it’s interpreted through other people. The dominant emotions are clearly depicted through the model expressing sings of rage and uncontrol, almost as if she’s been possessed by a demonic source. The centre image is used as an element of balance throughout the series, although it also depicts the way in which different people can express their fear, internally holding it in despite all the terror going on around her. The series is a series of events, starting and ending with the outrage and terror the individual with a phobia experience when placed in contact in a dark environment. Hallucinations of a demonic presence occur as she begins to see dark gloomy shadows emerge out of nowhere. Alongside this, it’s also the fear of not being alone when she’s meant to be alone. |
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Isabel Anandan 12CTRS3Influenced by Carl Jung, and the "self archetype", Isabel explored how to represent the true self in her creations. She investigates how to make characters with multi-layered emotions using colour, digital brush work, and composition.
Isabel uses colour as a storytelling device in her artworks. A character with their face turned away may be seen as shy and subdued. Isabel subverts this by colouring the hair bright pink, allowing the audience to read passion and intensity into their background. She incorporates contrasting colours to demonstrate the difference between expression and persona. For Isabel's darker artworks, red and dark tones have been mixed with purple and pink hues to suggest the character's dark mood has a playful hint to it. She also features hydrangeas prominently in two of her artworks. Hydrangeas can have both positive and negative emotions associated with them, and Isabel was exploring this duality of emotions within her works. For the characters, flowers grow from their mouths, cheeks, and eyes. Similar to real people in contemporary society, these characters are displaying a range of emotions in one expression. |
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Ashleigh Docking 12DLYS2Through my piece I wanted to discuss the theme of identity, but more specifically my identity and in doing this I added symbols that were relevant to my life and culture. I added hidden images throughout my piece which will make my audience look at it deeply and create their own meaning and interpretation. I was heavily inspired by Hannah Hoch’s work as she uses everyday objects in her pieces, which to some may look unusual, but that's what makes her collages unique which is what caught my attention. Even though Hoch doesn’t necessarily explore the theme of identity, she did explore many themes that are still relevant to today’s society, such as feminism. Through this piece I tried to express aspects of my own identity, as I am of Italian and Egytian heritage, I used the Italian mask towards the left hand side of the image and egyptian hieroglyphics on my chest. I utilised the dead flowers as I wanted to show the harsh realities of finding our identity and to show how the power of the media is changing our values and thoughts of how we should think, act and look. Significantly in the background I utilised a map of Aberfeldie which is the suburb where I have spent all of my life. I also used a mesh wire fence to show how our lives have been restricted due to Covid 19. The very prominent drawings of a brain, heart and face symbolize how each person may be different but we are all created with the same anatomy and therefore we should all be treated as equals, which I think some people forget about. The stamps in the piece add to the overall vintage style that I am trying to portray and also express my love of travel and my interest in the world beyond my own. The images of coins and an old receipt add to the overall vintage style that have been created. The wiring placed in my hair symbolizes the way each person has a different way of connecting with others and how this connection has been “cut off” in a sense due to being in lockdown.
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Olivia Gale 12CNMS1My Piece is an interpretation of the Greek Goddess Persephone. She was the Goddess of growth and wife of Hades making her queen of the underworld. The myth of Persephone was used to explain the seasons as she would spend six months of the year above ground with her mother (Demeter), during this time summer and spring was the mother's way of being able to bring growth and life back to earth because she was so happy to have her only daughter above the ground. However when Persephone went back to the underworld to be with Hades for the other half of the year, Demeter would fall into a depressive state and be unable to attend to her role as Goddess of agriculture therefore causing the winter and the autumn to fall. I combined this story with the tragic lives of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Amy Whinehouse whose lives were devastatingly cut short by the expectations and substances that consumed them once stepping foot into the limelight. The image of Persephone is meant to represent all three women and the double lives they lived in the public eye and behind the cameras in their personal lives.
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Anisa Haddad 12CNMS3Mary Magdalene
My work, entitled ‘Mary Magdalene’ encapsulates the struggles females endure. Taking inspiration from the story of Mary Magdalene, a relevant woman written out of history and religion. Magdalene was the loyal companion of Jesus and followed him devoutly, yet in order to discredit and belittle her, she was labelled as a ‘prostitute’. Persevering women, like Magdalene, become subject to shame for their sexual nature, which is a natural and beautiful avenue that most human’s explore. Oftentimes, a woman’s worth is defined by her ‘purity’, which is determined by the amount of sex she engages in/ accused of engaging in. These misogynistic, social constructs have become normalised when they were initially formulated in archaic societies as a way to oppress and subjugate women. Through controversially positioning the woman’s naked body on the crucifix to symbolise the unwritten sacrifices women made, I aim to scrutinise the modern corruption in history/religion. In addition, the ‘tentacle-like’ structure symbolising the societal restraints placed on women, which essentially hold them back from reaching their fulfillment and satisfaction. I hope to provide appreciation for the women like Magdalene, who didn't receive the credit nor praise they were righteously entitled to. |
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Bianca Mancini 12OBNS3For my folio, I explored the idea of animal beauty. I gathered a variety of inspiration and trialled various ways of representing my work. The exploration of this theme was mainly created by my fascination with animals and wanted to express their beauty through vivid and striking colours. Through demonstrating their beauty, I also hoped that ideas such as their importance of preservation were also evoked. While discovering ways that best expressed animal beauty I trialled ideas ranging from appropriation, completing many sketches, to painting on tea-bags which I found quite interesting. For my final piece, I ended up with a canvas acrylic painting of an Asian elephant that consists of a variety of vibrant colours that overlap and merge together, which were applied quite spontaneously in a wet on wet process. The application of various lively colours assists in conveying the idea regarding the beauty and majestic nature of animals, elephants being an endangered species adds further depth to the meaning of the piece. I did not want to take the focus off the main feature therefore did not paint a chaotic background but instead did something more subtle, painting a simple flower, the Padauk blossom which is a tree native to the seasonal forests of southeastern Asia which is where Asian elephants are found.
For my final piece, I continued to explore my main idea surrounding animals, however to take it a step further, I conveyed ideas relating to animal cruelty and endangerment. Through completing numerous trials and gathering inspiration, I became focused on depicting an animal or various animals interacting with each other, deciding to draw a heart onto the animals also. However, through continued experimentation and trialling, along with gathering further inspiration, I made the decision to solely focus on the heart of the animal and collage it within photoshop. The heart created using watercolour pastels consisted primarily of saturated reds, pinks, strong blue veins and a hint of warm yellows, which all merged together well and showed some tonal variations. In addition to this, I completed further experimentations on how I might go about presenting my final piece. This was done by collaging different images and backgrounds using the watercolour pastel heart. For the background, I gather news article headlines regarding animal cruelty and endangerment which strongly depicted my theme. I used symbols to place on the heart that relate to the idea of animal cruelty and endangerment such as the chrysanthemum flowers that are related to death which signifies the dying of species, all while also reinforcing my previous idea of animal beauty. |
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Jasmine Muy 12CNMS3Following a darker concept, I had intentions to portray my art with negative emotions. Being a tough year for a year 12, I had accumulated much anxiety and stress, to which I used those emotions to essentially develop ‘vent’ art. Ironically, one of the pieces I had created was associated with the over usage of technology during remote learning, but I had chosen digital mediums to create my works. That being said, I found myself growing more comfortable with digital art and chose to stray away from traditional mediums despite trying to replicate a painterly aesthetic.
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Myan Nguyen 12OBNS1My work is about how the environment is linked to emotions and the human spirit. The beakers used are to represent the human body/ mind and the pieces in them are the representation of emotions that we feel, which is represented using the 4 main elements, water, fire, earth and air.
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Alannah Pondeljak 12CTRS2To capture the essence of my unit four piece, I unpacked key elements and principles to guide my direction. Through the exploration of expressive colour, the use of shape and form in the development of construction inclusive of structure and colour combined to forge movement producers a sense of direction throughout the piece. In an attempt to incorporate elements of cubism by emulating radically fragmented objects, minimalism through the use of hard-edged forms of geometric structure and conceptual/ installation art by building a three-dimensional sculpture grants the viewer a momentary opportunity of a playful escape from routine employing the application of bold graphics to do so. The repetitive use of line becomes visually pleasing to the eye, conveying complexities such as movement and space as the viewer is trapped between the diverting use of blue, red and pink combined with the addition of a structure component, the viewer breaks from the anticipated, portraying both action and depth that easily transfixes the eye.
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Lauren Singarella 12DLYS1The Beauty of Nature
Throughout my portfolio, I explored the beauty of nature in all of its forms. Being inspired by Monet's majestic water lilies, and how he captures the beauty of nature with reflections on the surface of the water, I aimed to demonstrate how beauty is among us in natural and environmental forms. I used watercolours to stain the surface of the calico, creating a transparent layer of golden tones to represent the sunlight beaming over the surface of the water. The rich tones of green I used, as well as the circular brush strokes, create movement, demonstrating the reflections of the deep green trees enclosing into the centre of the water. I used watercolour paint to create slightly transparent strokes of white and warm yellow tones to represent the sunlight in the centre of the piece, and ultimately create a focal point as the green reflections seep into the centre. The warm yellow tones represent a spiritual aspect to the artwork, aiming to demonstrate that nature offers a sense of tranquillity. The golden tones also aim to symbolise the beauty of nature. Monet utilised waterlilies to represent growth. I, therefore, painted water lilies to demonstrate the continuous, ever-growing beauty of nature, and an openness to a new perspective of looking at the world. I chose to paint pink water lilies as it is a hue of red, and red is the complementary colour of green. The pink floating flowers, therefore, contrast and stand out against the green, murky waters. The white splattered paint allows the expressive movement of the green circular strokes to become focal points. Along with the beads, the white splatters create an overall magical and majestic feel to the artwork. This sense of majesty supports the spiritual aspect of the artwork as if mother nature is shining warm yellow tones over the water, to magnify the beauty of nature. |
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Maya Solomon 12CNMS3The focus of my work in my first folio was ‘The Human Experience’, I have refined these ideas in creating this piece that focuses specifically on the not so pleasant human experience, and struggles that people have been taught to hide.
This oil painting is inspired by the picture storybook ‘You Are Special’ by Max Lucado. It depicts character Lucia struggling with the idea of perfection, where each gold star is a symbol of her being told she is perfect and the dot is how she views herself. In the storybook, the townspeople called Wemmicks place stars on beautiful talented people, and dots on those less so. The piece reads “you can't see, perfection will kill me”. I used a colour palette that at first glance suggests beauty, femininity and subtlety, however, this is intended to deceive viewers from the piece's real darkness and secret suffering. This is a demonstration of how difficult it is to see someone in pain when you admire them so much - we almost choose not to. |
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Anita Staszko 12DLYS1This piece is based on the notion of suffocation due to the effects of contemporary society. The increased consumption of social media has caused negative effects on individuals' mental aspects, including accelerated thoughts of self-depreciation and comparing oneself to 'influencers'. Furthermore, through the impacts of Covid-19 this also enhances the usage of covering up one's true self, by placing a universal sterile blue mask.
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