Grade 10 Artists Share Their Voices

June 12, 2020

Academics

GNS

The Grade 10 IB Visual Arts students shared their voices through their most recent art pieces. After watching three powerful documentaries on activist artists, students then researched a social, environmental, moral, political, or spiritual issue that they were interested in.

Once they studied an issue of interest, the students were tasked to create a multimedia series of art that reflects their topic and expresses their views. The challenge was to engage the viewer in a deeper understanding of the issue with powerful and innovative visual communication.

Topics ranged from biodiversity and deforestation to bullying and COVID-19. The issues were endless, and the students were able to express themselves in many different ways.

Savana Yaremchuk chose to do a multimedia piece on the COVID-19 pandemic, titled Masked World. Her piece consists of six animals, including a panda bear and raccoon, all wearing masks. She chose to paint animals because she felt it added an interesting aspect instead of humans.

She wrote “This series of portraits is an interesting communication of the COVID-19 pandemic because at the moment all anyone can think of is the virus. I wanted to express its toll on people visually…The portrait style was meant to personify the animals and make them like humans. Then the masks were a visual representation of the virus. I chose the animals that I did because each of them represents a continent that has been affected by COVID-19.”

Miia Bekker titled her piece Consequences, 2020 and it shines a light on environmental issues. She had five cards hanging off of a piece of wood. She incorporated a variety of textures in her pieces including fabric, paper, paint, and wire. Each card had a different image painted on it.

“Each card conveys the damage that we have caused to a different aspect of our Earth,” she wrote. “The narrative shows the changes from the beauty the Earth has given us to what we have chosen to do with it, hopefully inspiring the viewer to identify the issues we have caused and help to restore the health of our planet…Many of us, including myself, forget that many of these environmental issues still exist because we do not see the effects of them in my daily life. This piece serves as a reminder to all of us that these issues are ever-present and any action we can take to improve the health of our planet would be extremely beneficial.”

Ethan Wharton put together five pieces called A Need for the Future. He showcases how education is necessary for a child and their future, but that many don’t have access to it.

“These pieces highlight the want and need for education, and that we shouldn’t just take ours for granted,” he said. “The pencil, a common occurrence in the majority of the pieces, symbolizes education, allowing the communication of ideas without having to create complicated pieces. There is also a common theme of reaching out in most of the pieces, which help symbolize the want and need for education. The style of my pieces was not derived from anyone else.”

Good job to the Grade 10 artists, and being able to reflect and discuss these social issues with your art. PHOTO GALLERY