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Meet our Grade 12 IB Visual Art Students
Our Grade 12 IB visual arts students are preparing for their final exhibition and exam in April, so please mark your calendars for our Opening Night Reception on Thursday, April 13. The exhibition will then be displayed for two weeks in our Stanfield Dining Hall/McLellan Annex.
After the March break, our students will be focusing on planning their display, writing a rationale and exhibition texts, and uploading their artwork. It has taken months of preparation, and each student is required to produce a number of art works based on their own direction or theme. This year, we have 17 Grade 12 students who will be exhibiting their work. The Grade 11 IB art students will be assisting our Grade 12 students with their displays as well as showing their work.
Until the Art Show, we will be showcasing our artists in our weekly newsletter highlighting one of their favourite projects during this two-year course. I hope you enjoy reading the profiles of our young artists.
This week, we are highlighting Kamila Rafikova ’23 and Jenna Johnston ‘23.
Kamila is from Kazakhstan and has been at KES for three years.
What artwork did you choose to share?
I have chosen a painting that I have been working on recently. This painting means a lot to me as it is important to talk about the war and the situation. The composition is a self-portrait. I placed myself in a lush, natural environment with five butterflies around me. The red butterflies symbolize the soul, and the colour red is death. It represents the soul being taken away. The red butterfly on the mouth represents not being able to talk. I was influenced by the surrealist, Russian artist Ellen Sheidlin. This painting was a different direction in my work. Lately, I have chosen work that is meaningful to me. This surrealist artist also influenced my comparative study for the International Baccalaureate program. My last few paintings have been inspired by the golden ratio and Penrose tiling. Penrose tiling is a way to generate infinitely changing patterns using just two types of tiles. This is a part of my internal assessment (IA) project for my IB Math HL course.
I plan to attend university in Toronto.
Jenna is from Goose Bay, Happy Valley, Labrador and has attended KES for four years.
What artwork did you choose to share?
I have chosen to share my painting “The Gathering”. When I was home for the summer, I saw large paintings by the Innu artist, Mary-Ann Penashve. I loved her bright colours and the subjects that she used. Her subjects were the elders and children from the community. The backgrounds also represented the local community and environment. This started me looking at my own culture. The painting that I have shared was inspired by a photo of a child taken during a traditional gathering of the community. This particular gathering was for missing and murdered indigenous woman. The hand represents the missing woman, and it is a national symbol. This gathering took place during the truth and reconciliation period. The child is a reference to the residential schools. She is wearing a traditional dress of a hand-made skirt and bonnet. The gatherings usually take place over a week, and I have chosen an evening scene for this painting. After this painting, I changed the direction of my work. I am now working on scenic landscapes and profiles for my exhibition.
I plan to attend university next year in either British Columbia or Ontario.
Sandy Stewart
Junior and Senior School Visual Arts Teacher
King’s-Edgehill School is located in Mi'kma'ki, the unceded ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq People.
