"Dozen" IB Visual Art Diploma Exhibition, Alcanta International College, Jamie Lowe

12
“The artist's job is to be a witness to
his time in history.”
Robert Rauschenberg

Welcome to this year’s exhibition of Art from twelve of
our young artists who are ready to share their ideas,
thoughts and feelings with you. They have faced the
challenges of making ‘Art’ and creating something worth
looking at; in a world where we are bombarded with images
on a daily basis clamouring for our attention in a relentless
stream of visual stimuli, to which we end up
giving scant attention to.
We thank you for taking the time to view the works here
and to let the various messages behind them communicate
quietly with you.
One of the things that IB Visual Arts Diploma asks of
students - is to be aware of their intent in making art
work. It asks them to examine themselves and what it is
that they think are important issues. It encourages them
to discover ways to distill what they want to say
through: informed critical investigation, knowledge and
undertsanding of the rich heritage of Art making practice
from diverse cultures around the world and finally to
select and identify the most appropriate techniques and
skill to create their work.
This year’s themes are very contemporay with issues such
as immigration, identity and nationhood, the equality of
women and the aspirations of young people in an uncertain
rapidly changing world.
One of the greatest pleasures of Art, is that it will
always have the power to change the world. We hope you
enjoy the exhibition.

At the beginning of this Visual Arts
course, I only knew how to use colour
pencils. That’s all. Making Art was
something very unfamiliar to me.
However, I know that I am a visual
learner and soon discovered I had
become a visual communicator as well.
Producing a series of art works is a
great way to express oneself. I enjoyed
experimenting with such a variety of
media, so as to choose the most
suitable way to share my thoughts.
My work is about examining the way
people categorise others and have
preconceived judgements about them. I
used the examples of famous notorious
people to explore this idea. Through
this, I think I have become much more
aware of people’s responses to others
around me and more balanced in my
initial responses to others too.
My work explores how the appropriation
of other artist’s work can be used to
create brand new images, as well as
produce new messages. I like to mimic
the style of different artists and mix
up a variety of styles together in a
single piece. It feels playful to do
this and helps the viewer to feel
familiar with the work.
I particularly like the work of artist
Yayoi Kusama. In order to make
references to my own culture, I have
replaced certain symbolic motifs which
recoccur in Kusama’s work with Chinese
motifs. Similarly, I have used the
signature style of famous Pop artists
along with Kusama’s dot painting to say
something about the continuous
recycling and hybridity of visual
images within my cultural reference.

Above: Portrait of Pablo Escobar
Top right: The Girl With The Elephant Earring
Right: Abstract
By AYE KHUMTHONG
Left: Classical Forms Re-tweeted
Below: Still Life With Gourds After Kusama
Below left: The Artist’s Mirror
By CHARLOTTE PAN

This course has enabled me to connect
some of my existing interests making
crafts (such as resin jewellery and
paper cutting) with the making of some
of my art pieces.
I have worked with delicate and
detailed images which describe the
fragility and beauty of plants and
flowers. I use my collages to express
how inextricably linked we are to the
natural world. While using small still
life images to depict our use for the
humble herbs and plants which are
indigenous to my nation, China.
Finding new ways to use familiar
techniques and existing skills has been
one of the best things about IB Art. I
intend to continue on with Art or
Design in my further study.
Identity is the main theme, which i
have tried to explore with my work. I
am interested in how an individual’s
identity can be interpreted (or
misinterpreted), through the filters
that society imposes upon our
perception of others. Filters such as:
gender, race, class, religious
persuasion, outward appearance,
expectations for beauty. These
variables become more critical when an
individual moves between cultures.
My work is very technical and makes use
My work is very technical and makes use
of my skill in drawing and painting. I
have enjoyed discovering and using a
range of other media including
photography and the creation of
wearable Art, as I found ways to extend
my theme into different disciplines.

Left: Abstract
Top left: Eat Love Breath
Below Right: Me Myself and I
By FREYA CAO
Above: Dali-esque. Right: Self Portrait
Below: Calligraphic Abstract
By HAROUN BENTARKA

I am interested in how we remember
things. Specifically how we recall
childhood memories. Everyone has
particular items, or certain toys which
can transport them back to their
childhood days in their minds.
I like to work with found objects and I
discovered this after I had looked at
the work of artist Robert Rauschenberg.
I like his playful approach to making
Art. assembling things together and
combining this with painting was a way
forward for me.
Artist Jasper Johns and the Pop Art
movement are also strong influences in
my work. I think that Pop Art is as
accessible today as it was back in the
1950’s and 1960’s.
I am fascinated by the way cities can
seem both carefully planned and
man-made, while somehow seemiing to be
like organic mass structures. I am also
interested in how different architects
can use similar materials and yet
create such unexpectedly different
buildings.
My influences are Richard Pousette Dart
and Piet Mondrian. Working in an
abstract way like these artists, has
enabled me to touch upon the many
things which interest me about the city
:the urban sprawl, the street plans and
the individual buildings themselves. My
sculpture is an extension of my drawing
and painting and allows me to give
three dimensions to some of these
abstract ideas. The sculptures are
intentionally whimsical and quirky as
well as being also architectural.

Above left: Spongebob Pops Out
Top right: Childhood Memories
Right: Cubist Portrait
Below: Cityscape
By HARRY CHEN
Below centre: Abstract After Pousette Dart
Below right: Surveillance Tower
By JEFF PARK

I enjoy using mixed media to create my
art work. If I work with a variety of
media, I find that I can enrich the
message in my work, as well as making
it more visually appealing.
I began looking at the theme of
deconstruction and how a portrait of
someone could be literally
“deconstructed” and taken apart. This
made me think of how someone’s
personality and character is made up of
many facets which may be beyond mere
appearances. A person’s state of mind,
their aspirations, their hopes and
dreams are all part of this complex
picture that is formed of them in the
minds of others. I created a series of
two and three dimensional portraits
which explore these ideas.
Much of my work is inspired by my
appreciation and understanding of
contemporary feminist Art. I am
fascinated by the way artworks convey
an artist’s intentions and can make a
profound change on how we may think
about and perceive the world.
I want the viewer to be provoked by my
work and to really stop and think about
the issues it focuses upon. By
appropriating the ideas and methods of
other feminist artists, I am attempting
to create similar sensational imagery
which uses unconventional materials and
media to express my thoughts and ideas
about gender inequality and women’s
rights. Artists like: Lin Tianmiao and
Cui Xiuwen, Barbara Kruger and Francis
Bacon have influenced and inspired me.
My work may be challenging but
hopefully it is also accommodating.

Above : Abstract
Top right: Deconstruction
Right: Chinese Folk Painting
By LINDA YUAN
Far right: Portrait After Bacon
Below right: Abstract
Below : Conditioning
By JASMINE XIE

My work is about nostalgia for
memorable moments in theatre and in
film. The idea of key moments in a
classic play or story, being perhaps
the only thing we remember about that
production or feature interests me.
This can sometimes be an artificial
experience and be a memory by proxy;
since we are either too young to have
experienced the event firsthand or have
become familiar with a disjointed
fragment of an event, discovered out of
context.
I am influenced by Chinese contemporary
artists Hu Yongkai and Feng Zhengjie. I
like the stylised, elegant figures with
emotionless expressions in Hu Yongkai’s
paintings. I also like Feng Zhengjie’s
use of complementary colors and glowing
edges around his portraits and I like
to use such expressionism in my work.

Above left: That is The Question
Above right: Shore Maiden
Above : Because I’m Worth It
By QING QING JI
Above left: Immigration
Above: Javanese Abstract
Right: Turmoil of Thoughts
By TYLOR CHEN

In our daily life, people communicate
in many ways.Communication through
oral conversation, visual imagery,
performance, transmissions as well as
with written and printed material. I
am interested in how information and
by association meaning, is transfered
and communicated. Specifically I am
interested in the printed or written
word ;- as a means of communication
but also aesthetically as a means of
artistic expression.
By abstracting characters and letters
in my artwork, I have appropriated
artists such as Cecil Touchon, Jackson
Pollock and Jasper Johns. Sometimes by
taking a traditional method (such as
calligraphy or block printing) and
giving it a contemporary twist, we can
enhance or give new meaning to these
characters and the words they form.
What would happen if we awoke the
stone lions that we frequently see
stationed outside of doorways on our
streets in China? For that matter,
what would happen if all mythical
creatures that are depicted in Chinese
art craft and design were to take
life? My work explores this concept.
I like to use a lot of mixed media and
to work in a playful way. Street
artists like ‘Banksy’ and Shephard
Fairey inspired me to work with
printed and or stencilled, graphic
images and to be carefree about the
subject matter. While I was also
influenced by Robert Rauscheberg’s
“combines” in the technical approach
to making my work.

Left: Chinese Folk Painting
Above right: Viva Cubism!
Below left: Calligraphy Abstract
By MARY LEE
Above right: China Is Like A Sleeping Lion
Above: Mythical Beasts
Right: Out Of The Box
By WEIWEI ZHANG