BY DI SNEDDON
Major works by Singleton High Year 12 visual art students have stunned the few privileged to see them firsthand and teacher Nicole French could not be prouder.
The body of work by the 13 students was set up in the school’s common room this week and the depth of talent between the artists was jaw dropping.
The work was taken down on Wednesday afternoon in readiness for the Higher School Certificate examiners to mark the major works early term four.
Inclusion in the annual Year 12 Art Express is every student’s dream and Nicole is confident this will happen this year.
“I’m very hopeful, students have to achieve 48 out of 50 for consideration to be included in Art Express and I think we have students this year who will manage that,” Nicole told The Hunter River Times.
Art Express is an annual series of exhibitions of exemplary artworks created by New South Wales visual arts students for the Higher School Certificate examination.
When you see the works Singleton High students have created, you can understand why Nicole is so positive the school will be included.
Danyelle Miller aspires to be an orthodontist and chose to study visual arts because her sister did and encouraged Danyelle to do the same.
“She told me I would really enjoy it and I have,” Danyelle said.
Her work ‘Outpaced Outcast’ is a drawing that evolved over the two months she concentrated on it.
While some students spent as much as 10 months creating their major work, Danyelle said she kept changing her concepts of what she wanted to do.
“I work better under stress,” she laughed.
She created a body of work related to city living and how lonely it can be.
“I chose to draw an old woman because of the detail you can capture but the piece reflects how detached society can be in the city and I used the metal to reflect a jail cell, how people can feel trapped even though they have people around them,” Danyelle said.
Meanwhile Desiyer Brace put her mother in a spin when she revealed she wanted to use her face as the basis for her major work.
“She was very anxious, quite nervous for the idea but over time she grew towards it and it has given me a much deeper appreciation for mum,” she said.
Life’s Impermanence took Teagan Rundle 10 months to complete and was inspired by Teagan’s deep appreciation for traditional Dutch still life paintings.
“The works are all amazing, I have seen these students develop and grow over their six years at the high school and it is extremely satisfying to see their superpowers shine at the end,” Nicole said.
