Self-portraiture is the bread and butter of just about any art curriculum and at the 2016 Carinus exhibition some show depth, effort and a high level of (intimidating) self-reflexivity.
Self-portraiture is the bread and butter of just about any art curriculum and at the 2016 Carinus exhibition some show depth, effort and a high level of (intimidating) self-reflexivity.
The Carinus Painting department asked students to investigate interpretations of Cubism and Fauvism to motivate and influence the self-portraits, with rich translucent colours. Pushing their students into these mind frames has paid off: the self-awareness is stunning.
The exhibition is also host to an inspired take on Afro Pop textiles, created with the same earnestness and currency that made their antecedents appealing in the first place.
There is also a very innovative 3D painting that seems almost meshed with a textile behind it.
The ceramics is re-imagined and re-attributed from the very best of African heritage and design, as well as a strong Art Deco influence.
The 2016 Carinus exhibition is a smorgasbord of methods and genres. Standing out among the stand outs is the Winged Man mixed media by a Grade 12 Graeme College learner and likewise another mixed media print by a Grade 12 Victoria Girls Student.
To have brutally high expectations of a school exhibition is pretentious. To have mild expectations of a school exhibition and to be surprised and astounded is humbling. I sit firmly in the second category.
The Carinus exhibition is of a high standard and its curation is careful and considered. View it daily from 8am to 3pm from 26–29 September. It opened officially on 21 September and a special guest opening will be held on 27 September at 6pm. People interested in attending this opening can contact the Carinus School on 046 622 4543
The Printmaking Department
Talented students have explored various printing methods. This year the Grade 10s produced observational portrait drawings which were transferred onto woodblocks and printed in black and white.They created metamorphosised experimental creatures in the dry point technique, and a symbolic crest in colour reduction woodblock.
The Grade 11s printed T-shirts depicting a myth, story, poem or song, produced a colour reduction print in response to the word through a view-finder and combined monotypes with relief woodblock printing to depict dreamscapes.
The Grade 12s have been encouraged to work in multi-media, combining their prints with drawing, painting and collage.
Painting department
Experimented with different genres and tried to bring a more contemporary approach to painting. Their in-depth exploration of influences such as Cubism and Fauvism can be seen in thoroughly worked interpretations of self-portraits and interiors. Colours are rich and translucent. This year the department has branched out into working on surfaces other than board. Notable is a detailed painting of a mannequin in a rich range of blues.
Ceramics
Finely crafted, sculptural and highly decorative – inspired by Art Deco forms, insect forms and patterns as well as African ceramics.
Sculpture
Grade 11 had to do an imaginative self-portrait in a 18th or 19th century dress fashions in a particular societal position eg an explorer or a soldier, noblewoman.
The Grade 10s did symbolic portrait hybrids using animal and insect imagery – modelled in clay and paper-mached over it.
The Grade 11s also did reduction carving from a plaster block looking at Cubism and Expressionism – a Modernist approach to the human body.
Transformation, metamorphosis and juxtaposition was a Grade 11 theme which resulted in some exciting Dada transformations of found objects.
Textiles department
The Grade 10 Batik project is a well-loved creative medium in the Textiles department. To make a batik design, we used a flour paste technique to block out selected areas of the fabric. The areas covered in flour paste resist the fabric paint and areas that remain uncovered were painted using a selection of three colours.
Learners had to create a Batik design based on historical patterns from Greek, Roman, Medieval and/or Renaissance designs – which is linked to Design theory. In order to accomplish this "style revival" – learners had to use appropriate colours and create a cracked effect on their design.
The project takes much more time than originally anticipated. Some learners were pushed for time in order to complete them for the annual exhibition.
Other Themes used in the Textile department this year were Classicial Ornament, Afro pop and the Olympic Games.
