Parents and carers can probably relate; getting teenagers to open up and talk about what’s going on in their lives outside TikTok and Snapchat can be a mission.
Which is why Time Tells, an exhibition of artworks created by Newington HSC and IB Visual Arts Year 12 students, offers valuable understanding into the psyche of 17- and 18-year-olds.
Says curator and Visual Arts teacher, Ms Hannah Chapman,
‘What is beautiful about an HSC and IB show is the audience get to see and experience in material form often quite vulnerable ideas, thoughts and reflections from teenagers which you never really get in any other educational scenario.’
The 20 students were tasked to research a concept and derive a material resolution through a body of work referencing a personal experience.
‘It didn’t have to be a grand narrative, rather it had to be something they know or had lived,’ says Ms Chapman.
‘And what is very specific to Newington College when compared to other independent schools is that they had to research their concept and come up with what artistic skill or technique supported their final artwork best.’
Students researched histories, communities and experiences and works explore themes of relationships and loss, identity and its intangibility and personal narratives formed through memory and landscape. Final works include installation, video, sculpture, photography, drawing, painting and printmaking.
‘It’s an impressive contemporary show and it’s important because it allows our students to communicate things they might not otherwise, in a way no other learning practice does,’ says Ms Chapman.
‘We are also extremely proud of the creative community the students at Newington who study art for their HSC and IB build and the devotion they have to it.’
Time Tells is on show at Newington Concordia Gallery, Monday to Friday 9.00am – 3.00pm or by appointment until Saturday, 31 August.
