ACADEMIC Departmental Reviews
ART There have been many highlights, both within and outside the classroom this year, and I would like to celebrate a few here. Achievements outside the classroom Oli Aikawa, Jake Abbiss, and Reis Azlan exhibited in The Creators’ Room Scholarship Exhibition in August. This is an exhibition of the best students throughout Canterbury. Oli Aikawa ended up winning the $3000 scholarship. There were more than 2000 entries this year, so Oli’s achievement was very impressive. Looking ahead to 2023, George Brakenridge, Otto Elworthy, Jake Abbiss, Jack Sutherland, Harry Campbell, Lucan Botherway, George Hudson, and Eric Liu have all submitted strong paintings for this competition. We look forward to seeing how they go in the coming months.
Oli Aikawa also won the Scape Public Art commission. This resulted in having his winning design made into a large-scale sculpture. It was exhibited alongside international and national professional artists. The press release on his sculpture Wheelbarrow of a Bag of Rocks 2022 reads: “Inspired by the artist’s own struggles with OCD, this artwork speaks to the toll that mental hard work can take on the mind, body, and spirit ... but while this distraught, vaguely inhuman figure is struggling with the weight, there is hope that the rocks will one day make him strong.” The artwork speaks powerfully to awareness of and work to be done around mental health. Oli also completed a successful painting commission on an electrical powerbox in Redcliffs. Eric Liu and Oli Aikawa exhibited in a Round Square Exhibition in London. This was another great opportunity to show work outside the classroom and to an international audience.
Achievements within the classroom: Year 9 student Mun Chi Jager demonstrated great drawing and painting skill and the ability to make sophisticated abstract works. Congratulations Mun Chi. Year 10 student Kennedy Xiao made a series of accurate drawings which he translated into a beautiful painting on customboard. His skill in developing these initial works into abstraction was superb. There were strong bodies of work produced by the Year 11 boys. We had the advantage of having Prep Photography available to Year 11 students as part of the College Diploma. James Whitaker, Oscar Chen and Noah Yee produced standout photography submissions. They each researched the architectural works of Laurence Aberhart, then developed their work to original conclusions by introducing the figure in their final works. The painters also submitted
Left: Art Stars scholarship winner 'Hagley' by Oli Aikawa. Below: 'Malay Wedding' by Reis Azlan.
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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