“With the Sevenoaks School Certificate,
ambitions can be pitched much higher and
work much more considered and refined.”
A Y ear in the Art department
It is natural to reflect on the past year by evaluating
the work of the department. I feel fortunate in
this regard that our exam courses offer staff and
students open-ended opportunities for daring
creative expression.
Previous page: Sevenoaks
School Certificate work by
Joe Hayward
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The breadth of the work students produce at IB
level provides the strongest endorsement of the
value of the course. While all students initially
pursue a common curriculum based on developing
the raw transferrable skills of an ambitious, flexible,
contemporary artist, they are soon afforded the
freedom to investigate personal areas of interest. For
some, this is an invitation to deepen their knowledge
of traditional processes; many just want to grapple
with the messy business of painting or working from
direct observation of the human form. For others, they
treat it as a forum for exploring fresh territory.
ART REVIEW
An interest in architecture might spark a body of
work that looks at manipulating structure and volume
through the manipulation of abstract slivers of soft
metal. Alternatively, a video projected onto a ceiling
might record and moodily enhance a student’s
observation of moving water. The key is harnessing an
individual’s natural strengths and interests, providing
just enough structure to allow freedom without
restricting ambition or personal expression.
Likewise, the Sevenoaks School Certificate is now well
established as our alternative to GCSE. Again, we enjoy
the creative freedom this offers both students and staff.
Rather than an artificially restricted ten-hour exam,
pupils are able to make work that can be conceived
and constructed over many months. Consequently,
ambitions can be pitched much higher and work much
more considered and refined.
For example, Nell Rudd-Jones has spent almost the entire
year dangling over a thousand nails on fishing line as part
of a sculpture of her father (pictured). The subtlety and
immediate visual impact of the work impressed many;
the external examiner commented that it would not look
out of place at an art college degree show.
It is of course of immeasurable value that we have had
an artist-in-residence within the department for the last
four years. With the main purpose of the role being to
develop a creative practice within a studio that is open
to students, the creative process is modelled and laid
bare for all to admire and learn from. Georgie Low, who
started in September, has brought a very approachable
energy to the role, and her work challenges and charms
in equal measure.
Charley Openshaw
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2016-2017
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