Practical
In Stage 2 you will be required to create two practical artworks or a series of work. Each artwork or series needs to be accompanied by a practitioners statement.
Based on the Folio that has been created, you are now ready to produce a final artwork.
Art practicals may take any of the following forms: film, animation, installation, assemblage, digital imaging, painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, photography, wood, plastic, or metal fabrication, sculpture, ceramics, and/or textiles.
Design practicals may be categorised in the broad areas of product design, environmental design, graphic design, or visual communication.
Remember that contemporary art doesn’t have to represent reality. It can be an emotional response to the subject. It could convey mood through colour or tone. It can be any media. (conventional or found) It can be as abstract as you want it to be, but it needs to be justified through the development of your Folio.
In producing the final piece, you must demonstrate either skilful use or experimentation of media chosen. You will need to have thought about the composition (ie. colour scheme, focal point, balance/imbalance, structure, unit etc.)
Based on the Folio that has been created, you are now ready to produce a final artwork.
Art practicals may take any of the following forms: film, animation, installation, assemblage, digital imaging, painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, photography, wood, plastic, or metal fabrication, sculpture, ceramics, and/or textiles.
Design practicals may be categorised in the broad areas of product design, environmental design, graphic design, or visual communication.
Remember that contemporary art doesn’t have to represent reality. It can be an emotional response to the subject. It could convey mood through colour or tone. It can be any media. (conventional or found) It can be as abstract as you want it to be, but it needs to be justified through the development of your Folio.
In producing the final piece, you must demonstrate either skilful use or experimentation of media chosen. You will need to have thought about the composition (ie. colour scheme, focal point, balance/imbalance, structure, unit etc.)
Final Artwork
Producing the final resolved practical work or works of art or design involves the application of technical skills. This may include the production of multiple copies, print runs, sets or suites, or the making of an artefact, model, or prototype.
For a 10credit subject, students produce one practical, which must be a single resolved work or a body of resolved work.
For a 20credit subject, students produce two practicals, which must be resolved works or one body of resolved work.
For a 10credit subject, students produce one practical, which must be a single resolved work or a body of resolved work.
For a 20credit subject, students produce two practicals, which must be resolved works or one body of resolved work.
Practitioners Statement
If two practical works are produced, each practitioner’s statement should be a maximum of 500 words. If one body of resolved practical work is produced, the practitioner's statement should be a maximum of 1000 words.
- a description of starting points and influences
- an explanation of the intended meaning or message of the practical work or works
- the student’s evaluation of his or her own practical work or works and connections with other practitioners’ work
- the communication of beliefs, values, or a philosophy about a personal art aesthetic.
In other words, you will be marked on:
- Concept
- Technical Skill in order to communicate an idea
- Evaluation
Student Examples:
"Bloom of the Borderline," 2017, series of metal and fluid painting on canvas. This artwork was displayed at the SACE Art Show.
Practitioner's Statement:
My work titled “Bloom of the Borderline” is a visual representation of the stages in my journey with mental illness, specifically Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Methods to artistically express my experiences symbolically became my focus, leading me to study fields of interest such as Chernobyl. To incorporate a conceptual layer relative to my journey, I used nature as a metaphor due to nature’s ability to calm me. Wanting to represent various stages, a suite of work was suitable. I admired the aesthetic qualities of Chernobyl, and connected the reclamation of Chernobyl’s environment after the nuclear disaster to the process of my recovery; developing the concept of displaying the process of a leaf flowing through the wind and reinforcing the idea of my journey with BPD. A flowing leaf enabled me to create a smooth relationship that carries the viewer’s eye through each canvas, yet the placement of each leaf not too stark where the composition would be poor if the canvases were separated.
I was influenced by the incorporation of paper collage from artists such as Darlene Olivia McElroy, Eduardo Recife, and Sandra Duran Wilson. I felt that subtly incorporating collage into the backgrounds would strengthen the personal connection of each piece, hiding personal meaning within the work. I saw collage as an opportunity to include historical elements, representing the previous stages of recovery.
The strongest influence was Emma Lindstrom, whose ethereal approach at abstraction introduced me to acrylic pouring. I admired how the fluidity of her painting method and vivid colour schemes created emotive paintings heavy with movement through implied texture. I wanted to create my own style inspired by Emma’s acrylic pouring to evoke emotions relative to each stage, depending on the intensity of the lines and colour chosen.
Before the pouring process, I studied the psychology of colour to produce colour schemes that conveyed certain emotions. Colour was critical for creating aesthetic work that communicated my message. I sought opinions from teachers and peers to help decide on suitable colours. Adjustments of hue and tone were needed before I created successful colour schemes that connect by introducing a main colour into neighbouring paintings; creating a sense of harmony.
I developed my own technique of acrylic pouring that created the depth and detail I aimed to achieve, through experimentation, videos, and personally interviewing artist Mely.D. I encountered issues with bright colours clashing with the detail of the pour, affecting the focal point of the leaves. I decreased the saturation and added further colours to create subtle backgrounds with depth. I experimented with puddle pouring, but later used another technique: dirty pouring to create more interest. I explored a wide variety of mediums including photography to reinforce the idea of abandoned places. These photos lead me to incorporate an effect reminiscent of cells, adding personal connection by using the overgrowth of landmarks in my hometown as reference.
I created three-dimensional leaves, using various stages of oxidisation for each stage. Being inexperienced with metal, my teachers assisted me by offering suggestions regarding suitable metals and methods of forming structure and patinas.
Stage 1 symbolises myself untouched by mental illness and nature prior to destructive human behaviour. I used a pastel colour scheme representing purity, consisting of yellow, peach and beige. These subtle colours evoke emotions of calmness, and my critics associated the neutral colours with purity. I collaged “Nearer my God to thee” into the background; a soft hymn that relaxes me. From a 1931 magazine in my personal collection, it’s the oldest piece of collage used in my series. Such vintage elements emphasises the preceding stages. I created a shiny steel leaf untouched by any oxidisation to further symbolise purity.
Stage 2 represents the onset of mental illness and the anxiety of dealing with it. To symbolise the severity, I used an intense colour scheme consisting of dark purple, red and orange; associated with negative emotions, particularly anxiety. Collaged into the background are small Alice in Wonderland poems. As a reference to “going crazy” and the mad hatter, the poems represent emerging illness compared with the full pages used in the following stage. I created a slightly rusted leaf with minor decomposition; representing the onset of mental illness.
Stage 3 represents the crisis of a mental breakdown and human error; such as Chernobyl. To express melancholy, I used the bold colour scheme of dark blue, purple and grey. Having the darkest colours in the suite, it emphasises intensity. I collaged full Alice in Wonderland pages into the background as a metaphor for complete craziness. I created an entirely rusted and decomposed steel leaf, also symbolising crisis.
The last two stages both use colour schemes seen in nature; such as green, yellow and blue, to evoke positive emotions. A slight difference between colours include the use of grey in stage 4 to symbolising the underlying presence of mental illness. Stage 4 represents the therapeutic stages of recovery as well as the reclamation of nature. As a reference to recovery, I collaged my psychiatric medication box into the background. I also included a personal family item obtained after my crisis experience, maintaining relevancy to stage 4’s placement in the timeline of my journey with recovery. I reduced the rust and gilded copper leaf to the steel leaf to represent the beginning of recovery. Stage 5 represents full recovery and complete reclamation of nature. The calming colours are collaged with barely-visible library cards found in the source of my recovery; the art room. In relation to the gilded copper leaf, I created a beautiful leaf from copper to symbolise complete recovery. Patina has been used to represent the scars and memories the journey with mental illness leaves post-recovery.
I believe my series is a successful documentation of my personal journey that creates visual interest. However, to improve the stability of my work, I could’ve poured on wood rather than reinforcing each canvas. Further experimentation with collage would’ve allowed me to incorporate it further into my work, as much was lost during the pouring process.
My work titled “Bloom of the Borderline” is a visual representation of the stages in my journey with mental illness, specifically Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Methods to artistically express my experiences symbolically became my focus, leading me to study fields of interest such as Chernobyl. To incorporate a conceptual layer relative to my journey, I used nature as a metaphor due to nature’s ability to calm me. Wanting to represent various stages, a suite of work was suitable. I admired the aesthetic qualities of Chernobyl, and connected the reclamation of Chernobyl’s environment after the nuclear disaster to the process of my recovery; developing the concept of displaying the process of a leaf flowing through the wind and reinforcing the idea of my journey with BPD. A flowing leaf enabled me to create a smooth relationship that carries the viewer’s eye through each canvas, yet the placement of each leaf not too stark where the composition would be poor if the canvases were separated.
I was influenced by the incorporation of paper collage from artists such as Darlene Olivia McElroy, Eduardo Recife, and Sandra Duran Wilson. I felt that subtly incorporating collage into the backgrounds would strengthen the personal connection of each piece, hiding personal meaning within the work. I saw collage as an opportunity to include historical elements, representing the previous stages of recovery.
The strongest influence was Emma Lindstrom, whose ethereal approach at abstraction introduced me to acrylic pouring. I admired how the fluidity of her painting method and vivid colour schemes created emotive paintings heavy with movement through implied texture. I wanted to create my own style inspired by Emma’s acrylic pouring to evoke emotions relative to each stage, depending on the intensity of the lines and colour chosen.
Before the pouring process, I studied the psychology of colour to produce colour schemes that conveyed certain emotions. Colour was critical for creating aesthetic work that communicated my message. I sought opinions from teachers and peers to help decide on suitable colours. Adjustments of hue and tone were needed before I created successful colour schemes that connect by introducing a main colour into neighbouring paintings; creating a sense of harmony.
I developed my own technique of acrylic pouring that created the depth and detail I aimed to achieve, through experimentation, videos, and personally interviewing artist Mely.D. I encountered issues with bright colours clashing with the detail of the pour, affecting the focal point of the leaves. I decreased the saturation and added further colours to create subtle backgrounds with depth. I experimented with puddle pouring, but later used another technique: dirty pouring to create more interest. I explored a wide variety of mediums including photography to reinforce the idea of abandoned places. These photos lead me to incorporate an effect reminiscent of cells, adding personal connection by using the overgrowth of landmarks in my hometown as reference.
I created three-dimensional leaves, using various stages of oxidisation for each stage. Being inexperienced with metal, my teachers assisted me by offering suggestions regarding suitable metals and methods of forming structure and patinas.
Stage 1 symbolises myself untouched by mental illness and nature prior to destructive human behaviour. I used a pastel colour scheme representing purity, consisting of yellow, peach and beige. These subtle colours evoke emotions of calmness, and my critics associated the neutral colours with purity. I collaged “Nearer my God to thee” into the background; a soft hymn that relaxes me. From a 1931 magazine in my personal collection, it’s the oldest piece of collage used in my series. Such vintage elements emphasises the preceding stages. I created a shiny steel leaf untouched by any oxidisation to further symbolise purity.
Stage 2 represents the onset of mental illness and the anxiety of dealing with it. To symbolise the severity, I used an intense colour scheme consisting of dark purple, red and orange; associated with negative emotions, particularly anxiety. Collaged into the background are small Alice in Wonderland poems. As a reference to “going crazy” and the mad hatter, the poems represent emerging illness compared with the full pages used in the following stage. I created a slightly rusted leaf with minor decomposition; representing the onset of mental illness.
Stage 3 represents the crisis of a mental breakdown and human error; such as Chernobyl. To express melancholy, I used the bold colour scheme of dark blue, purple and grey. Having the darkest colours in the suite, it emphasises intensity. I collaged full Alice in Wonderland pages into the background as a metaphor for complete craziness. I created an entirely rusted and decomposed steel leaf, also symbolising crisis.
The last two stages both use colour schemes seen in nature; such as green, yellow and blue, to evoke positive emotions. A slight difference between colours include the use of grey in stage 4 to symbolising the underlying presence of mental illness. Stage 4 represents the therapeutic stages of recovery as well as the reclamation of nature. As a reference to recovery, I collaged my psychiatric medication box into the background. I also included a personal family item obtained after my crisis experience, maintaining relevancy to stage 4’s placement in the timeline of my journey with recovery. I reduced the rust and gilded copper leaf to the steel leaf to represent the beginning of recovery. Stage 5 represents full recovery and complete reclamation of nature. The calming colours are collaged with barely-visible library cards found in the source of my recovery; the art room. In relation to the gilded copper leaf, I created a beautiful leaf from copper to symbolise complete recovery. Patina has been used to represent the scars and memories the journey with mental illness leaves post-recovery.
I believe my series is a successful documentation of my personal journey that creates visual interest. However, to improve the stability of my work, I could’ve poured on wood rather than reinforcing each canvas. Further experimentation with collage would’ve allowed me to incorporate it further into my work, as much was lost during the pouring process.
Charcoal on paper
Practitioner's Statement:
The initial inspiration for my practical came from my personal passion for horses, particularly dressage. Horses have always played a huge role in my lifestyle and the sport of dressage has allowed me to be very successful, competition wise, as a horse rider. The equine sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci were the second source of inspiration for my practical as I was drawn to the realism and expression of the anatomy and soul of the horse as an animal. I have always been fascinated by the incredible realism that some artists are able to achieve in their artwork and wanted to incorporate this into my artwork whilst still having a more creative and abstract element to add meaning and a stronger sense of expression.
The intended purpose of my practical was to express the concept of a dressage horse which is incredibly beautiful, unique and elegant in physical movement. I also wanted to have my passion for horses and dressage to be present in my final piece which I did through the extent of detail and realism I incorporated into the horse, particularly the face. I further added more personal connection to the final piece having the horse’s appearance based on my own horse. I did this by adding specific facial markings and using images of my horse as references when creating the piece.
When experimenting with how to present my intended concept as an artwork I became inspired by the work of Guy Dunning. Dunning’s work consisted of a combination of realism and abstract to express emotion of a person. I took this idea and made it my own by using realism to construct the horse and abstract linework to express the movement of the dressage horse. This took many experiments on, during which I learnt to be free and expressive with the movement of my whole arm to exaggerate the element of physical movement in my artwork. I used this technique, learnt from the movement of Futurism, in my final artwork to create the abstract linework which represents the movement of the horse through the legs.
The choice to create my artwork on a grey piece of paper using black and white charcoal was also greatly inspired by the work of Guy Dunning however the initial idea was inspired by my previous artwork, Evil Hidden Within where I used white charcoal on black paper. After experimenting with various tones and colour I found the right grey which worked well as a medium of the tonal range, creating a harmonious relationship between the charcoal and paper. I was greatly inspired by the realism in the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci. Studying the anatomy of the horse and practising like Leonardo da Vinci di to create realistic sketches of my own, allowed me to transfer my knowledge to my final, particularly in the face of the horse.
Word count: 480
The initial inspiration for my practical came from my personal passion for horses, particularly dressage. Horses have always played a huge role in my lifestyle and the sport of dressage has allowed me to be very successful, competition wise, as a horse rider. The equine sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci were the second source of inspiration for my practical as I was drawn to the realism and expression of the anatomy and soul of the horse as an animal. I have always been fascinated by the incredible realism that some artists are able to achieve in their artwork and wanted to incorporate this into my artwork whilst still having a more creative and abstract element to add meaning and a stronger sense of expression.
The intended purpose of my practical was to express the concept of a dressage horse which is incredibly beautiful, unique and elegant in physical movement. I also wanted to have my passion for horses and dressage to be present in my final piece which I did through the extent of detail and realism I incorporated into the horse, particularly the face. I further added more personal connection to the final piece having the horse’s appearance based on my own horse. I did this by adding specific facial markings and using images of my horse as references when creating the piece.
When experimenting with how to present my intended concept as an artwork I became inspired by the work of Guy Dunning. Dunning’s work consisted of a combination of realism and abstract to express emotion of a person. I took this idea and made it my own by using realism to construct the horse and abstract linework to express the movement of the dressage horse. This took many experiments on, during which I learnt to be free and expressive with the movement of my whole arm to exaggerate the element of physical movement in my artwork. I used this technique, learnt from the movement of Futurism, in my final artwork to create the abstract linework which represents the movement of the horse through the legs.
The choice to create my artwork on a grey piece of paper using black and white charcoal was also greatly inspired by the work of Guy Dunning however the initial idea was inspired by my previous artwork, Evil Hidden Within where I used white charcoal on black paper. After experimenting with various tones and colour I found the right grey which worked well as a medium of the tonal range, creating a harmonious relationship between the charcoal and paper. I was greatly inspired by the realism in the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci. Studying the anatomy of the horse and practising like Leonardo da Vinci di to create realistic sketches of my own, allowed me to transfer my knowledge to my final, particularly in the face of the horse.
Word count: 480