This past Monday, our seniors held their annual International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) Visual Arts Exhibition showcasing what they’ve been working on over the past two years. This year, seven students exhibited their work and curated their own set up: deciding how to mount, display, and explain their work. Teachers, their parents, and students came to attend the event to admire the art and congratulate the artists on completing their work.

The IB Visual Arts program is a course designed for students to learn about already established artists, different techniques in making art, and exploring ways to communicate through visual and written means. Using what they’ve learned, students must document their artistic journey in a process portfolio in which they explain their process and show different art-making forms. The IB Diploma Programme’s curriculum consists of the DP core, Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay and CAS (creativity, activity, service) and six subject groups, studies in language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics and the arts. This Visual Arts program is part of the arts subject group in the IBDP, which is recognized by the world’s top universities as excellent preparation for tertiary education.

Exhibition counts for 40% of the total grade of the IB Visual Arts program, with Standard Level students having to create 4-7 pieces of work, and Higher Level students having to create 8-11 pieces of work. This is accompanied by a curatorial rationale that they must present with their work to convey the idea behind it and why they chose their specific topic to communicate through their work. 

A theme that some of the students chose was to explore their personal and cultural experience. One artist delved into their own roots, expressing their experiences of growing up with heavy Chinese tradition and being exposed to a multicultural education. They used multimedia to create portraits with depth trying to dig deep inside themselves using a clash of western and eastern symbols.  

Another student delved into their heritage to expose the history and current day discrimination against Native Americans in current day. They used mixed media to depict their own stories along with others’, and the fact that Native American culture isn’t just one tribe, it’s a mixture. In one piece they set up a dinner table having created all the table settings. This interactive piece was meant to have people sit down to experience dysfunctional Native households caused by intergenerational trauma. 

Another theme that students chose to communicate through art is mental health. One student focused on anxiety, creating art that showcased it in both a physical and mental form. Their work conveys their personal experience based on their understanding of anxiety, and the struggle of wanting to constantly improve in their artistic craft. They used digital art to depict anxiety in the shape of monsters and fast-drying clay to make an imprisoned heart in a case of plastic with words written on it. 

Another student’s chosen topic was ‘Blue’, exploring both the color and the mood. Using photography, the artist found subjects to photograph after playing them melancholy music to try and capture the moment of ‘blue’ on their faces. The muted color palette of their work created an interesting juxtaposition to the cobalt blue of their exhibition.

AISG wants to congratulate our Class of 2021 IB Visual Arts students for completing their course and showcasing such talent! Special thanks to our IB Visual Arts teacher, Lauren Robles for helping our students with their artistic aspirations and putting together such a great exhibition.