我們學生的作品又現“紅磚”：用藝術為自己說話！

和相似——

還是早春，

還是紅磚美術館相同的藝術空間，

還是一群視角犀利獨特、創意滿溢的少年……

不同的是，

他們有著獨屬于自己的思考，

探索著不同的藝術表達方法——

3月底，2024年啟明星藝術之夜在紅磚美術館啟幕——3位12年級學生王雪晴、王之韻和莫知安為自己的IBDP視覺藝術課程進行結課展示。

他們自由創作，獨立布展，認真地表達自己，“用藝術為自己說話”：

“……我們始終認為藝術的定義并不唯一。于我們而言，此次IBDP視覺藝術之旅幫我們實現自我探尋、表達與反省，最終使我們達成自洽。

我們努力地在創作中尋找理性與感性的平衡點：創作過程若過于理性，會讓作品喪失情緒表達力，但過于遵從感性會讓作品失去重心。

為此，我們持續地探索著兩者之間的對立與共存，以我們對周遭環境的真摯感受，創造出本次展覽的作品。”

——3人的策展感言（節選）

王雪晴、指導老師朱寧、王之韻、莫知安

創作者

王之韻

12年級

空間 Space

王之韻的展覽發生在一個全黑的空間，主要探討了自然空間、建筑空間，它們之間的交互和它們對人的影響。

雕塑《太極》（T'ai Chi）是王之韻最想分享的作品。王之韻從太極動作中提取出一些形狀的元素，形成一個立體的空間構成，本質上在模擬陰陽的圖案，展示太極的連貫性和張力。

“近旁的竹子投影在太極上，寓意自然空間和人類構造的空間的互動，至于兩者究竟產生了什么樣的聯系，就仁者見仁，智者見智了。”王之韻說。

《太極》（T'ai Chi）

互動型裝置藝術《樹影》(Summer's Memory)是另一件重要作品。靈感是夏天的樹影在地上形成的光斑。當觀眾把點亮的燈泡置于裝置側端，裝置里層層切割的亞克力板就會因為燈泡放置的過程，在墻面上投射出動態的光斑，好像夏天里搖曳的樹影。

《樹影》(Summer's Memory)

談到IBDP藝術學習過程帶來的最大感受，王之韻說，無論創作還是策展，對她而言都是一個在思想上進行平衡和自洽的過程。

“我原本以為，自己可以在感性和理性之間做到平衡，什么時候理性一些，什么時候感性一些，但最后我發現，這是很難做到的。因為一件作品從創作到落地，會遇到很多因素的影響，環境一直在變，我的作品也在變。現在對我而言，所謂自洽已經變成享受感性與理性的沖突了。”

創作者

王雪晴

12年級

色彩 Color

在王雪晴的空間里，她用繪畫、刺繡、丙烯、3D裝置、定格動畫等多種媒介，進行自我探索和表達。 “我的創作很多從色彩入手，借此表達人物的多面和隱藏的個性。”她說。

她最想分享的兩幅作品是兩只巨大的眼睛《女性》（Women of Time）和《紅》（Red），一只是藍色的，一只是紅色的。王雪晴從大量歷史名畫上提取了女性眼睛的圖片，統一成藍色，堆塑成眼睛的樣子，展示了對這些女性身份的呈現和認同。紅色的眼睛由發泡膠塑形，然后用口紅涂上具有女性特征、象征力量的紅色，是現代女性身份的展現。

“兩只眼睛放在一起，是現代與歷史的對比，體現了不同時代下女性的處境。”王雪晴說。

《女性》（Women of Time）

《紅》（Red）

《血緣》（Lineage）

家庭一直是身份的重要組成部分，王雪晴說，家中女性人物對她的影響尤為突出。于是她用家中女性親屬的照片創作了這些刺繡作品《血緣》。照片本身就是時間的標記，記錄了從她的曾祖父母到祖母、母親，再到她自己這幾代人的時光；而刺繡作為一種傳統的女性手工藝，象征著塑造她的女性前輩。每一針一線都是對她們力量與精神的贊美......

中學部IBDP視覺藝術課教師朱寧是3位學生的指導老師。她為孩子們真心感到自豪：“今年的展覽對我特別有意義，因為我從他們8年級開始就教他們。我不但目睹了他們作為藝術創作者成長，也眼見他們長大，逐漸成人。能見證他們的藝術創作反映了自己的經歷，是非常酷的一件事！我真的為他們3個人特別特別驕傲！DP是非常有挑戰性的，它要求學生思慮周全，非常小心地制定計劃，中途不能放棄，并且在遇到問題時要想方設法解決它。他們完成了充滿挑戰的2年IBDP藝術學習，我為他們的成長驕傲！”

創作者

莫知安

12年級

協同

Synergy

“我對世界、周遭環境、很多事情都有各種各樣的想法，可是這些想法我不能用話語一一表達清楚。借由藝術，我可以把這些想法展示出來，和大家溝通、分享。所以對我而言，藝術是一種媒介。”莫知安說。

現在，他用藝術表達了自己對“協同”（Synergy）這個主題的理解：“協同”的意思是，由若干個體組成的整體的結果要比單一個體的更重要，也就是說，個體們團結在一起是更重要，也更有力量的。

《我們的世界/語言》(Our Wor(l)ds)

《我們的世界/語言》(Our Wor(l)ds)是莫知安特別介紹的一件互動作品。它邀請觀眾使用他從作品《循環》（Cycle）中收集的字母構思出自己的語言或信息。這些帶磁性字母可以自由組合，將中心提示語“我對未來的貢獻是......”補充完整。每個空白框都是一個新詞或短語的誕生地。這些獨立的詞框共同組合成一個整體。因此，每個人都留下了自己獨特的信息，而它們最終會匯集成為更大整體。

《不斷變化》（In Flux)

莫知安也分享了他的《不斷變化》（In Flux），以他2019-2024年間的旅行為背景。他把旅行中的日記做成紙鏈，掛在前排，后面鋪上按照時間順序排列的旅行照片。日記紙鏈會隨風擺動，代表了人類的情緒和感覺是富于變化的，而背后的圖片所代表的事實卻是客觀不變的。這也表明，周圍的環境能塑造我的想法和感受，展示了人與環境之間的關系和聯系。

一段學習經歷的結束意味著另一段旅程的開啟。這些借由藝術獲得自信和自省的少年又將踏上下一段令人振奮的成長道路。祝愿他們在未來繼續用幾年來的習得勇敢又自信地表達自我，為自己說話，為自己發聲。

Much like …

It's early spring...

It’s the same art space in the Red Brick Art Museum…

It’s a group of teenagers with critical perspectives and bottomless creativity...

While it’s not the same as last year's Art Showcase,

they still possess a stronger desire to express their ideas and an exploration into different artistic expression techniques.

At the end of March, the Daystar Art Visual Art Showcase 2024 kicked off at the Red Brick Art Museum, where three 12th graders gave their final presentation for their IBDP Visual Arts course.

They created their works and set up the exhibitions independently. They also thought seriously about how to “use art to speak for themselves”:

"We believe that art defies a singular definition. Our DP Visual Arts journey led us to discover art’s precious guiding power towards personal exploration, expression, reflection, and ultimately inner peace.

This cycle made us realize that approaching artmaking with excess rationality can strip artwork of emotional expression, while an over-emphasis on emotional value can blur the focus of an artwork’s direction.

This shared belief about artmaking drove us to strive for a balance between rationality and emotionality - and ultimately allowed us to present three complete bodies of work to share with the world. "

——Artist Statement Co-Written by the Three Students (Excerpt)

Michelle Wang, Anna Zhu (Visual Art Teacher), Lucy Wang, Jian Morano

Artist

Lucy Wang

Grade 12

空間 Space

Lucy Wang's showcase takes place in a completely black space. It mainly explores natural space, architectural space, the interaction between them, and their impact on people.

Lucy Wang is most eager to share the sculpture T'ai Chi with visitors. It explores the trajectory of T'ai Chi movements. Lucy extracts certain shape elements from these movements and places them in a three-dimensional composition. This essentially simulates the pattern of yin and yang, demonstrating the coherence and tension of Tai Chi.

"The nearby bamboo is projected on the Tai Chi images, implying the relationship between the natural space and the human constructed space. As for what kind of connection the two really have, this is a matter of personal opinion and discernment." said Lucy.

T'ai Chi

The art installation Summer's Memory is another important work. Inspiration was drawn from the spots of light that are created by trees casting shadows on the ground in summer. When a lit bulb is placed at the side of the installation, the light casts dynamic spots on the wall that vary with the placement depth and simulate the shadows cast by a swaying tree in summer.

Summer's Memory

When talking about the greatest feeling she experienced while part of the IBDP art course, Lucy said that both the creation and curating processes evoked balance and a greater understanding of self in terms of ideology.

“I thought I could strike a balance between sensibility and rationality. I thought I could be more sensitive at this point or more rational at that point. But in the end, I found that it was very difficult to pull off. This is because, from the creation to the implementation of a work, it will be affected by many factors. As the environment is always changing, my work is also always changing. For me, now, this so-called sense of self has become an enjoyable conflict between making rational judgments and maintaining emotion. ”

Artist

Michelle Wang

Grade 12

色彩 Color

Michelle Wang uses her space to explore and express herself using a variety of media, including painting, embroidery, acrylic, 3D installation, and stop-motion animation. “A lot of my works start with color. Using color enables me to express the multifaceted and hidden personalities of the characters,” she said.

The two works she would most like to share are of two huge eyes, the Women of Time and the Red, one blue and one red. Michelle extracted pictures of women's eyes from a large number of historical paintings. She unified these pictures into a blue hue and shaped them into a eye. The red eye was first formed using a polyurethane foam sealing agent. It was then colored red using lipstick, evoking femininity and strength. It is a manifestation of the modern female identity.

“Putting the two eyes together creates a contrast between modern times and history, reflecting the situation of women during different periods,” Michelle said.

Women of Time

Red

Lineage

Family has always been a significant part of her identity, Michelle said, especially the influence of female figures in her family who molded her into the person she is today. Inspired by them, she created Lineage, these embroidery pieces using photos of women in her family. The photographs themselves are markers of time, capturing generations that span from her great grandparents to her grandmother, her mother, and finally, herself; while embroidery, a traditionally female craft, symbolizes the lineage of women who shaped her. Each stitch is a celebration of their strength and spirit.

Anna Zhu, the Secondary School IBDP Visual Art teacher, is the mentor for the three students. She is extremely proud of them: “This year's showcase is particularly meaningful to me because I have been teaching them since they were in 8th grade. I've watched them grow not only as artist, but also as human beings. It’s cool to see their own experiences reflected into their artworks! I'm really proud of the three of them. DP is a very challenging course. It requires students to be thoughtful and extremely careful in formulating plans. Students are not allowed to quit halfway through. Instead, they have to find ways to solve any problems they encounter. These 3 students have completed their challenging 2-year IBDP Arts study. I am so proud of their development and growth!”

Artist

Jian Morano

Grade 12

協同

Synergy

“I have lots of ideas about the world, the environment, and many other things. However, I can't express everything in words. Through art, I can present these ideas clearly and share them with greater audience. As a result, for me, art is a medium,” Jian said.

Now, he is using art to express his understanding of the word “Synergy”. Synergy means that the result of the whole, which is composed of several individuals, is more important than that of a single individual. In other words, individuals are more important and powerful when they are united.

Our Wor(L)ds

Our Wor(L)ds is an interactive work in his showcase. It invites viewers to create their own language or message using the letters he has collected from his work Cycle. These magnetic letters can be arranged to complete the prompt “My gift to the future is ...”. Each empty box is a fresh canvas for a new word or phrase. Together, these individual boxes are arranged to create a whole picture. As a result, each person leaves their own unique message, and these messages eventually converge into a greater whole.

Jian also shared his work, In Flux, which is set against the backdrop of his travels between 2019 and 2024. He made a paper chain of his travel diary, hung it at the front, and laid out the photos of his travels in chronological order at the back. The paper chain diary sways with the wind, representing the changeable emotions and feelings of human beings, while the facts represented by the photos behind them are solid and unchanging. It also represents how human beings' thoughts and feelings can be shaped by his surroundings, demonstrating the relationship and connection between people and the environment.

The ending of one learning experience signifies the unfolding of another journey. These teenagers, who have gained self-confidence and self-reflection through art, will embark on the next uplifting journey of growth. They are sure to continue utilizing what they have learned over the years, express themselves courageously and confidently, speak for themselves, and use their voices.