Design: Letter Repetition 4-Square

Using handmade stencils of a letter in three different sizes, students created an image solely based upon repeating elements of the letter. Emphasis was drawn to the effects of black and white as positive and negative space. Can you decipher which letter was used?

Istuti S.

Jihoo P.

Karina S.

Sarah K.

Art 9: Communicating Through Collage

 Inspired by the work of Romare Bearden, Art 9 expressed an opinion about a social, moral, political or cultural issue through collage.

 Aakriti A. and Shanaya K.

 Amrita Y.

 Ankit R. and Jin Hyun L.

Bao T.

 

 Devika N.

Heesun S.

 

Kezia P.

 

Marina P.

 

Namita J.

 

Rishi T.

 

Willow L.

Drawing & Painting: Self-Portrait

Desiring to express something profound about the self, Drawing & Painting students created a self-portrait using at least two of the four value techniques: shading, stippling, hatching/cross-hatching and line quality. Students were asked to draw the face at an oblique angle.

 Jana A.

Karis P.

Lalrin S.

Raya K.

 Ritsen G.

Shivangi K.

Youn Jung N.

Studio 1: Printmaking as a Social Force

The Studio 1 class continued their study of printmaking. After looking at examples from the Taller de Grafica Popular, Honore Daumier, and Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, the students created linocuts on a social, political, or environmental issue of their choice.

Taking the project one step further, the students scanned their prints and created posters inspired by the work of Luba Lukova.

The original prints and the digital posters are shown below, along with the students' artist's statements. Enjoy!

Mansi K, Grade 11

Chained by Birth!

Prostitution, Religion, Rape, Future, Deserve, Life, Sister, Precious, Equal, Oppression, Sacred, Birth, Assault, Sex, World, Body, Rights, Integrity, Culture, Strong, Wise, Gender, Powerful, Daughter, Beautiful, Bold, Nurturing, Liberal, Mother, Chained, Encouraging, Compassionate, Love. These are just few of the many words associated with WOMEN. But Wait! And think about each one of our connections with WOMEN. She plays an extremely important and unique role in all our lives, yet we don’t hesitate to tie her in our expectations since the very moment she starts to breathe. She is grievously ‘Chained by Birth’.

Ein J, Grade 11

Pricks of needles.

Much like stinging nettles.

Blazing beams.

Not what you want in your dreams.

Snaps of scissors.

Much more scary than razors.

Suffocating cages.

Not something that doesn’t enrages.

Sticky chemical.

Not so comical.

No,

Not really.

 Anjuri K, Grade 11

Child labor is a very serious problem in every country. Sadly, India is the home to the largest number of child laborers in the world. In many urban areas, a growing phenomenon is using children as domestic workers. The condition in which children work is completely unregulated and unhygienic. They are often told to work without food and very low wages. It is almost like slavery. There are cases of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of child domestic workers. Children have no power to go against the adults.

The poster shows how children are trapped in a jail of non-freedom. The child in the poster is wearing a solider costume because child labor and child solider are the same problem in the world. In addition, by showing a solider costume in the poster, audience will know how children have no freedom but just to obey the master. While any other children study, play around with their friend, and receive comfort from their parents, so many children are being abused, controlled, and even get killed by the adults. The factory, piles of dishes and the building in the poster are there to show that children are trapped in a jail to work on those as they are told to do. The black circular weight at the corner of the poster is representing an adult holding on to a child so that he would not run away. In addition, it looks like the child in the poster is playing with the factories and dishes because in reality most of the children do not understand the situation they are in. Therefore the text does not say, “I need a freedom” but “Children need freedom.”  I strongly believe that child labor should be vanished from the society.

Yerang L, Grade 11

Suicide has been always a sensitive subject to talk about. I carefully considered how to express this solemn subject strongly without being so direct and serious. I looked around our daily life and focused on one game we play habitually. We call it ‘Hangman’. The image of a dead stick figure is simple, yet effective. I wanted to tell that death cannot be a solution to everyone who thinks about taking one’s own life through this one hangman game.

Pia T, Grade 11

My piece is on domestic violence. I chose this topic because it is very important to me. Women, not only in India, but all over the world are facing domestic violence. They are burned, kicked, and beaten, raped, slapped and often even killed. All these actions are performed by men for different reasons. To show their manliness, to make the women feel inferior or to show that they will always be the stronger and dominant sex. However, real men would never behave like this. Only cowards or men who are afraid of the women would do something like this to put down the women and remain in control.  I wanted to make this piece to make people aware about domestic violence. To show them how thousands of women face this every day.

Amber K, Grade 11

It is a judgmental world that we live in today, full or comments and mean remarks. It is hard to be accepted into today’s society without being mocked or called nasty names. If one is not like everyone else, if they are not so called ‘Normal’ then they do not belong. However this is untrue, just because one is a little shorter, has different beliefs or loves the same gender does not make one an outcast.  The people of today’s society must change their mindset and be open to everyone and anyone, no matter how ‘Different’ they are.

People must realize that to love someone who is of the same gender is not a crime, it is very much natural for love has no gender. In some places it is fortunately legal, however in other not so fortunate circumstances it is looked down upon. Everyone should have the right to love whomever so they choose to. Why should it be upon the government whom one wishes to spend the rest of their life with? Therefore it is important to raise awareness about ‘LGBT Rights’ because it is something that not many people are aware of. If more people are educated on this topic and realize that being a part of the LGBT category is not wrong then more people will become accepting towards these oppressed people. Love should be fair, it should be equal for all and everyone should be able to choose who they love and not be forced into it. It is high time that the people of today’s world put aside their narrow minded thinking and open up to the new and improved world.  We should be able to live in a world in which ‘LGBT Rights’ are acceptable everywhere and anywhere, a world in which love has no boundaries.

Nina KM, Grade 11

Jonathan K, Grade 11

Suicide among teens is really common nowadays. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds. It is also said that at least 25 attempts are made for every completed suicide. Nearly 60% of all suicides in the US are committed with a gun and this is because a lot of people there have easy access to firearms. There are various factors that go into teens suicidal thoughts. Some of them are a psychological disorder like depression, feelings of distress, irritability or hopelessness. It could be emotional, physical or sexual abuse. The lack of a support network and feelings of social isolation etc etc.  Thus what I wanted to portray in my artwork was the feelings that go on inside their minds. Hence I drew a guy with a gun pointed to his head, and his head being the globe. As sometimes all of us feel that the world is getting at us and all we want to do is get away from it. But it doesn’t always have to end that way. Seek and you will find, there is always someone out there who really cares for you and will help you get through whatever it is that you are going through. Peace and Love - Jono

 

Tushen N, Grade 11

My print/poster conveys the message of women rights. It shows three faces of three men on one side and a crying woman on the other side. In between them, there are several hands. This overall indicates a rape scenario, presenting that how women are still not respected in this world and misbehaved with. My aim to emotionally effect people so that they understand the scenario and try their best to protect any women they can.

Subin K, Grade 11

Mirror Mirror on the wall

who’s the fairest of them all?

I force myself to ensure

that it’s just me being insecure

That I’m the one unable to see

the blossoming splendor inside of me

But when they look or give a gaze

I slowly crumble and decay

Each word they said

felt poison fed

I was being chased

I was disgraced

Let there be knives

and risking of lives

I’ll rip my eyes

even say goodbyes

So, dear mirror mirror on the wall,

please say that I am the fairest of them all!

Navika S, Grade 11

You won’t tell a flower
That it is too oddly shaped to be beautiful
To be given to someone you love
You won’t tell the ocean
That its waves are too curvy to
Kiss the shoreline
And you won’t tell the moon
That it is too round to illuminate
Even the darkest of nights
So why would you tell someone
That they are too big
To be beautiful? 

-          n.d.

Jesal P, Grade 11

 Fayza I, Grade 12

The idea of having religious tolerance is something that I have wished for a long time alongside the idea of tolerance amongst the different countries: Pakistan and India. The recent events of the Line of Control (LOC) causing the death of two Indian soldiers shows the intolerance of the different religions. This art piece shows the 'Allah' from Islam, and the Om from Hinduism. The intertwining of the two is to show that there are some differences in the two religions, but we can work it out if we try to stop the unnecessary killing of soldiers and innocent people over the matter of religion and territorial areas.

 Nivedita D, Grade 11

Women all over the world are oppressed in one way or another, be it within the house, or outside. It has always been a challenge for them to keep up with the men in this society. I came up with this idea because I want women to rise and throw away the veil of society. Women all over the world need to help nurture one another and take a stand for themselves. They have to know, they're not alone.

Digital Media: Surrealist Self-Portrait (Composite Photography)

To wrap up our study of photography and Photoshop, the Digital Media class created surrealist self-potrtaits using composite photography.

Donghyun L, Grade 10

In the picture, there are two of myself looking at each other. The Left one is looking at the inner side of me, which is the right one. Therefore, the right one represents the feelings and emotions that I have. There are no emotions shown for both of my faces. However, the eye of right one is closed. This represents that I enjoy sleeping, which is relaxing and refreshing. The left of eye is half closed to show the lack of sleep I get, which 8 hours does not seem to be enough. Looking at the shadow at the left, it is sharp and pointy. It shows the people the negative feelings, mostly ignorance and anger. The background is melting which shows how easily my mood can be change. From left to right, the background gets darker. This shows the everyday feeling, which is not too bad, nor too happy.

Hee Seo S, Grade 12

This photo-shop of mine expresses the mundaneness of the world, where one can dream only through the books. The grass and the wood that looks pretty conveys Woodstock school, as it looks beautiful, but when one has to live in the world as such one will get sick of the emptiness of the world. However one can still live in a fantasy- like world through the books. The reason the books are shaped like the tent is from the movie Harry Potter, as the tent that looks simple is rather marvelous inside; such are the books. I think chose the book as the turning point because books only composed of ink and paper allow people to think, dream and even change one’s life.

Liam C, Grade 10

My self portrait reflects on me because I like the ocean and I have lived near the water all of my life and I also sail a lot and like to surf sometimes. When it shows my body dissolving in the water it show that sometimes I can be lazy and not stand up for what is right. In the portrait my head is intact and not dissolved in the water because no matter how lazy or weak I feel I still can think and know what is a good thing to do in any situation.

Neil M, Grade 12

The original picture is from long ago, probably when I was five or six. It is one of the good childhood pictures as it is a close-up between my dad and I. Looking at the picture now; It’s really hard to recognize my dad or I. This is mainly because I have grown up and he is grown older. But, when I look at the picture, it gives me a strong sense of nostalgia. Therefore, to make it surreal, I made a few changes to the picture. I changed the background and made me look like a mythological warrior. Also, I changed the faces to make it look more supernatural and surreal. In all, this picture shows a childhood full of fantasies.

Param S, Grade 11

On the whole this artwork reflects my state of mind after a long exhausting day. After an exhausting game of football, I find it easy to lose myself in a state of calmness, and reflect on my day. The boundlessness of the ocean and the sky represent a limitless state of mind capable of anything. The oceans waves take the days heat away and leave you calm and cool. This artwork represents two sides of me, one being a rough energetic side and the other being calm and peaceful.

Priyanka D, Grade 12

Like every other teenager, I’ve been in love, and I’ve had my world eclipsed by that dangerous, seductive emotion. The background of the self-portrait illustrates a classic theme: falling with no safety nets through the sky and into dazzling display of fireworks; in other words, falling in love. The big city can be a fast-paced, overwhelming environment, and that’s my kind of place.

Somehow, I had to have words in anything that was meant to be a reflection of me. I tend to express myself through my writing, and the prose isn’t exactly a ‘Dear Diary’page, but it’s close enough. The tinier details in the picture are also significant. The little heart tattoo on my back is a favourite doodle of mine, and one that can be found in almost every one of my textbooks. The watch on my wrist (which is unfortunately getting burned) is very special to me, as it belonged to my grandfather.

Getting burned by love is hardly a novel theme, and overall, the self-portrait is meant to be a piece of notepad paper or a letter that was set on fire.

Saksham J, Grade 10

This artwork reveals me through numerous ways. The first thing that is in my artwork that defines me would be the shadow. Now you must be thinking how a shadow would describe me. Everyone has told me, my parents, my friends and my tuition teacher that I am capable to do anything but I need guidance. So the shadow in the picture is like someone who is guiding me all throughout. The Christmas tree that is coming out of my half body defines that I am mostly a confused person. I am always only half sure about anything, thus this shows my half confusion in life. This picture thus

defines me as a person.

Ezra L, Grade 12

Ever since I was in kindergarten, the idea and the concept of supernatural powers fascinated me. Being brought up in a Christian family, I was well exposed to the possibilities of things known as “miracles,” but more than the religious concept of supernatural elements, it was the supernatural powers in animations like “Dragon ball” that fascinated me more. The ideas of humans flying or moving object with psychological powers or teleporting made me pray every night that I too, would one day, be blessed with such powers. As I grew older, however, I realized that these were just imaginations and none of them were ever going to be real. Regardless of that, the media kept producing works such as Jumper or Chronicle to remind me of my childhood fascinations. Through this work, with the help of photo shop, I attempted to reflect and portray a dream I once possessed as a kid; a dream that I realize is impossible, and yet a dream I still drool about.

Varun K, Grade 12

My surrealistic self-portrait reflects me in many ways, but it mainly summarizes my religious beliefs. I am an agnostic and agnosticism is the view that the existence or non-existence of any deity is unknown and possibly unknowable with certainty. The steps in the photo symbolize the stairway to heaven. The bottom and the top step contrast between atheist and theist beliefs. In this picture I sit in the middle and ponder both these possibilities with an optimistic attitude. I think this photo summarizes my religious views quite well as I always tend to take the middle path, I am never at any extreme, I am neither a god hating, nor a god loving person. I simply ponder both possibilities.