We are very proud of all the work that our Year 13 students have produced and showcased in their end of year Art and Design Exhibition. With work from A Levels in Fine Art, Photography, Resistant Materials, Graphics and Art, Craft and Design, we are sure you will agree that the quality is outstanding. Scroll down to meet some of the students, see a selection of their pieces and learn more about their work and inspiration.
Kezia Ansell – Art, Craft and Design
The Definition of Beauty and the Society It’s Created
My overarching theme is ‘The Definition of Beauty and the Society It’s Created’, analysing how they are both expressed and captured by varying groups. Within this I looked at both internal and external definitions of beauty standards, guided by my passion for subcultures and their intertwined ideology and fashion.
This was captured in various ways, all centred around portraiture: featuring photography, mixed media collage, linoprint and painting. In September I am going to be pursuing Journalism at the University of Lincoln.
Millie Crosser – Fine Art
Layers and Connections
During my personal investigation, I explored layers and connections through the use of shapes and colours. I began by experimenting with abstract portraiture, through layering paint and newspaper, this led me to discover my passion for colour and its meaning. As a result I wanted to create a piece, using a close friend, and by applying the techniques mentioned, I created a truly personal outcome. During my final pathway, I began to develop ideas using pattern making, and how these can be created using different materials. Through my artist research of Carley Bourne, I discovered I wanted to use nature as a catalyst to create my own patterns. It was at this point, the art staff were also exploring with a new technique – gelli printing – this is when I was inspired to also use it. Gelli printing allowed me to use leaves to create intricate patterns from the veins. My final outcomes are further layered over painted city lights, creating the impression of rural nature taking over urban landscapes. This concept is accentuated by my choice to use 100x150cm canvas. It was through my extensive exploration of colour and pattern making that I discovered my next destination – a University Degree in Textile Design. I am delighted that I received an unconditional offer for Norwich University of the Arts and am looking forward to September 2024.
Millie Crosser – Photography
Our World
Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to travel and explore various places around the world. I believe it is important to photograph the world and share it with others. A trip to Iceland game me ample opportunity to capture a land so different from our norm, and I have showcased these on a large scale on glossy paper. When I visited Rome, I was amazed by the size and detail of the ancient architecture, which is something that I wished to expose. Printing these to fill wall space accentuates the city’s size and emphasises its detail. Leading on from this inspired to create a more impactful illusion of our world. I used images from my personal life to have financial independence to travel is hugely important. To create more impact, I began to experiment with removing my photographs from a wall scenario and experimenting with presentation shape; this led me to investigate 3 dimensional work. The outcomes i have are titled ‘My World’.
Jess Day – Fine Art
Erosion
Throughout my coursework I decided to use the topic of ‘Erosion’. I like to produce art that has a theme or relevance to a current topic within my world, and during this time I was most interested in environmental and personal aspects. For example, my first pathway I chose to explore the erosion of the coast as so many people are losing their homes and lives to the strong forces of nature. My second pathway and very topical – the erosion of mental health – specifically focusing on men, as society tends to turn a blind eye on this really important issue. Men are told not to talk about their feelings as it is not ‘masculine enough’, they are told they cannot cry as it’s ‘weak’ when this, obviously, is not the case. I wanted to create work that broke this sort of stereotypical barrier that the public had created.
For my final pathway I decided to base it around erosion of the mind. I was able to use a family friend as my muse, as she has sadly been diagnosed with Dementia, a disease that erodes the mind. This is another topic that is relevant to this day that I believe is not talked about enough, as I now understand many people are losing loved ones due to this disease.
Jess Day – Fine Art
Regeneration
My exam was based on Regeneration of plants and flowers after a forest fire. I was inspired to create this piece by the amount of wildfires in other countries that are destroying nature and the habitats amongst it. I wanted the green landscape to regenerate, overpowering the environment, just like nature intends after a fire. I wanted to make the viewer feel that they could make a change to their own habits, when they look at my pieces. I love to use natural materials or things that I have found as I believe it adds an extra dimension, I feel it brings a connection between the art and the viewer, hence why I decided to include physical parts of nature in my final exam piece. I have felt I was able to really express myself during my A-Level Fine Art course, and this will help me in my future endeavours.
Kayleigh Donnor – Fine Art
Messages
The overall theme of my personal investigation is messages, through the themes of environment and society. I wanted to investigate how these types of messages are shown within the world, so we as a community can help the world recover from its disasters and help those who are unaware that their actions disrespect the earth. My work is made up of multiple layers, to demonstrate to my audience that it’s piling up on each other and it is getting harder to declutter.
My pieces signify the possible outcome of the world if no one is willing to help get rid of pollution and help overcome climate change. This project has been a journey of discovery because at first, I didn’t realise that pollution is increasing, caused by human activities. Overall, I want to help the world to evolve into a better place, and help endangered animals. My work centres around the polar region and those animals who are affected.
Kayleigh Donnor – Photography
Cluster
For my exam I investigated Cluster. Later in my investigation, I came across the idea of a cluster of emotions that a young individual might experience. The topic was broad, but with research I found an inspirational photographer called Juno, who works with fruit, and I was really interested in its colour combinations. Through development, I began to explore creating a cluster of fruit, which might resemble a teenager’s mind. Teenagers are the ones that are experiencing the most emotions as they are still growing and learning to live with those emotions.
I wanted to include the natural colours and texture of the fruit, to give a message that it’s natural to feel overwhelmed by emotions. Colour was also used as a way to draw an audience to my work. I am looking forward to exploring more of the world in my gap year. The experience of being at college has prepared me well and I am eager to discover more.
Jasmine Flynn – Fine Art
The Circle of Life
During my personal investigation, I explored the theme ‘The Circle of Life’. I wanted to explore the different ages through portraiture, I did this through my family and friends. I began by studying my friends through the use of formal elements, and I initially aimed to represent mental health in teenagers. I experimented with a variety of materials, including clay, fabric and acrylic paint. I enjoyed the concept of darker tones to represent teenagers’ mental health, so I used these within my piece. For my final stage, I moved on to explore my grandad through portraiture. My grandad and I have always been close, but as I have grown up our bond has grown stronger. When creating portraits of my grandad, I aimed to show his warm and kind personality; I did this through the use of soft and warm tones. Furthermore, I used fabric from old shirts to create the seams within my grandad’s shirt, I also used clay and acrylic to add greater texture and detail to my piece. This has allowed my piece to come to life, and the audience to feel his gentle and kind personality. Throughout my coursework, I experimented with a variety of materials and when doing so my confidence grew. This allowed me to become more innovative, and produce pieces of a larger scale.
Freya Mottley – Photography
My ode to Nature
My photography is an expression of reverence for the environment, a love letter to the Earth’s beauty and fragility. Through my work, I aim to ignite a sense of urgency and responsibility towards combating climate change. By portraying the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, I strive to inspire action and advocate for sustainable practices. Each click of my camera serves as a reminder that we are stewards of this planet, with the power to preserve or destroy it. Let my work be a catalyst for change, a call to protect and cherish our beautiful home. I chose to incorporate a myriad of textures into all my pieces to allow an entirely tactile, immersive experience for my viewers. Through my work you are taken on a journey through my erosive wooden sculpture from component one which accentuates the beauty of ambiguity. To component three, where I experiment heavily with anthropogenic materials and how I can display my scrap yard shots effectively to create a double meaning as the images were taken in the same place I foraged for my barrel.
Then to my final series of display my “shadow” work where I focused on the fragility of nature and how its beauty is at grave threat and how preservation is essential. So as you stand before my hanging display you feel engulfed by the sense of fear that nature’s true beauty could so easily disappear. Next year I will be studying Environmental Science at University. I wanted to understand its intricacies and contribute to its protection in a meaningful way. By immersing myself in environmental science, I gain the knowledge and skills needed to tackle urgent issues like climate change and pollution. It is my way of aligning my passion for the Earth with my photography which will enhance the messages behind my work.
Maddi Proctor – Art, Craft and Design
Self Reflection
The collection of work I have chosen to display was created to evoke the conversation of being self critical. I demonstrate my skills in makeup which I gained from my hobbies in cosplay and attendance to fan events such as Comic Con, as well as from past experiences such as being the makeup artist for school theatre productions. I chose this medium to highlight punk culture and suggest themes of the ‘riot grrrl’ movement.
‘riot grrrl’ was an underground feminist movement in the 1980s which encouraged young women to express themselves in non-conventional ways. I wish for people to use my mirrored piece as an opportunity to reflect on themselves both physically and mentally through my painting. My piece poses the idea that women are often their harshest critics and use heavy makeup to cover insecurities that only they can see.
Maddi Proctor – Art, Craft and Design
Synesthetic Score
The work I have displayed shows visuals mimicking the condition of synesthesia. I enjoyed using my skills in photography to shed light on how music manifests visually to certain people. I was inspired by the song ‘Gold’ by James Marriott, which through the sound of different instruments and the use of temp and melody, features an overall upbeat atmosphere with a lingering dark undertone of which is reflected in the colours used in my piece. The intention of my piece was to explore the relationship between music and visuals in the realm of art and how the different senses can be presented through physical art. My topic of music and overall theme of ‘Entertainment’ also reflects the fact that I am pursuing a career in the film and media industry, and am going on to study Media Studies further at University.
Jessie Reeves – Fine Art
Transformation, Expressionism and Abstract Art
In this project I explored the theme ‘Transformation’, specifically how we can be shaped by experiences. Personally, this was the passing of my nan. This triptych symbolises positivity, I wanted to express the daffodil as a significant reminder of her in my everyday life. Her happiness and identity are encapsulated by her favourite flow, the daffodil. This why, the daffodil is the central flower in my series, with the others looking onto her, she is the main piece. I captured the form of a daffodil in a different point of view to how it’s usually perceived, to represent the subjectivity even the most natural of forms can have. Through exploring transformation, I also looked at material transformation, researching new ways to change materials and make my own.
In this triptych, most of the materials are handmade, and edited by me. The more colourful pieces underneath come from my personal investigation of ‘Expressionism’. I have expressed the emotion of awe. An overwhelming yet positive and personal feeling that you are just a tiny fragment of a magnitude of other living, breathing things, a part of nature’s beauty. In this specific pathway, I explored how people express their emotions and identities in subjective and unique ways. Personally, this pathway was very relatable to me, as I have previously used art as an outlet to express my own emotion, to visualise it in a way that other people can understand and interpret. So, with these pieces I wanted to express the shared yet personal experience of feeling awe for the natural world. With the chaos of the colours in these pieces, you will notice small figures dancing across the canvas, being intertwined in the shared emotion. The abstract piece in the middle of my board, came from an ‘Abstract’ project completed in year 12. This piece is an abstract representative of my mother who has an open, playful and loving temperament. With the warm colours and free movements in this piece, it reflects who she is as a person and as a mum to me.
Silas Town – Graphic Design
The dichotomy of life
The last 2 years can be summarised in a single work, “colour”. While my topics explore the bleak reality of human nature; ranging from geographic issues of trawling, food security and wildfires, I sought to juxtapose these ever present issues with the escapism of design. The idea of “black and white” is so often associated with the reality of life and yet this dichotomy fails to recognise the nuance of the world around it. Despair holds hands with hope, just as wildfires breathe life into the very forests they eat away at. True reality lies in the murky waters between these two opposing ideals seeking nought, but is steeped in confusion and misgiving. For me, colour is what cuts through these greys, acting as a beacon for change and my perception of ‘truth’. An idea I sought to reflect within each of my piece no matter the medium.
Silas Town – Graphic Design
Modern slavery & packaging
When I reflect on the work I have created over the last 2 years; be that in literature, geography or graphic design, the environment around me has played a vital role in creating who I am. While graphics has acted as a vital outlet for my creativity, it is undeniable that the physical world is both my muse and passion. Going forward into this project with the knowledge that I’ll be studying Geography at higher education, I felt impassioned to push my creativity to its extremes, as I explored my chosen topic of “packaging and modern slavery”.
Ethan Walpole – Art, Craft & Design
Lament
For Component 1 I created my own interpretation of a horror game. Taking influence from classic media such as modern and old game titles such as ‘scorn’, ‘resident evil’ and ‘Bioshock’ I created Lament. I created this game inspired by two popularly known artists of the horror genre, Zdzidslaw Besksinski and H.R. Giger. Both artists have had revolutionary influence over the genre with their focus on provoking a fearful response. Through the representation of their own interests and backgrounds, centred around war time, I wanted to capture the essence of what actual fear looks like, by researching and assembling my own creations in the form of a game title and the creation of several digital representations using my own primary source photographs and imagery from the real world.
Ethan Walpole – Art, Craft & Design
The man behind the window
For Component 1, pathway 1, I created an art piece inspired by my compassion surrounding the theme of horror. I used carefully conscripted research around the theme to determine what makes something visually horrifying. One of the questions I asked myself throughout making this piece and as part of my research was which statement would be more terrifying to hear, ‘We are alone’ or ‘We are not alone’. These through provoking questions led to one of my main concepts / ideas of vulnerability & how being scared is only possible when one feels vulnerable. Alongside this I promoted the theme of ‘The unknown’ & how many fears stem from unknown circumstances. In this case, I carefully combined several elements that everyone could relate to in some way or another, an unknown or sinister factor, an uncomfortable factor with direct eye contact in the piece, and an essence of gore that expresses the true intentions of the man behind the window.
Norfolk Art & Design Competition 2024
Freya Mottley’s work was shortlisted in this year’s competition.
Norfolk Art & Design Competition 2024
Jess Day’s work was shortlisted in this year’s competition.
Norfolk Art & Design Competition 2024
Silas Town’s work was shortlisted in this year’s competition.
Norfolk Art & Design Competition 2024
Wilbur Matthews’ work was shortlisted in this year’s competition.