“The Changing Face of Britain” was the theme for the Autumn 2013 Enrichment Week. The art staff were immediately drawn to the work of YBA (Young British Artist) Damien Hirst as he is continually evolving and his contribution to contemporary British art has been substantial. Before long, a sequence of activities had been conjured in attempt to broaden the girls knowledge of British art and introduce them to new techniques whilst allowing for discussion regarding Hirst’s controversial artwork along the way!
Over the course of the week, groups of Junior girls were invited into the studios, which had been transformed into a homage to Hirst. Led by Miss Parkinson, the Artist in Residence, the girls became better acquainted with Hirst’s practice and set about undertaking three tasks.
The painting studio became ‘The Butterfly Room’ wherein girls coloured butterflies from life examples to contribute to a large collaborative piece based on Hirst’s butterfly stained glass windows. Next, stenciling and colour mixing techniques were implemented as girls contributed to another collaborative piece inspired by the iconic ‘Spot Paintings’. Lastly, the rule book was well and truly thrown out the window as the pottery wheels were converted to spinning machines, enabling the girls to make a ‘spin painting’ – dripping and splashing paint onto the rotating board. This was undoubtedly their favourite activity as the process was both unpredictable and messy – much to the jealousy of the Senior art students! The results are, however, stunning and will be making an re-appearance later in the term… watch this space!
Congratulations go to all the girls who received awards for their artwork, they put in a considerable amount of hard work and many implemented complex ideas in such a short space of time.
The Art School