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- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Faberge eggs submitted by students of the Immaculate Conception Preparatory School, and a dainty Japanese lady created by Andie McNaughton.
Georgia Hemmings, Staff Reporter
THE YEAR 2003 was the year of collage in the annual Art in Preparatory Schools exhibition organised by the Institute of Jamaica.
This artistic technique (involving the pasting of printed matter and other materials on to a picture surface) was imaginatively explored by youngsters ages four to 11 years in preparatory schools islandwide. The resulting compositions are currently on display in the IOJ's exhibition hall on East Street in downtown Kingston.
Collages of varying forms, colours, and combinations dominate the exhibition, including some made from paper, fabric, corn grains, eggshells, sponges, pencil shavings, banana bark, shells, pasta, even poetry and graphics.
In fact, it was this creativity which helped Kingston-based Mona Preparatory School to emerge as overall winner among the 13 participating schools. The school was awarded the K. Wilson James Shield for "excellent use of colour, and versatile use of paper and cloth" at the awards ceremony held recently.
The two media were creatively combined to create colourful collages submitted under a floral theme, which provided a "contrast of colour and texture (a journey of aesthetics)", according to the judges.
Worthy of mention are the eye-catching bouquet created by grade five students, Jheanell Lumsden, Brianne St. Juste, Ashleigh Elliot and Tony Moggs, and the pastel "Family" collage by seven-year-old Janique Sparkes. The collage on the family of birds came in for special mention as an "ingenious and conversational piece that allowed for a fuller understanding of the family as it relates not only to humans, but also animals" said the judges' report.
Immaculate Conception Preparatory School was awarded the Y de Lima Cup for presentation, finish, and composition.
According to the judges: "[Their] presentation is of a high standard and should be emulated by other schools. The art works shows a strong sense of composition and colour and the monochromatic compositions are exciting and intriguing and offer hope and promise for the future of Jamaican art."
The delightful exhibits include abstract paintings, three Faberge eggs, a totem pole, a paper quilted butterfly, a Chinese screen with abstract art, paper sculptures, and paper jewellery. There were several outstanding group works, as well as individual efforts.
St. Hugh's Preparatory School was awarded the Institute of Jamaica Cup for "variety of material and being the only school with ceramic".
The sole ceramic piece was produced by 10-year-old Andie McNaughton, who imaginatively used a small yoghurt bottle to create a delicate Japanese lady. This caught the eyes of the judges and earned him kudos, along with the necklace he made combining stone, shell, and electric wire.
A small clay leaf pot was created by six-year-old Chanelle Farquharson, and 10-year-old Joanna Sadler also presented a neatly created paper and bead necklace. From the other students came drawings, etchings, three-dimensional (3-D) collages, and a "Birds of a Feather" mobile.
The collages created by Lannaman's Preparatory School were highly praised, receiving high marks for design and composition.
Youngsters Ann Nelson and S. Mignott joined to produce a corn collage, while 10-year-old Justine Russell created a paper peacock. A farming collage was the collective work of Jolicia Chin, Roesha Gaye Gordon, Kimberley McKenzie, Tiffiany Raymond and Kyle Virgo. Other students presented tie-and-dye creations, etchings, paper quilting, pointillism, and matchstick craft items.
HIGH PRAISE
St. Cyprian's Preparatory School came in for high praise with the banana bark collages and etchings presented. This earned them a certificate of merit as, in the words of the judges, "their exploration and use of texture gave life and depth to what could just have been ordinary imaginative compositions."
Another certificate of merit was awarded to St. Andrew Preparatory School for excellent craftwork. The school presented T-shirts, embroidery work, collages and posters.
Queen's Preparatory was specially praised for the art and poetry combined in the collage titled "Kids Say the Darnest Things". It was deemed as "innovative and humorous and reminds us that this is what children art is all about" by the judges.
The school also presented some delightful shell and pasta creations, and desk and chair as functional sculpture (decorated in painted and unpainted pasta of all shapes) by a group of Grade five children. Aztec medicine bags and masks, abstract sculptural creations, drawings, paintings and graphics completed the school's artistic offerings.
BEST PAINTING
The judges also decided that the best painting in the exhibition was a landscape executed by Vaughn Vassell of Sts. Peter and Paul Preparatory School, focusing on the environment. His application of colour was judged to be "fresh and clean", and the composition "uncluttered and expressionist in style."
Certificates of participation were presented to all schools, including Ardenne Preparatory, Hillel Academy Preparatory, Avondale Preparatory, Alvernia Preparatory, and Mt. St. Joseph's Preparatory (with one entry).
This year, the competition was judged by a panel comprising Lorraine Thompson-Stewart, art tutor at Mico Teacher's College; Keith Curwin, managing director of Cherry Types; Norma Harrack, board member of the National Gallery of Jamaica; and Damian Guy, assistant art co-ordinator at Multicare Foundation.
AESTHETICALLY PLEASING
In their report, the judges commended the "aesthetically pleasing works of art" presented by the students.
They were critical, however, of the use of food as material in visual arts on the basis that "it is not durable, and a thing of beauty is forever. Moreover, it attract rats and termites."
The judges encouraged teachers to use indigenous materials that are recyclable and properly explored. "The possibilities of paper are endless," they stated.
Other art forms in the show include fabric art, papier mache, jewellery craft, painting, drawings, pointillism, etching, paper quilting, sculpture, ceramics, murals, and poster/graphics.
The students' works will continue to hang in the institute's exhibition room up to March 30, and can be viewed from 9 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and, on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
