The College’s annual Art Exhibition was an opportunity for Year 13 Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Photography and Textiles students to show off their considerable talents.
The artwork on display is the culmination of two years’ hard work by students who continue to push the boundaries of traditional and experimental techniques to produce some amazing artwork. Relatives and parents were invited to the exhibition to view the artwork on display and were also treated on arrival to classical music performances by the College’s Music students.
Scarlett Stanbra, formerly of Cheadle Hulme School and studying A Levels in Graphic Communication, Fine Art and Computer Science, made the decision to study at the College based on seeing the art department at an Open Day and the quality of students’ work on display, and said: “Art is so important to me and when I saw the art department and so much cool work on display, I knew I wanted my artwork to look like that and it was a no-brainer to come to Xaverian!
“We were given the topic ‘spaces’ and a summer sketchbook which we used to decide which direction to take our project. I’d visited Barcelona recently and was impressed by the street art there, that also reminded me of Manchester’s street art, and these cities inspired me to take the project down the route of urban spaces and the ‘grungy’ aspects of buildings. I was also inspired by Daniel Ibbotson who uses mixed media and discarded and recycled materials to produce his artwork. My final piece was the culmination of two years’ research and hard work and I’m proud of the way I combined all these elements in the way I did and how it all came together so well.
“I’m going on to the Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at Manchester Metropolitan University after Xaverian and I’m going to use the year to decide which direction I will take in the future. I’m drawn towards ceramics and possibly animation, and I feel becoming a commercial ceramicist may be the direction I will ultimately take, but I’d like to explore my interests further before I make a decision.”
Former The East Manchester Academy pupil, Tamzin Boyne who is studying A Levels in Media, Fine Art and Photography has set her sights on a Degree in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture following Xaverian, and on choosing to study at Xaverian she said: “I hadn’t heard about the College before coming but was told about it by my school so I came to Open Days and was impressed by the openness of the Campus which felt like a smaller version of a university campus. The people were really nice and there was a diverse mix of students which I felt would really suit me.
“I’m naturally a creative person and love exploring new concepts and ideas, so Photography and Fine Art have really stood out for me. For my Photography exhibition display, we were given the brief of ‘spaces’ and I decided to explore this through architecture, using blueprints, graph paper and lines and then I added different shapes and cut out different sections to make the final images more abstract.
“I’d already done some photography in high school but at Xaverian we were able to take it a step further by using film cameras and developing and printing our own images in the College’s darkroom, so I feel like I now have a wide understanding of all elements of photography and this has helped me in producing my final pieces, which I’m really proud of!”
Gurleen Multani was a pupil at Chortlon High School South and studied A Levels in Business, Graphic Communication and Media Studies, said: “I chose Xaverian because of the big Campus, and I thought I would meet a lot of new people, which has turned out to be more than true and I have really extended my social circle and made friends from all around the College.”
Graphic Communication students were given a brief of ‘Graphics for Good’ for one of their final pieces, and Gurleen commented: “I wanted to create something for the benefit of the community and chose to do something based on my culture. I’m Indian and our culture includes a lot of bold colours and patterns, so I thought it would be fun exploring these using different graphics techniques. My artwork is based on promoting a make-up foundation brand in a range of colours so I researched different companies’ approaches to branding and discovered they used more plain colours so I took the approach to promote and normalise darker and bolder colours in the products. I love my final designs and the impact of using bold colours has made on the final pieces.
“After Xaverian, I’ll be going to the University of Manchester and I have been awarded a scholarship to study Management with Marketing as a subsidiary. I wanted to pursue something related to business and the marketing element of the programme will allow me to continue expressing my creative self! I would like to eventually become a chief executive officer in a marketing company or work in graphic design as a freelancer or working for an advertising company.”
Oliver Hamilton, former pupil at Chorlton High School and studying A Levels in English Literature, Psychology and Textiles at Xaverian was also impressed by the Xaverian art department, and the Textiles department in particular, saying: “I think it’s a really good college for art and design and especially for experimenting and trying new things.”
Oliver’s first component piece was inspired by decaying walls and looking at the different ways walls decay such as growing moss and cracking cement and bricks. Oliver commented: “My second component was ‘narrative textiles’ and I based my piece on the life cycle of a moth, and it represents a moth coming out of a cocoon and going through the different stages of metamorphosis. I’m really happy with the garment I produced and enjoyed experimenting with dying and using different materials and techniques.
“I’m going to go to Manchester Metropolitan University to do the Foundation Diploma in Art & Design so I can try textiles and other art disciplines to help me decide whether to go university and which route to go down. I’ve enjoyed textiles so much that it’s likely I’ll go down a textiles or fashion route as a designer or illustrator.”
Dani Morrison, Curriculum Leader for Art & Design, has overseen students’ progression over the past two years and commented: “It’s amazing to see how far our students have travelled in developing their skills since they started with us in Year 12 to producing their final exhibition pieces. I am constantly amazed by the creativity and imagination they bring to their work and every student should be proud of what they have achieved. Our Year 13s are now planning their exciting next steps, and I look forward to hearing about their future ventures and successful careers.”
Visitors to the exhibition were encouraged to leave their feedback, photos of their favourite work and messages of good luck for our students.
The creative industries are set to soar across advanced and developing economies worldwide during the next decade, which will provide numerous exciting career opportunities and studying a creative subject at Xaverian can help students land that dream job.
As one of the largest providers of post-16 education in the region, Xaverian College offers exciting opportunities to over 3000 students. To find out more, visit xaverian.ac.uk – Learning Without Limits!