Redhill High School’s art students, Claire Donnelly and Grace Alter, recently took home merit award and a bronze award respectively, in the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness contest.
Claire entered a mixed media artwork, engraved glass panes, set on a ‘polluted ocean’ and illuminated by LEDs, that shows a turtle swimming through pollution. She was awarded a Distinguished Honourable Mention and won a $250 cash prize (R2 989).
“I focused on how turtles are being choked by pollution. I created these glass engravings as a timeline, showing how turtles swim through pollution. I really wanted to create an awareness on the issue of pollution,” said Claire. She spent a school term researching turtles and ocean pollution, carefully creating the engravings with a Dremel tool.
Grace, meanwhile, spent weeks conceptualising her project – an animation that shows how clothing fibres affect ocean life. Her animation won her a bronze award and a $500 (R5 979) prize. “I wanted to show the way our clothing microfibres pollute the ocean and affect ocean life. In my animation, fish swim over the fabric of a dress. My work is a form of visual activism, prompting people to think about the issue,” said Grace.
“The theme of the competition, Ocean Pollution, encouraged our students to investigate important environmental issues. Not only did they research the impact of pollution in our oceans but they consider water as a precious and limited resource,” said Marisa Maré, head of Visual Arts at Redhill School.
“I am excited that our students’ artworks are not only appreciated by our local community but also acknowledged at an international level as an important and effectively communicated message. I feel it’s important to provide opportunities for our students to find creative solutions for the issues we face in our world today. Art is powerful visual activism – the artist’s individual voice together with visual imagery combine to form compelling commentary”.
This competition forms part of the greater Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programme – an interdisciplinary contest created to educate young people about the importance of conserving our oceans, through the arts. This year, 3 000 young artists, poets, writers and filmmakers from across the globe sent through powerful entries, hoping to be awarded a prize. Each entry involves lots of research around ocean conservation and the impact that human living has on our oceans.
Share your thoughts on the competition on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page
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