Recently, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Visual Arts program for Adams was held which showcased the beautiful art of many talented seniors. The grand exhibition included second and first-years of the program. Because I am a first-year student, my board did not have as much artwork as I would’ve liked but I am still happy with the ones that did make it. Setting up my board took place during my excused 6th and 7th periods, and mainly consisted of figuring out the order placement.
The theme of my whole exhibit was centered around childhood nostalgia and growing out of that simpler period. The planning of this theme began near the start of the year when we were about to begin our third project, which was a personal still-life. Originally, I knew I wanted my theme to be deep like exploring mental health but after the still life project, the final artwork was very childhood-centered so I decided to mix the two ideas of childhood and mental health together.
My favorite pieces out of my exhibit were my printmaking series (Recollection), even though the process behind printing them was extremely grueling and boring–many class periods of putting ink on the linoleum and then on paper over and over again. I’m proud of how I incorporated the shapes to make it feel more whimsical and dreamy, and how I used the positive and negative space. The planning for Recollection and for all of my projects started with multiple sketches which consisted of set of sketches for what the actual design would be and another for what the shin-colle/creative prints would look like. Testing out the mediums were also part of the art process, so I did so using watercolor on previously failed attempts.
The standard level IB requirements for the exhibit portion of our testing required a minimum of 4 resolved artworks and a maximum of 7. I had way more than 7 pieces I wanted to include but I got around that by making two of them a series (my printmaking series and photographic series). Exhibit tags were also mandatory along with a curatorial rationale explaining the meaning and layout. The most fun I had with the tags and such were creating the titles because it made my art seem official as if I were submitting them to a museum. I also just liked seeing how accurately I could make them fit with the meaning.
My overall personal opinion about my exhibit is sort of lukewarm, I feel my art was not bad but also not amazing like I was hoping for, though that could be my inner critic talking. My favorites out of the bunch were my Good Things Don’t Last piece and Recollection series. My least favorite was my still-life piece, Remnants of My Childhood. Everything about it is fine except for how deformed I think I made the Littlest Pet Shop toys look. Some of them are also bigger than others when it shouldn’t really make sense due to perspective. Stronger values are needed in most areas and the lines in the back look wonky. There’s just a lot of things I could pick apart from it, hence why it’s my least favorite. I am still proud of how I executed the feeling of my childhood despite all of the errors made.
The experience I had with my exhibition and IB Visual Art in general was mostly positive. I enjoyed experimenting and using media I otherwise would not have access to. I really enjoyed being able to use the treasure trove of material in my art teacher’s backroom, and due to that I tried to switch things up with every new project. I also enjoyed being around other artistic people and seeing their work in the critiques, even if it was challenging on what comments I should make. Procrastination was the main antagonist of the year and the cause of basically all of the stress I had in the class. It made me realize I truly need to work on time management. Besides that, I believe I’ve definitely developed my art style and improved on analyzing/critiquing other artworks, as well as how to write about them including art language such as the elements of art and principles of design. My main regret is not taking it for two years. If I did, then I’d have more art to display at my exhibit and more time to create rather than working on a time crunch. For anyone thinking about taking the IB Visual Arts course, I would definitely recommend it regardless if it’s for a single year or two!
