Best of Edmonton Public Schools 2017
This is the transcript from the Facebook Live presentation of the top three artworks for the Best of Edmonton Public Schools on July 14, 2017.
“Hello ! My name is Lucy Pauker and I am the current Curatorial Assistant at The Works Festival of Art & Design. I am a current student at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax studying intermedia. My practice covers a range of work and recently I have been concentrating on writing and curation.
Today I will be recognizing three students for Innovation, Vision, and Design on behalf of the Works.
We are currently standing in the Edmonton Public Schools Best of Grade 12 Annual Portfolio Award Exhibit in the Vignettes Building. This exhibit features more than 30 students from 7 Edmonton High Schools: Harry Ainlay, Eastglen, M. E. LaZerte, W. P. Wagner, Lillian Osborne, Victoria School of Visual and performing Arts, and Jasper Place. This, I am sure, is just a taste of the amazing work that Edmonton’s up and coming artists have to offer.
The Design Award is given to a student whose work stands out for its visual clarity and commitment to presentation. The award is given to a student who has a refined approach to manipulation of visual space, a considered colour palette and a well thought out composition.
The Design Award this year will be awarded to Tomas Spasiuk from W. P. Wagner for their ceramic piece “Untitled”. This work immediately drew my attention from its functionality and detail orientation. The clean straight lines formed with a glaze resist add visual interest to the piece, as well as act as a guide to the eye, moving your gaze around the work. Tomas’s other ceramic work considers themes of censorship and in the near future they plan to attend the U of A for Design. Good luck and congratulations Tomas!
The award for innovation is given to a student who freely experiments with considered intent. This award recognizes the unique visual language employed by the artist and the skill in which that language is spoken.
The award for Innovation will be awarded to Holly Newton for their piece Cloaked Melancholy. Cloaked Melancholy plays with masking and unmasking, Holly’s artist statement plays with language to suggest a dual meaning behind the skull mask the figure in the piece depicts, purposely confusing the conceptual with the visual.
The Vision award recognizes an artist who developed a piece that is considered, and thoughtfully rendered. Conceptually, this piece demonstrates thoughtful exploration of an idea, carried through to an impressive execution.
The vision award will be given to Zaria Ulett for their work entitled “Self-portrait”. Zaria’s work is rich in poetic subtlety. Their face is softly rendered, filling the entire page with their image and body. This work plays with the boundaries of the paper by disrupting its surface and using their hair as the frame. Each visual choice Zaria employs references the artist statement below, speaking of the dichotomy of exterior and internal selves.They end their statement asking the viewer to reflect and love themselves inside and out.
On behalf of The Works Festival for Art and Design I would like to thank all the students who participated in this exhibit from schools across Edmonton, take care and good luck!”