Students explore art themes in Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 6

With school back in session, a new collaborative art project has been launched.

Re/LAUNCH/ing is aimed at hitting the same high notes that its predecessor with.draw.all did, but with the added emphasis on the intrinsic value of art to the artist.

Each month, StAlbertTODAY.ca will be displaying an online gallery of art created by high school students. February's rendition features 12 creations from students at Paul Kane, Bellerose and St. Albert Catholic High.

• Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 1
• Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 2
• Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 3
• Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 4
• Re/LAUNCH/ing, vol. 5

Artist: Evelyn Berube
Grade 12
Title: Symbiosis
Water-soluble graphite
Artist's Statement: "In this piece I have combined a bumblebee and a flower, representing how one cannot thrive without the other. As bees are endangered, I hope that through this artwork I can shine light on them and bring attention to the issue."

Artist: Sadie Weller
Grade 11
Title: "The River"
Sharpie, pencil, blender
Artist's Statement: "I wanted to show the beauty in ordinary nature through using basic shapes and line work."

Artist: Pardis Farrokhi
Grade 10
Title: Le Poisson
Artist's Statement: "As a child, I was fascinated by sea creatures, especially fish! My cousin gave me a book that I have to this day, filled with different sea creatures and descriptions about each one. The fish I drew reminded me of one of my favourite creatures in the book. That is why I chose to draw this fish."

Artist: Maeb Hicks
Title: "Lake Garda"
Sharpie on paper
Artist's Statement: "My work was inspired by the aerial images of Italian mountain ranges. I went between thick and thin sharpies with different patterns dependent upon how close or far the viewer was from the area. I decided on this particular scene because of the variations in depth and the natural beauty of Italy."

Artist: Larissa Northcott
Grade 10
Title: The Tools of Art
Artist's Statement: "For this project we were challenged with drawing a still life image of the tools presented to us; however, the twist came after we finished drawing. We were given a water soluble graphite pencil to add the shading rather than our normal set of pencils. I was shocked at how much fun the new tool was and the art that could be produced. I would one hundred per cent use this for every project if I could."

Artist: Julia Caines
Title: "Kitten"
Pencil on paper
Artist's Statement: "I really enjoy working with pencil and shading and loved working on the fur in this piece."

Artist: Gillian Janke
Grade 12
Chalk pastel
Artist's Statement: "This is a stretched face portrait. I wanted to choose a popular influencer who's portrayed as a beauty icon by the media (Kendall Jenner), and make her appear 'less perfect' to show how the media alters society's expectations for beauty, in an artist form."

Artist: Danae Tilander
Grade 11
Title: "Geometric Rose"
Digital pencil/marker
Artist's Statement: "This is a tattoo design I drew to add to my portfolio in the hopes that I can pursue a career as a tattoo artist. When creating this piece I chose the design of a single rose because it symbolizes the beauty in our individualism. The coloured triangles represent our spirits that are strong and beautiful, and when they overlap with each other they create bonds that are deep and true, which is represented by the deepening of colour when the shapes collide."

Artist: Dakota Wedman
Grade 12
Title: The Key to Connection
Medium: Water-soluble graphite
Artist's Statement: "My piece is meant to signify the differences and similarities between real and fake. I decided to use a flamingo to express this, and I went off the idea that flamingos are obviously real birds, but there are so many different forms of these birds as decorations, posters and ornaments. Though they are real, they can easily be made fake or not alive. I mixed the bird with a key to show the connection between real and fake, because keys signify connection. Who's to say if the bird is real or fake in the picture, maybe it's both. But it's all connected."

Artist: Alexa Gupta
Grade 11
Title: Over and under
Graphite
Artist's Statement: "For this piece I used graphite. It helped me to discover depth and the importance of value in a simple object."

Artist: Aiden Strain
Grade 11
Title: Trump
Chalk pastel
Artist's Statement: "I chose to portray Donald Trump in this portrait because in my mind his image and personality is largely distorted, which fits perfect with the task of this distortion project."

Artist: Alysha Campbell
Grade 12
Title: Petals and Poetry
Video – mixed medium
Artist's Statement: "When creating this piece my intention was to make this booklet something I could use, refer back to and add to. I can now go back to this little book and add different lines of poetry, lyrics and literature that relates to each of the flowers that I painted. I can also add flowers or other perfectly wonderful things, like trees or oceans, and find writing that correlates with the subject. My inspirations for this piece were antique scientific flower paintings, 19th century flower dictionaries and different authors and poets such as L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen and Shakespeare."