What made you choose the theme ‘Perception’ ?
To be honest, I don’t quite remember. We were given the chance to choose something and were given a few suggestions but I think I chose it because it seemed the broadest. I didn’t want to choose something narrow right before I’d actually started looking at something. Looking back I think it’s too broad because you can do the perception of pretty much anything, but it’s also fun because it means that I can choose whatever I want and just make things fit. It’s a little bit lenient in that respect and that’s nice.
Do you have a favourite piece? Which one and why?
AW: Yes, it’s called ‘Emaciation’. It’s the photography piece which I did in about 1 or 2 hours. It was a last minute “I have a photography deadline due and I’m leaving soon” - we were leaving the building (a hunting lodge which my grandparents have a timeshare in) that I wanted to do the work in and I wouldn’t be back there because it’s in Minnesota and I was flying back home which is 5 hours away. I was kind of freaking out that I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet but I think it turned out really fun but I also think that it means a lot more to me than it does other people and that’s why I like it. I don’t think anyone else really gets it. The point of the piece is about value, so I had given people a home inspection report and detailed all of the flaws of this building and it is about 200 years old - which in the US is quite old - it’s falling apart and objectively it’s decrepit and not worth anything. But to me, I’ve been going there for like 18 years and it’s a really big part of my family history and I have so many good memories there and I value it despite the dead mice and the holes in the wall and the bats and it’s scary to be there at times but I just love it anyway and I wish I could help people see that.
Would you recommend the DP Visual Arts course to students entering the Diploma course?
Yes, I think so.
Is there any advice you would give them?
Don’t take it if you don’t want to do the work. There are other ways to do art and it’s really difficult to balance doing CAS creativity and doing Art because they are sort of interchangeable and you have to select what you are going to use in the end. You have to be careful in that respect and if you choose art but don’t want to put in the work - you just like the final pieces - it can be hard because we are not just graded on that.