A Special Art Exhibition attended by dozens of parents, staff, relatives and friends was held recently at Bermuda High School for Girls.

Created and organised by the Senior International Baccalaureate Class, the Exhibition was the culmination of two years of work in a range of art media inspired by a host of different ideas, ranging from South American fabrics to displays featuring local Bermuda Gombey culture.

“I went to Peru three years ago,” explained Rachel Masters, “and the vibrant colours of their culture inspired me to create art from it.” Rachel constructed paper masks, gluing different colourful fabrics on them “to make geometric patterns symbolising fabrics in Peru.”

“My ideas derived from the anti-bullying campaign we have at BHS,” noted Kaitlyn Sutherland. “It is something I feel very strongly about. Kaitlyn constructed her work with acrylic paints, also creating pieces using charcoal and a Typography on Photoshop.

“I moved through the process of “turning a back to bullying” by starting with a painting of the human back and ‘transitioning’ it around to show the human face” she explained. “I have always been influenced by the vivid colours I grew up with” added Sabina Stan. “I can see the ocean from my house and it inspired one of my paintings entitled Imber which captures the feeling of tranquility one finds underwater.” The study of human biology also played a large part in one of the focal points of Sabina’s exhibit. “I also used the concept of Macrophage, which I learned in my Human Biology Class” said Sabina. “Using foam, I created and displayed various forms of white blood cells which are part of the medical defence system in human being.”

“We had a really wide variety of styles and media,” noted Art Teacher Mr John White, “including large scale life drawings, Painting, Printmaking, Digital Photography, Watercolors and Artefacts. I am very pleased at the standard of the entries.”

The students agreed that the week leading up to the exhibition was extremely stressful as they put the Exhibit together.

“Opening night was on the Tuesday and we were working solidly from the previous Friday putting everything together,” said Kaitlyn. “The ceremony was at 5pm on Tuesday and we put the final finishing touches together about 3.30pm that day!”

“We are so proud of our final pieces” she concluded.

“We want to say a big thank you to Mr White, our teacher and to Mrs Suzie Stan, who helped us set up the Exhibit Gallery.

Guests and dignitaries toured the Exhibits after the Official Opening praising the artistic ability of the students.

“Many of these art works are so well done that they would not look out of place at the Royal College of Art in London,” noted one of the admiring guests.

Kaitlyn Sutherland is a student in the IB2 Class.