CREATIVE students have exhibited their talent in a showcase of visual and performing arts.
GCSE and A-Level students at The King’s Academy, in Coulby Newham, welcomed visitors to view their work in fine art, textiles, product design and resistant materials, and to hear singers and musicians perform.
Amina Saghir, 18, from Acklam, explained how her A-Level textiles work was inspired by the American artist Judy Pfaff and Dutch designer Iris van Herpen.
“I was keen on using plastic and developed a technique to soften it over a candle then twisting it to create icicles, which was part of a winter garden theme I started with. I was interested in working in interior design but now I would like to study textiles,” said Amina.
Sophie Randall, 16, of Coulby Newham, initially left The King’s Academy to go to art college but soon returned to pursue A-Levels in psychology, sociology and fine art, which she hopes to take into a career in forensic photography.
“I really missed The King’s a lot as it was my secondary school so I was very happy to come back. I was introduced to photography as an element of my college course and when I came back Mr Morris saw something in me in that area and encouraged me,” she explained.
“I had ideas but never really knew how to make them work so I’ve done a lot of experimenting and kept pushing myself to get the effects I wanted. I liked the idea of galaxies so tried using fairylights and other lighting effects. In another series of pictures, I used holy powder to capture movement.”
In design technology, GCSE resistant materials students exhibited their coffee tables, bedside tables and drawers and even a computer desk.
Head of engineering Michael Donnelly said: “We encourage the students to use a variety of woods, glass and metals to demonstrate the broad range of their skills in making and designing functional objects. In A-Level product design, the students focus on pushing boundaries with a prototype.”
Singers and musicians also contributed to the evening with an open mic session in the sixth form common room.