Anya Kaloo
Dalat International School｜PULAU PINANG, Malaysia
Teacher: Liza Nichols
3-D Art and Design
FREEFLOWING｜19 x 17.5 x 22 in.
Idea(s): RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD -feeling free, confident, secure shown by the flowing form fr 1 part to another
Material(s): rattan sticks, driftwood, tissue paper, lights -three walls expand -complete openness to God
Process(es): through experiment-applying more glue creates the dark shadow spot effect, signifying my imperfection
FREEFLOWING, View 2
Anya Kaloo
Student statement
Student
statement
My sustained investigation is to discover my journey to know God.
My fascination for God became more concrete throughout my experiences of being bullied and excluded. This journey began with experiencing the need for protection and loneliness, where I allowed the hurtful words to alter my confidence, causing me to feel trapped. Soon after, I was introduced to the idea of God, encouraged to evaluate where God was through despair. Journeying beyond the pain, my curiosity led me to create a desire to be open to him, but my fear of not being enough resulted in being stuck in my ways before knowing him. I experimented using various layers of paper, which determined the opacity of the light coming through, symbolizing God's guidance and nurture.
Attaching individual strips was expressive of openness/confidence over fear/loneliness. I revised the application of the paper and the number of layers to bring a clearer brightness of the light. Towards the end, I realized that God's presence was there throughout the periods of being bullied. When forming this portfolio and the sustained investigation, I discovered that I have a spiritual side. I advise future AP Art and Design students to have an idea of what they want to investigate at the point of deciding to take AP Arts. It helps to use time effectively and limits procrastination.
TIMID, View 1｜35 x 19.5 x 9 in.
Idea(s): TIMID and fear due to not knowing God-recognize his presence but believe unworthy for him
Material(s): rattan sticks, driftwood, tissue paper, lights-all buds are tightly sealed to represent closed up
Process(es): explored an idea of closed buds to represent my timid approach towards Gods presence-unworthiness
TIMID, View 2｜35 x 19.5 x 9 in.
Principal
statement
Brian Brewster
My role as an administrator in this process has been to make certain that I get out of the way and let both the students and our incredible art teacher do their thing. Our school has made space for exhibits, encouraged guest artist visitors, approved the budget, and then trusted that our teachers and students will use the free reign to work their magic. This piece by Anya is a good example as she turned a vision for a very difficult project that I didn’t understand into something that captured the imagination and shone her light in an amazing way.
Anya Kaloo
Teacher
statement
Liza Nichols
Anya has the ability to translate her thoughts and ideas through her art form. She is a risk taker and an optimistic artist that is willing to try new styles, techniques and methods. The AP curriculum is a fantastic process to get her from interest to mastery. The inquiry section was particularly helpful to set the landscape of what she would be working on. We went through an intense brainstorming session and asking deeper questions about her intentions, and how the materials and process will be able to support her ideas. Anya experimented with many materials before settling on rattan rods, as different diameters and materials produce different curves and characteristics. The paper used was also selected after numerous trials, with rice paper, mahjong paper and tissue paper. Anya then practiced turning, twisting and manipulating the rod to create rhythm in the structure, while having to take into consideration where the light source would be and how it would affect the lumination through the translucent paper and creating shadows where the rods were. We had constant critiquing sessions which were pivotal to improvements and she took time to make changes after each session.
Dalat International School is very supportive of the Arts and we are very blessed to be equally supported in resources, space and encouragement. There is a celebration of Fine Arts at the end of the year where all student artwork is exhibited. The AP students will usually have an art performance during this festival e.g. speed painting, giant charcoal dance/drawing and collaborative live drawing. We occasionally engage guest artists to give talks, demonstrations or lead a few classes.
As an AP Art teacher, it is important to guide the students to be able to justify their art. I find that one of the ways to encourage deeper metacognition about their work is by constantly asking them probing questions. Mastery is important but the voice behind the pieces is equally—if not more—important. Guiding students at this stage to understand the correlation between their materials, process and idea could produce a lightbulb moment in their art journey.
