Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Wellesley High School "Ecomagination" at former Neenas (made possible by Linear Retail)



Art and Community Club
Wellesley High School
Art & Community Club is a student-run club that focuses on creating and exhibiting artworks around specific themes that bring awareness to essential elements of a healthy community. This year’s exhibit, “Ecomagination”, is centered on ecological concerns. Students dealt with issues of recycling, pollution, and reminding the community that we are part of nature.

Juyon Lee
Art and Community Club President
Class of 2014


The Green Way for Change

Juyon Lee, Eva Loh, Jin Kim, Monica Ong, Zahra Pirani, and Nicki Sizing

Mosaic - wooden board, newspaper, recycled paper, aluminum cans

Our art project was inspired by Vik Muniz, a Brazilian artist who uses trash to create mosaic art pieces. We made paper stars out of old newspaper and used paper. The stars represent individual's hope to make a green difference. Together, they portray nature scenery of trees, flowers, and leaves. The road is made out of pieces of aluminum cans and rolls of newspaper because we wanted to remind our community that if no one tries to make a green change, we would have to step on trash that we make every day. The newspaper rolls symbolize cigarettes, which are not only harmful to our environment, but also to one's health. In addition, the parts of aluminum cans at the bottom of the board have green messages to encourage the viewer to start making a small change. If we make a green difference little by little, there'll be a greater outcome like how the stars create this nature scenery. We hope that the Wellesley community will consider how we impact our environment every day and the importance of protecting our planet.  



Pin Cushion
Serena Benages
Sculpture - cookie cutter, pillowcase, newspaper bags, recycled box, yarn
Found Music
Serena Benages
Sculpture - sardine can, cigar box, coffee filter, nails, wire, newspaper bags, coke can
My artwork was made with all recycled materials. The message I portray through my art is how beauty and music can be found everywhere. These gifts are not limited to a few people, but rather the hope of the many. I was inspired to make these pieces when I first saw a musical instrument made from recycled materials. The creativity in which it was made inspired me to make it my own.

Untitled
Anonymous
Sculpture - wire, flowers, glass bottle

When Pigs Can Fly
Anonymous
Sculpture - scrap metal

Beachcombing
Cora Hersh
Painting


Trees in the Meadow
Laura Scott
Painting, acrylic

A Mirror
Chloe Kolbet
Painting, mixed media
Nature and the human spirit are deeply interconnected. The beauty and laws of one are mirrored in the other. With this knowledge one can learn deep truths about oneself through the observance and exploration of nature. Humanity, in this way, is called to immerse itself in and grow closer to nature. However, they are not one and the same. As with a mirror, the human and nature are reflections of each other, not a singular being. They differ in that the human mind sorts and classifies, while nature grows without order, making them opposites.
Humanity, therefore, is called not to become nature or even imitate it, but to morph in response to it. It is so easy to just study nature, but to grow with it is more difficult. In school, we study the wonders and beauty of nature throughout the grade levels. We are taught to respect its glory with a kind of reverence. Yet, this leaves a gap between nature and us that should not exist. Instead of living among and knowing nature with familiarity, we place it upon a pedestal, which isolates it from us. This twists and stretches the bond between humanity and nature in such a way that we grow distant from not only nature’s beauties, but also, as a result, our own. Our connection with nature in not intimate, but rather that of a distant relative. We choose to just exist in nature; instead we must interact with it, and, in this way, allow ourselves to grow and change in response.

Mother Nature
Juyon Lee
Tarot card illustration
 Where Is My Bamboo?
Eva Loh
Scratchboard illustration

Capture The Sun
Laurel Hennessee
Photograph

Paint the Sky
Laurel Hennessee
Photograph

Summer
Laurel Hennessee
Photograph


Forests of Steel
Katie Pedersen and Nicki Sizing
Photograph on Newspaper
We shot photographs in Boston and printed them on newspaper. The inspiration came from the idea that cities have replaced forests. When you look up you see concrete, not canopies, and when you look into the harbor you see trash instead of fish. We tried to show the coldness of being surrounded by metal rather than life, and we tried to choose visually interesting images.


Today’s Garden
Olivia Czubarow
Photograph

Mr. Clean Collection
Han Li
Sculpture - plastic water bottles and aluminum cans


Dancing Flowers 
Zahra Pirani
Sculpture - flexible garden tie, recycled magazines
"Dancing Flowers" exhibits the techniques of wheel throwing and collage combined into one sculpture. The artist's intent was to create artwork from recyclable materials, such as magazine cutouts, as well as to incorporate her own favorite sculpture techniques. In creating art from reusable materials, the artist hopes to convey the union of environmentalism and "green" artwork. "Dancing Flowers" was inspired by various displays of artificial flowers the artist had seen and the artist's desire to combine nature, recyclable materials, and sculpture into one artistic creation.



Ocean Chimes
Monica Ong
Jewelry - seashells
Crossroads
Nic Shepard
Digital Art
Taken in the outback of Australia, this was originally a picture of a river entangled by roots of surrounding trees. From these pixels, and heavy editing, this piece was created.

Patched
Kate Westenberg
Mosaic - bottle caps, old rug samples, reused Styrofoam board


The Cove
Connor Perry
Oil on Canvas


Paleolithic
Alexander Golob
Oil on Wood



Dear Hunt
Juyon Lee
Scratchboard Illustration

Grimm's Tale
Alexander Golob
Oil on Wood


Music of the Flowers
Alice Rocha
Mosaic – paper, aluminum cans