Two sixth formers at St Edward’s College, Cottonera – Asma Dekna and Rebecca Xuereb – recently exhibited about 30 works of art at the college.

The exhibition formed part of their assessment at the end of their two-year International Baccalaureate in Visual Arts course at the college under the direction of art teacher Denise Papagiorcopulo.

Dekna had some impressive creative work, especially Fair Youth, Beneath The Trees. This wonderful, thought-provoking photograph presents her friend, clad in a heavy black skirt asif flying while dancing in the iconography of the classicalVictory of Samothrace.

Longing 1 is a romantic sunrise of great beauty that the student retrieved from the subconscious of her childhood in Libya.

Culture Shock, a dressed model, is Dekna’s innovative and daring design which moves away from the traditional heel-length of skirt but retains indigenous colours of her home country, Libya.

Overall, her works express a sweet melancholy reflecting her troubled country, especially in her installation about the fight for freedom in Libya.

Dekna’s art is based on her personal emotions and most of her works are imbued by a streak of social realism.

Rebecca Xuereb makes her mark with Music Within, an autobiographical work showing the artist passionately playing the piano. This canvas painting is in strong contrast of black standing bold against white inspired by piano keys. This sharp contrast is complemented by a colourful palette scheme reserved for the outburst of surreal musical forms emerging from the piano’s interior.

Beautiful and romantic isElegant Stretch, showing a ballet dancer in tutu, while Oomph and Self-Dispersal capture movement photographically: the former a student doing fitness exercises as she moves to the rhythm of drums, the latter showing diffusion of the self.

Lee ho 1 & 2 are two works in linocut, both a burst of colour. The Old Folks at Home captures the traditions of the student’s childhood in Australia.

Untamed is the combined work of both students about the liberty of animals in the wild.

A eucalyptus tree trunk is the enclave of Australian animals, while the dolphin, the soaring eagle, the horse and the antlered deer give a sense of liberty in movement. This work was a centrepiece of the exhibition.

The exhibition included painting and sculpture, printing techniques (collagraph and linocut) and welding found metal objects.

The students also designed their own poster for the exhibition. This exhibition demonstrated great enthusiasm and involvement thrown in by the students – an excellent effort worth the hard work.

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