Visual Arts plays an important role in the social, cultural and spiritual lives of students. It offers a wide range of opportunities for students to develop their own interests, to be self-motivated and active learners who can take responsibility for and continue their own learning in school and post-school settings. In contemporary societies many kinds of knowledge are increasingly managed through imagery and visual codes and much of students' knowledge is acquired in this way. Visual Arts empowers students to engage in visual forms of communication. The subject of Visual Arts serves to facilitate an interpretation and organisation of such information, as well as provide an outlet for students to express their personal views of the world in which they live in. (Visual Arts 7-10 Syllabus Rationale p8).
Visual Arts students at Hornsby Girls High School have a long and successful history of achieving outcomes at a high level. Programs are designed to foster creative intelligence, innovation, high level critical thinking and problem solving skills.
State placing in recent years highlights the dedicated approach to teaching and learning by staff and students here at Hornsby Girls High School.
- Eloise Blunt - 7th in State 2006
- Jennifer Watkins - 3rd in State 2008
- Tasnuba Pervez - 10th in State 2008
- Sunyoung Hwang - 9th in State 2010
- Catherine Wong - 10th in State 2010
- Leonie Kwok - 1st in State 2011
- Marra Aghajani - 5th in State 2012
- Kylie Kwok - 7th in State 2015
- Christina Sun - 5th in State 2016
- Amie Doan - 2nd in State 2019
- Josephine Collins - 9th in State 2019
The school values Visual Arts as part of the broad curriculum because of all that it can offer to students and because of its tradition of excellence and success at the Higher School Certificate.
Included in the Visual Arts Faculty are:
In Year 7, Visual Arts students engage in two programs, Objects: Still Life and Extraordinary Creatures. Students explore a range of artmaking disciplines that are challenging, creative and thought-provoking to develop their technical skills in 2D, 3D & 4D media. Through the study of Australian and International artists, students reflect on their own artmaking practices and build on their knowledge and understanding of art.
"To create one's own world takes courage." Georgia O'Keeffe
In Year 8, Visual Arts students explore two programs, Landscape and Portraiture. Students build on their knowledge and experience in Visual Arts with challenging and exciting ways of making art. Their conceptual understanding of art is further enriched, through fascinating case studies of artists that explore the boundaries of art and life.
"I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart." Vincent Van Gogh
In Year 9, Visual Arts students focus on two programs, City as Utopia, City in Decay and Body as Narrative. Students shape their artistic process through in depth studies of significant themes and ideas in the Visual Arts. Through contemporary and historical case studies, students learn how diverse artistic practices are shaped by changing ideologies in art.
"A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others." Salvador Dali
In Year 10, Visual Arts students study two programs, Humanism in Italian Renaissance Art and Events: Births, Marriage, Funerals and Art as Spectacle. These programs are designed to allow students to make powerful visual representations about the world around them. Students continue to build on their conceptual and material practice through various artmaking challenges. Philosophical concepts underpinning Western civilization is explored through critical and historical case studies.
"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art." Leonardo da Vinci
In Year 11, Visual Arts students study two programs to refine their knowledge of art, Modernist Perspectives and Transformation & Transcendence. Students explore their material practice and conduct research to create meaningful bodies of work. Through the extensive analysis of artists, artworks and the artworld.
"If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint." Edward Hopper
In Year 12, the HSC year is characterised by specialisation in artmaking, so that students now produce a Body of Work for submission as 50 % of their mark. It is here that students can showcase their conceptual strengths and artmaking skills in a sustained and sophisticated way. Our students produce Bodies of Work which can encompass everything from traditional forms such as painting or graphics to the documentation of installations using digital media including time-based forms such as video or film. Students critically and historically investigate artworks, critics, historians and artists from Australia and round the world through five case studies.
"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery." Francis Bacon
