Grade 12 IBDP Biomimicry Exhibition

Anyone who has recently walked up the stairs in the Main Foyer may have noticed some beautiful artworks on display as part of the DP Art Biomimcry Exhibition. Grade 12 students recently finalised the culminating pieces of their second-year project, Inspired by Nature, and have put them on display for the ISA community.

DP students began their Biomimicry Unit by considering the question: what can nature teach us about good design? They were given a design brief with a broad scope which allowed lots of room for interpretation and individual inspiration: to design a 'wearable item' that reflects the visual qualities of nature. This challenged students to investigate, reference and draw inspiration from the concepts and materials of a variety of artists as part of the research phase of the design process, including the drawings of Ernst Haeckel, the architecture of Santiago Calatrava and Zaha Hadid and the fashion designs of Iris van Herpen and Alexander McQueen.

IBDP Art Teacher Sian Lysaght emphasises that "this unit is not about fashion, but about creating new, innovative designs that adorn the body in fresh and surprising ways. Biomimicry is the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes. During this unit, students have explored the possibilities of harnessing natural resources [...] and will understand that good design comes from observations of structures and processes from the natural world."

But what is biomimicry? As Grade 12 student Ruby Williams explains, "biomimicry is the mimicking of an ecosystem and the world around us. It is any way that we can mirror nature, for example, through the scales of a snake, or the roots of a tree, or other things we can see in nature in a very physical sense of the word."

Following their own sense of curiosity and remaining open-minded and flexible throughout the design process, students drew their biomimicry inspiration from a range of sources, including their favourite animals, structures found in the natural world or the work of fellow artists who themselves draw inspiration from nature. For example, Eva Canavan drew her inspiration from a Dutch fashion designer: "my primary inspiration was Iris van Herpen; she's a very talented artist, and she works with the intricacies of water and other aspects that I found really inspirational." While fellow student Leonor Peereboom drew her inspiration from her favourite animal and its lifecycle, naming her Biomimicry piece 'A Memoir: The Life Cycle of an Eternal Jellyfish.'

As part of the project, students were required to work on a process book and create three mood boards to help conceptualise their inspiration. For example, for her piece, Ruby, who was inspired by "reptilian design, such as snakeskin and predator qualities such as ears, teeth and other dangerous objects", created a mood board with a working prototype of some of the hand-sewn scales she used in on the sleeves of her final design.

Each student used various techniques and materials to bring their Biomimcry visions to life, from sewing and painting to glueing and manipulating metal wire. Explaining her approach to the project, Electra Sarafopoulou said: "I found out that I work better with my hands, more than specifically drawing or painting, so I really wanted to use materials that I could mould with my hands to create my biomimicry piece, so I used a lot of different kinds of wire to create this very basic form a sea urchin." To create her piece, Ella Ural said: "I made the front piece design by manipulating hot glue, which I painted over with gold acrylic paint, and I sewed the hot glue pieces onto the bodice of the mannequin with gold thread."

Through the power of their individual curiosity, making connections between the natural world and art, the DP Arts students have each created a nature-inspired Biomimcry piece that is uniquely theirs. The Exhibition is still on display, so be sure to check it out!