Visual Arts

National Youth Art Award 2022

Mia Moon, Year 12, won the Photography section of the National Youth Art Awards, a competition run by the Waikato Society of Arts. Mia then went on to be judged the Supreme Overall winner, with her photograph ‘Mushroom Magic’. She created this from a photography project in her first year of IBDP studies while exploring patterns in nature. While doing this, she became interested in microscopic as well as macro lens photography. She used a macro lens to explore her subject matter of mushrooms in extreme close-up.

Students Madeleine Kay and Gracie McIsaac, Year 12, were selected as Ringa Toi finalists and exhibited at Te Papa. Ringa Toi is an annual exhibition run by NZQA that showcases the artwork of secondary school students with a focus on Toi Māori.

Gracie McIsaac, Year 12 'Kotahitanga'

‘Ehara taku toa, I te toa takitahi, engari he toa takatini’

I created this photographic series as I was inspired by the significance of Māori culture in New Zealand and QMC’s journey towards becoming more culturally responsive. Although the model in this series, Kade Read, is tauiwi Ngāti Pākehā, she is Tangata Tiriti and is passionate about all areas of Māoritanga. She was studying NCEA Level 2 Te Reo Māori and plays a key role in our Te Whānāu group. These photographs symbolise the strength of Māoritanga as a powerful community and how it can impact not just Māori, but other tauiwi. As Pākehā, we need to do our part in strengthening Māoritanga and learning more about the culture and history of Aotearoa.

Madeleine Kay, Year 12 Iwi: Ngati Maniapoto 'Remembering the People of Parihaka' Paint and Print

I completed this series of paintings and prints for Year 12 Visual Arts. I wanted to explore a theme that held meaning and resonance for me so I explored the story of Parihaka through imagery, remembering the people of Parihaka.