By Teresa Tung, Secondary School Principal
Throughout semester 1 of this academic year an HKA community group made up of students, faculty, staff and parents collaborated to create a sculptural ceramic installation. Inspired by the rich marine life around Sai Kung and guided by Visual Art teacher Ms. Zoe Coughlan, participants learned techniques for creating clay forms and adding a variety of patterns and surface textures. After experimenting with miniature forms each group member created their own art pieces which would become part of the final configuration. These pieces were sent for bisque fire at HKA’s inhouse kiln and then glazed in colours inspired by the Sai Kung waterfront. After a second and final round of glaze, the pieces were assembled to create three unique totem pole designs and the completed work entitled ‘As Small as a World’ is now part of our permanent art collection and being enjoyed by our community and visitors on a daily basis.
Grade 5 student Elliot was part of the project, he has previously worked with ceramics as part of HKA’s primary school art classes and as an After School Activity. He said “This project gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into how to make and better understand ceramics. Something I enjoyed was working in a group alongside peers of different ages and experience levels so there was always someone to share ideas with and get feedback from. Also I loved going into Sai Kung to research and take photos of patterns in nature and then bringing these observations back to make them into art in the studio.”
With some experience of working ceramics on wheels, staff member Jennifer shared that she had learned new handbuild techniques through this project. She was fascinated by how creative everyone was and had a lot of fun during each session.
After 7.5 years teaching visual art at HKA, Ms Zoe Coughlan moved on in February to take up a new position at Markham College, Peru. She sums up the project beautifully by sharing “HKA’s community really is unique, and this art project is an example of this: parents, students, staff and teachers all working together to grow as artists and explore their roots and sense of belonging in Sai Kung. I am so proud to have been part of it and can’t wait to see what HKA’s next community art project will be.”
