Colourful College art centre stage at Round Square UK show
10 Aug 2022
Stunning artworks by College students Oli Aikawa and Eric Liu will feature at a special UK exhibition held in conjunction with the 2022 Round Square International Conference.
One of the conference host schools, London-based Latymer Upper School, will mount the exhibition – titled Be more creative – of works by Round Square students from around the world. It will complement the conference theme of ‘Take less, be more’.
A Year 13 student, Oli’s art – Tuawera (oil and acrylic on paper) – captures Cave Rock in a Sumner summer scene, while Year 12 artist Eric’s work – Hometown (acrylic on paper) – shows a bold, colourful combination of abstract and figurative styles.
“My artwork shows a Kiwi summer at Tuawera – Cave Rock Sumner, as the exhibition is about spaces you know well, but others may not,” Oli says. “I wanted to show a Kiwi summer to the Londoners, specifically one at Sumner Beach, my local beach. However, the main feature of the painting is the people – they fill the space with vibrancy.”
Eric adds that this year, “the theme of the Round Square Art Exhibition is to focus on the spaces which we inhabit”.
“Because of Covid-19, I have not been back home for three years. So I have decided to make a painting about my hometown, China,” he says. “I have combined some traditional Chinese paintings with Western oil paintings and hope everyone can enjoy the artwork.”
The exhibition aims to reflect the personal, cultural and geographical diversity of Round Square schools and especially their creative students. The Round Square IDEALS of Learning include Internationalism and Environmentalism.
As the organisers explain: “Making art, especially making art about places we cherish, where we feel secure, allows us to do anything, for there are no rules in art. And both the activity and the finished work bring great enjoyment and an enhanced sense of wellbeing.”