Joel Forlong, who won the Senior School Art cup last year, has his work in the NZQA Top Art Exhibition for 2022. This is the second time one of our students has been awarded this honour. It means that his folio has been recognised as being in the very top for Level 3 Printmaking NZ 2021 – only 11 other folios are featured in this specialism. The exhibition is currently touring the country to highlight best practice. It’s an outstanding achievement.
Below is Joel's explanation of his artwork:
'The Nun and the Gargoyle'
For my Level 3 print board, I wanted to show a story depicting a Nun, sister Maria, who is being stalked by a gargoyle. During the first board, everything is peaceful, however, this all begins to change during board 2 when the gargoyle comes alive. During this board, I choose to make the nun and the gargoyle polarized, separated by a candle emanating light that shields Sister Maria from the gargoyle's clutches. However, during the final board the gargoyle begins to come closer and closer to the nun, then when the light dies the gargoyle eats Maria.
The main types of printing techniques I used on my boards were lino and etching.
Due to much of my schooling year being in lock-down, the most pressing issue that arose was the lack of printing resources available. However, although the lock-downs were frustrating, as I was worried that I might not be able to complete my work, it did force me to come up with new ways of creating prints. For example, one way I made prints, without using an excessive amount of lino, was by creating small squares of lino, 1 to 2 cm big, and using them by stamping them repeatedly, consequently creating a piece just from that one piece of lino.
I am studying Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.
Joel Forlong