Installation opens students' art festival

Year 11 practical art student Hajar Al-Bahar planting her art in a field of thousands more. Photo / Jenniffer Fernyhough

Hamilton Girls' High School is the current home of the temporary art installation Bee Stunning by New Zealand artist Judy Darragh.

From afar, the installation looks like a field of flowers but is made up of decorated ping pong balls on sticks.

Judy is a prolific artist who uses found objects such as recycled items and industrial materials to create sculptural assemblages, collage, photography and video. Her work has been displayed in several public collections in New Zealand such as the Auckland Art Gallery and the Govett Brewster Art Gallery.

Judy kicked off HGHS' Te Puawai Arts Festival on Monday by working with students to install over 4000 coloured ping pong balls. The installation was made with donated ping pong balls from David's Emporium and at the end of its time they will all be recycled.
Day two of the arts festival began with a Cultural Roots Symposium with Judy being the keynote speaker.

She spoke about the early stages of her career, her inspirations and what moulded her into the artist that she is today.

While talking about her history, she mentioned an artist-run project she helped with called Cuckoo that heavily impacted on her views both as an artist and as a person.

"We named it Cuckoo because the cuckoo is known for going into other birds' nest when they're not there and using them. That's what it felt like we were doing. We were artists displaying our work without a place of our own, but we made use of what was already there."

That became a theme throughout her career, using what was already available and making sure to ensure the wellbeing of the planet.

Judy told the students that she had been teaching for 30 years in order to lead the life she wanted. "You've got to pay the bills somehow, but whatever you do, you have to keep your passion alive."

That was a constant through all the guest speakers who represented many art forms such as music, painting, dance, poetry, fashion and theatre.

One of the guest speakers revealed Judy had been her Year 9 art teacher and had been the driving force in her continuing to study art and making a career out of it.

The Te Puawai Arts Festival runs until June 28 and has been a great opportunity for the students to meet their role models and show the city what they are capable of.

The arts festival will also include an international performance concert from Hillcrest High School and short films screening from Year 13 media students.

It will conclude with the opening of Ahuru Mowai: House Project, an exhibition that looks at the question, 'what is home?' and students have been constructing models of their interpretations.