On Friday, March 23, Yew Chung International School of Beijing hosted this year’s IBDP Art Exhibition highlighting the two-year commitment of a trio of talented students: Echo Liu, Annie Ding, and Ian Zhao. Featuring selected pieces from the students’ portfolios – chosen specifically for their technical competence, breadth and depth, and the appropriate use of materials, techniques and processes – the afternoon exhibit was joined by a large crowd of parents, teachers and other students both admiring and encouraging the student artists’ hard work.

At the opening of the exhibition, each of the IBDP Art students and their teacher, Allison Cusato, shared some opening remarks:

Ian Zhao:

Welcome to our IB Visual Arts Exhibition. We’re the IB art students – I’m Ian, and this is Annie and Echo. Thank you for coming; we’re very grateful to have you here with us today.

My works are in more of a classical style, so I do a lot of oil painting. I’ve always had a passion for painting, but as a younger student, I could simply pick up the brush whenever I found inspiration to do so. During our IBDP coursework, however, I’ve found that the planning stage is more involved with a need to record every step of the process. Whereas an oil painting on canvas may take me two weeks, the documentation process – including mind maps and research – could take up to six months per painting. So, the works here today are the result of a long process for each of us.

Echo Liu:

I appreciate you all being here. We’ve put a lot of effort into our work, and we’re very proud of it. We hope you all enjoy the exhibition.

For my work, I chose the theme of “individuality” because I wanted to find myself. Individuality is related to myself – what my thoughts are and the things that influence me. Last year, I went to the US for a summer programme, and that’s when I realised that I wanted to do graphic design in university. I like the idea of working with others to create something. I want to work with people and see them use and appreciate my creations.

Annie Ding:

Once again, I’d like to welcome you all to this big day for the three of us. My gallery is over there, and the central theme around my artwork is “individual development of identity”. Through these artworks, I’ve explored the effects of social norms, family expectations, and academic pressure on the development of one’s own identity, and how what you encounter in daily life shapes you as a person.

A lot of times, my work indulges in things that don’t really exist in reality, which helps to alleviate the stress from daily life. Through that, I’m trying to show who I really am and what I’m really about.

Allison Cusato:

Working with these three, they’re very talented, you can tell. Not only did they spend two years developing these works, but they have a lot more work as well that’s not on display today. They had to decide which final pieces to place here, and also how they were going to arrange them – taking into account the flow of the room and what questions and reactions their audience would bring to the exhibition as well. They hung all the artworks themselves, and they put the exhibition together. Please join me in applauding their accomplishments.