During the recent battlefields trip Third Form pupils toured the French and Belgian countryside, visiting graveyards, battlefields and memorial sites. On their return to School, the pupils were asked to compose paintings which emulated their experience, conveying the emotions they felt from the places they visited.
Elissa (Third Form, Harcourt), writes:
‘What we learned about the conditions and scale of the devastation of the war really touched me and I wanted to try to bring that emotion into my painting.
‘The concept I chose for my piece was one I kept returning to during the trip: how would it feel to be told that your friend, colleague or family member had died fighting for their country? To know you would never see them again, and in some cases how and when it happened and where their body lay.
‘In order to portray this idea, I composed my piece of three main elements. The picture is set in one of the commonwealth graveyards we visited, where row upon row of graves could be found. Around ten thousand in all. Through the centre of the graves there is a path where I chose to position two silhouettes. The pair of silhouettes depict a grandfather and a grandson holding hands, looking out over the sea of graves. These two figures represent the idea of loss of friends and family. The grandfather, having fought, has now returned with the young grandson, whom he unknowingly fought to protect, to pay his respects to those who did the same. In the foreground are three red poppies, representing the lives the grandfather mourns as the two silhouettes stand hand-in-hand.
‘The painting is black and white to symbolise sadness, regret, devastation, death and all the other emotions of war. However, the background is juxtaposed by the three red poppies in the foreground. This pop of colour represents hope, and the memory of life long passed, which remains enshrined in memory.
‘This artwork should feel calm and tranquil, though with an underlying unease. As if time stands still and the air is filled with remorse whilst hope still lingers.’
A collage of other Third Form artwork themed on the Third Form History Department battlefields trip is displayed below:
