Over the past fortnight, students have been working with collage and beginning a new mixed media project that brings together visual storytelling and introspection.

We were fortunate to welcome internationally recognised collage artist Naomi Azoulay into the classroom last week. Naomi, who is of Middle Eastern descent and based in West Auckland, led a hands-on collage workshop that invited students to create instinctively, cutting, ripping, and assembling without overthinking, to produce surreal compositions rich with texture and imagination.

Naomi brought warmth and energy to the space, and her visit left a real impression on the students. We’re grateful to her for sharing her process and her time with us.

This week, students are shifting from collage into painting. They’ve begun developing a piece that represents their inner world, starting with a papier-mâché mask attached to card to symbolise their thoughts. The next step: adding colour, tone, and expression through paint.

Watch this space.