2021 YEAR 5 FINALIST
'The Perplexing Star'
Evelyn Poppleton, Year 5
St Clare's Catholic Parish Primary School, Narellan Vale

The star I created is ethereal, connecting to the heavenly star which lights and illuminates the path for the three wise men, and without the star's luminance the three wise men wouldn't have found their way, I have titled it ‘the perplexing star’ because whilst they were filled with joy at seeing the star, they felt a sense of confusion about the decision they would have to make which would change history.

The star is created with a sense of flow, flowing down the veils following in the style of surrealism. I used yellow to show a heavenly feeling and a bright effect, and black shadows to exaggerate how bright the light is, using an overlapping technique to create depth. I used the perspective of the wise men from the back as if they were turning away from King Herod as they had been told to do in a dream, inspired by an image by Steve Bridger.

In the scripture the wise men are overwhelmed with joy following the star, to me the word which comes to mind is mudita. This same ecstatic feeling I can connect to is through the birth of a close family friend. Like the wise men we travelled a long distance to meet the baby and had the ecstatic feeling of welcoming another human into our world and our lives.
 

Listen to Evelyn's description of her artwork below...

View more of our Christmas Story Art Exhibition 2021 artworks by clicking on our young artists' names in the teal panel. Alternatively, click through our artworks below.