Year 13 Art Students Showcase Work at the Sarabande Foundation
Last Summer, Year 13 LAET students marked the end of their A-Level Art journey with a private view exhibition at the Sarabande Foundation, located just opposite the school on Tottenham High Road. The exhibition showcased the work of eight talented young artists, exploring themes such as sustainability, decay, environmentalism, the idea of personal space as political, and the importance of community. We spoke to six of the artists to learn more about the inspiration behind their powerful and thought-provoking pieces.
Exploring Identity, Community, and the World Around Us
The exhibition revealed how students used art to grapple with big questions.
Cycles of Life and Nature: Ella Squires’ sculptures reflected on decay and renewal. “I began to see the connections between humans and nature and how we are both part of a shared life cycle,” she explained. Ella, who will go on to study History at the University of Bristol, said the process has made her “more determined, resilient and independent”—qualities she will carry into her academic future.
Intimacy and Self-Portraiture: For Andrei Petrache, self-portraiture became a way to explore the relationship between artist and viewer. His triptych moved from direct confrontation to deliberate disconnection, culminating in a portrait of his parents. “The whole concept was: can I make a self-portrait without me in it?” he reflected. Andrei will study Architectural Engineering, where, as he put it, he hopes to use creativity “for a more purposeful motive.”
Facing Fears: Victoria Smuzna’s large-scale charcoal piece, Phobias, captured the overwhelming emotions of fear. “Our phobias are temporary,” she said. “As we get closer to them, we realise they’re not as intimidating.” Victoria, who discovered a passion for charcoal through this project, hopes to continue with the medium even as she pursues History at university.
Community and Belonging: Jinn Yin Wang explored the theme of “union” by representing four communities that shape her life - friends, LAET, London, and Haringey - through lino prints on muslin. “This project made me want to look around more - at the people in my life and how they can influence my work,” she said. Jinn will study International Relations but added, “Art will always be something I can turn back to.”
Consumption and Sustainability: Inspired by her love of geography, Mia Rolfe created time-lapse installations about fast fashion. “I wanted to explore how we consume so many clothes in our daily lives, and how it builds up over time,” she explained. Mia, who will study Geography at UCL with the aim of specialising in seismology, said the project has made her think more about meaning in art: “I hope any future work I make can evoke that kind of emotion.”
Hidden Connections: Zannatul Ferdaus experimented with cyanotype to reveal links between natural and manmade textures. “It’s very unpredictable…you never know what outcome you’re going to get,” she said of the process. Zannatul, who plans to study Architecture, reflected that working with installations has opened her up to “thinking about how structures and spaces can be made.”
Shared Challenges and Growth
Many students spoke about the challenges of scale, time, and experimentation. From broken sewing machines to the unpredictability of cyanotype, the process demanded resilience. Yet these obstacles became part of the learning: as Ella put it, “Many of my ideas began with something I had a small interest in, and I was given the chance to develop them further.”
The Significance of the Private View
Hosting the exhibition at the Sarabande Foundation gave students the invaluable experience of presenting their work in a professional gallery setting. It was a chance not only to celebrate their achievements but also to place their voices and ideas within the wider cultural landscape of Tottenham.
This milestone moment would not have been possible without the generous support of the Sarabande Foundation and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, whose commitment to nurturing young talent and strengthening community ties made the evening possible. We are also deeply grateful to Art Lead Teachers Carla Honess and Hannah Carter, whose guidance throughout the process has made the Art Department a place where creativity could truly flourish.
For the full interviews with Andrei, Ella, Jinn, Mia, Victoria and Zannatul please click on their respective tabs below.
Andrei Petrache
My name is Andrei Petrache. I'm a student at LAET, and I did A-level Art. This is a triptych, three paintings in one set, where I explored self-portraiture. At the start of my component, I wanted to see whether I could use self-portraiture to study the relationship between the artist and the viewer.
These are some of my later works from that project, where I no longer have the same connection with the viewer. Initially, my gaze stared straight at you in some of the paintings. But here, I wanted to create a feeling of disconnection especially with how the top two paintings are quite unfinished, while the last one is finished.
My gaze in all three is definitely looking away from the viewer. That’s how I portrayed the disconnection. Then, towards the end of my component, I wanted to push that further by making a self-portrait where my face isn’t in it.
These two people are my parents, and it’s quite an in-the-moment shot. You’d only see them in this fragile state - wearing pyjamas, really - through my eyes. So the idea of the self-portrait is that the only person who could see this moment is me. Painting it meant exposing something intimate about my parents.
So yeah, the whole concept was: can I make a self-portrait without me in it?
What challenges did you experience while creating the piece?
I guess the biggest challenge was the whole idea of building up to this point—this culmination of self-portraiture. Painting yourself over and over again is really difficult, especially because I’d never painted before A-level Art. It was my first time, so that made it even harder.
What do you hope people take away from your art?
Because I studied the idea of connection between the viewer and the artist, I want people to feel connected to my work. I want the viewer to know that this painting is something I gave you consent to see. It’s something you’re not meant to see—and me painting it is my way of making that connection with you. It’s me, as the artist, reaching out.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
I’m going on to study Architectural Engineering, and I didn’t want to give up creativity, which is why I chose A-level Art. I love expressing myself creatively, and while I also really enjoy maths, I didn’t want creativity to just become a hobby.
In A-level Art, I did paintings. At uni, I’ll be able to use my creativity for a more purposeful motive, I guess.
Andrei is currently at UCL studying Engineering and Architectural Design.
Ella Squires
My name is Ella Squires. We're looking at three sculptures that aim to present decay and reflect the life cycles of both humans and plants. I was primarily inspired by nature. I observed rotting flowers and noticed how their process of decay and the lines created mirrored patterns on humans, such as handprints and subtle lines found underneath leaves. I began to see the connections between humans and nature and how we are both part of a shared life cycle.
What challenges did you experience while creating the piece?
There were quite a few challenges in terms of the process and obstacles I had to overcome. For example, during my exam the sewing machine broke, which made things more difficult. I also found it challenging to refine my idea and clearly define what I wanted to portray to people.
What do you hope people take away from your art?
I hope people are able to reflect on and appreciate the life cycles we all go through. It is important to embrace every stage of life, including ageing, and to recognise the deep connections we have with nature.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
This experience has really helped me become more determined, resilient and independent. Many of my ideas began with something I had a small interest in and I have been given the chance to develop them further with support from my teachers. These are skills I will carry with me throughout life.
What are your plans after LAET?
I plan to study History at the University of Bristol.
Ella is currently at the University of Bristol studying History.
Jinn Yin wang
My name is Jinn Yin Wang, and this is my final piece. It explores my community and is created using lino, block ink, and printed onto muslin—which is a really thin fabric.
What inspired you to create this piece?
Our theme was union, and I initially wanted to look into crowds in cults. But I felt like I needed to make it more personal to me. So instead of looking at crowds in cults, I decided to focus on crowds within communities.
I started thinking about gatherings, and specifically ones in my own life. These four separate fabrics each explore a different community that represents me: my friends, my LAET community as a wider cohort, my London community, and my Haringey community.
What challenges did you experience while creating the piece?
The first challenge was exploring my community more deeply. I think I hadn’t really considered who was in my community or how many people actually belong to different ones. When I looked closer, I realised some communities were more important to me than I thought.
My friends are definitely the closest community I have. I do have quite a lot of friends, so it was easy to take pictures of them in crowds and use those to create a larger version. They’re the biggest crowd in the piece, which shows how much they mean to me.
I didn’t feel as connected to my London community. I knew people in London, but mostly in North London, I hadn’t explored much of South London. So I took a trip into central London and photographed crowds there, which was easy because there are always people around.
I then cut those images onto lino and printed them. That section is the last one in the piece. There aren’t many figures, and the spaces between them are less packed, to show how sparse that community feels to me.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
It’s helped me explore things I hadn’t really considered before. We all have ideas about community and family, but how many of us actually look into it properly?
For me, this project made me want to look around more - at the people in my life and how they can influence my work. I think that’s something I’ll carry forward in my creative process.
What are your plans after LAET?
I won’t be continuing art full-time, I’m planning to study international relations. But I do want to keep using art as a way to release stress. I know uni will get harder, but art will always be something I can turn back to.
Jinn is currently at UCL studying Anthropology.
Mia Rolfe
My name is Mia Rolfe, and we’re looking at pieces of artwork about mass consumption.
What inspired you to make this piece of art?
I decided to make these pieces because I wanted to explore how we consume so many clothes in our daily lives—how it builds up over time, ends up in landfills, and creates environmental impacts that we’re often not really aware of.
What were some of the major challenges you faced while creating this piece?
I’d say the biggest challenge was how time-consuming it was. Which, in a way, reflects how we consume clothing over time too. Stuffing the pieces, creating the time-lapse video, and going through that whole process was really hard—especially because I made three of them. This one took a long time, and it still wasn’t finished. So yeah, that was a major challenge for me.
Were there any other experiences that helped you with this piece?
Definitely my love for geography and my interest in sustainability. I’ve always cared about how we should conserve our planet and try to protect it, and that really influenced this work.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
I’d say in the future, if I do any artwork, I’ll think more about the meaning behind it. There’s a lot of meaning in this piece—not that it’s obvious without context—but I think it’s important that artwork has meaning. I hope any future work I make can evoke that kind of emotion.
What are your plans after LAET?
After LAET, I plan to study geography at UCL. I want to go on to do seismology, because that’s just my passion.
Mia is currently at QMUL studying Geography.
Victoria smuzna
My name is Victoria Smuzna, and this art piece is called Phobias.
My project explores phobias and the different effects and emotions they bring out in us. I wanted to show how overwhelming and overpowering phobias can be by drawing this large, almost scared reaction to confront the viewer with how phobias confront us.
What were some of the challenges you faced creating this piece?
Probably time management, but also the large scale. It’s so big that you don’t want to lose too much detail, but you also want it to look realistic without just straight-up copying the photo.
What do you hope people take away from your art?
That our phobias are temporary. As we get closer to them, we realise they’re not as intimidating, and we can start to feel a bit bigger than our fears.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
Coming to LAET and working with charcoal which I’d never used before really helped me find a passion for it. I hope to continue using charcoal in the future.
Victoria is currently at St Andrew's University studying History.
Zannatul Ferdaus
What is your name? And can you describe what we’re looking at?
My name is Zannatul Ferdaus. Right now, you're looking at three installations that I created. There’s a set of three hanging from the ceiling, a photo book displayed below, and a suspended acetate installation.
What challenges did you experience while creating the piece?
The biggest challenge for me was learning cyanotype. It’s very unpredictable—you never know what outcome you’re going to get. Half the time it works, half the time it doesn’t. It’s a process of trial and error, and there’s so much that can go wrong. You just have to pick out what works and build from there.
What inspired you to create this piece?
I was inspired by the idea of creating links between things we don’t usually see as connected or things we don’t think have much in common. My aim was to highlight the interdependence between manmade textures and natural textures, and to show that relationship in a more physical way.
What do you hope people take away from your art?
I hope people see how, when layered, textures can merge and interact. I want them to notice how these different surfaces actually look more similar than we might expect. It’s really about the viewer’s interpretation so hopefully they take that away.
How do you feel this experience has influenced your creative process for the future?
I want to study architecture at university. Most of my art has revolved around installations, and I think working with space and light in my pieces has opened me up to thinking about how structures and environments can be designed. I’ve had a lot of time to experiment with how I use space and how to make the most of it.
Zannatul is currently at the University of Kent studying Architecture.