'A-Z and Back Again'

Multimedia

I have written and illustrated a storyboard for a graphic memoir. The narrative maps the many moods and conflicting feelings often present in various aspects of our day-to-day lives.

Inspired by an A-Z list of emotions, from anxiety through to zen, the story is presented alongside artworks that visually respond to the subject matter.

Exhibited to you as a digital book, I have carefully designed the visual elements to encourage a reading of not just the words, but of the images also. This allows for a deeper connection to the ideas being communicated, as well as leaving space for you to create your own.

Presentation

My project focuses on costume design for the lesbian vampire ‘Carmilla’ from Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 short story of the same name. I explored the relationship between vampirism, gender and sexuality and how vampirism could be a freedom from the confines of the patriarchy. I investigated floral and fruit motifs as a symbol of female sexuality through painting, drawing and embroidery. I translated this research into fashion and costume design. 

Presentation

My work in this project exhibits a fun and playful experimentation with colour, my subjects being everything from ordinary household items, mixed media craft compositions and live models. My main focus was to explore colour theory and the physiological impact colour has on not only the final aesthetic result but the audience’s perceptions too. I was heavily inspired by some of my favourite photographers; namely David LaChapelle and Nan Goldin and their most vibrant and exciting work and wanted to see how far I could go with my own ideas and materials at hand. The potential that arises with any colour-focused body of work is huge, but I managed to explore a great variety of concepts and ideas.

Presentation

This project investigates the theme of family tabletop games such as Kerplunk, Snakes and ladders and twister. The project developed initially by making a series of drawings and paintings and concluded with a sculpture inspired by Twister. This piece of work is made from casts of my own hands and feet, which were then placed on circular coloured mirrored plates that symbolise the colour circles found in the game.

Originally I had wanted to create a piece of work that could be interacted by being rotated on a disc. Due to covid restrictions I had to make alterations to the idea, instead creating a series of installation photographs that could show the concept in different ways and perspectives. By considering alterations to the lighting and composition, I was able to contrast the chaotic and playful atmosphere you would expect to find during a game of twister, with a more subdued tone to emphasise the poetic relationship between the forms of the hands and feet. The casting of only one persons dismembered hands and feet and subtle colour palette work together to explore feelings of distancing experienced during the pandemic.

'Biomorphic and Parametric'

I was inspired by the task to research what biomorphic and parametric forms are in aid of my work in object and spatial design. The task was to use a combination of the two 'styles', expressed in a product form. I looked at lighting as my chosen effect and found shadow and light art to be very useful points of research as well as my inspiration, came heavily from my research in architectural styles also.

I tried a range of experimental crafting processes and materials through the project that could create effect through lightspan. A conclusion led me to deciding on the pieces here as a contrast in styles and process to one and other.

I chose moss as a natural material portraying a biophilic style that doubled as a natural light filter in itself, crafted onto a wire frame acting as the parametric structure for the lamp. Versus, a 'brutalist' styled concrete cube lamp, parametrised by the surrounding walls of the mould prior to cast with biomorphic relief where I designed the pattern that flowed off my hand as naturally as I could to make a stencil which then was transferred onto foam, and then cut out and added as part of the mould.

Presentation

I chose to write a brief that reflected the times and current situation and therefore enabled me to produce a large amount of work with multiple choices of media and medium. With this in mind, I frequently layered and combined media to achieve mixed results which more often than not were positive.

I enabled myself to focus on my everyday surroundings and the beauty within them which then allowed me to have a broad spectrum of subject matter from a relatively small area. Through choosing architecture as my main focus I enabled myself to get a varied choice of shapes from the forms within this area of focus.

My palette was based around nature so my colour choice was naturally bright, fluorescent and bold but also allowed for monochromatic work too. I wanted to draw a bridge between fashion/textiles and fine art which I fully achieved by working on a large canvas with multiple media creating diverse works that could be viewed as fine art pieces but also taken and placed in a textiles setting.

'Local Pandemic Landscape'

I create paintings from both traditional and non traditional media. Through my art I aim to touch a state of consciousness of place and evoke feelings of being ‘there’ through the judicious use of media, the celebration of colour and the employment of expressive form.

My 'Local Pandemic Landscape' series explores the concepts of place, community and emotion in my local area during the National COVID 19 lockdown. Employing the notion of psychogeography, during lockdown I embarked on local COVID led walking, photography, sound recording, gathering found objects and collecting COVID related memorabilia and data on mood from local residents. The materials and information gathered were used to form and inform the ensuing artwork.

My Place series features images of remembered landscapes utilising colour, media and form to express the myriad of memories and emotions relating to them.

Presentation

Places once lived, people once loved, dreams once cherished. In our lives we abandon just as much as we hold on to and whether gloomy or pragmatic, some of the thoughts and memories of these abandonments are carried around with us every day. Utilising the aesthetic of 'abandoned' both figuratively and metaphorically and identifying what it means in my tiny world is the foundation of 'we cannot escape anguish, for we are anguish' which reflects on past, present and future experiences.

Presentation

I decided to take inspiration from the sea/marine life for this project. The sea has always been full of mysteries, so enlivening and expressing my designs with sea creatures was an interesting focal point for my final major project.

Here is a dress I have created out of two-toned shimmer organza, I tried to bring in the characteristics I found from the fins of betta fish and how freely jellyfish move in the water, I used a sheer type of fabric to give a layered effect and to add some texture. I also decided to include some ruffled organza trim to add volume.

Presentation

Brazilian jiu jitsu has helped me to overcome a lot of personal issues/traumas and has helped me gain confidence - not only in my training but also in my day-to-day life. 

I wanted to show that the sport isn't as male-dominated as it is made to seem and that there are safe, professional environments where women can learn to defend themselves. I hope that my work will encourage and inspire other women to join the jiu-jitsu community.

Presentation

My brief was to portray a series of still lifes, taking inspiration from the Synectic trigger word ‘combine’. To compose the still lifes I used arrangements of objects from my home. Lockdown has been an opportunity to observe the familiar but unnoticed possessions around me, then explore ways of representing them.

Experimentation with processes and colour palettes has been part of this project. For example, I enjoyed painting mixtures of shapes and shadows using a triad of earth colours or using vibrant complementary colours. Also printing from leftover acrylic paints and glazing medium on a paper palette - then drawing marks into the imprint to represent still lifes. Online life drawing sessions attended during this project were very useful to hone my observational skills.

Presentation

I wanted to intertwine some of my passions into one - fashion, textiles and skateboarding. I wanted the design I created to project a positive message and for it to be welcoming. Using bright colours to easily capture the attention of others, the aim is for as many people to see it as possible.

Skating is a sport that so many people enjoy, whether it’s casually or competitively. When it comes to skating all that really matters is that you’re having fun with it, whether it’s street skating, cruising or skating on the ramps. Skateboarding is an inclusive sport, anyone and everyone is welcome.

My aim for this project is to create a print suitable for skateboarders and apply this print with textile techniques.

Presentation

You will see how I create surface patterns for interior spaces from traditional abstract techniques, like calligraphy, painting/drawing. You will also immerse yourself into a digital world, of formulated digital repeat patterns, 4D hypnotic animations, as well as my visualisations into an interior space.

I am a mixed media artist, who enjoys experimenting with lines, marks and texture through gestural movement. I tend to follow a formula: experiment and develop. I repeat this process, through using different materials, such as fine liner and acrylic, as well as processes such as printmaking, and Photoshop until I am able to create intricate pieces that may have started from a one-minute exercise.

The inspiration behind my work tends to investigate creating harmony through using contradicting themes, such as nature, architecture, or emotions like peace and discomfort. I enjoy merging contrasting themes into one, and creating a fluidity and balance through visual communication.

In this presentation there will be work from my Final Major Project - inspired by Islamic art, and its use of calligraphy, arabesque patterns and repeat patterns. I have also included prints from my Diagnostic project which includes similar themes as the title was “Geometry, sequence and repetition”.

Presentation

Working predominantly in the cryptic and curious territory of monochrome, my practice scrutinises the embodiment of internalised sentiment. Delving deep into abstraction, I seek to understand the discourse of paint as a prompt of emotion both within myself and the audience. With an interest in goth subculture and in light of my work being largely autobiographical, my practice transpires to be dark and aesthetically absorbent in palette. Considering different application techniques, be it using my hands or using leaves, I am vividly interested in process and the visual alterations that various techniques create.

Fiercely engaged with texture, I am determined to explore gesture and spontaneity; pushing the boundaries of what painting means to the artist themselves. This could be considered as the indelible question of; in painting, how has an individuals own life and experiences influenced the result of a particular work, even in the case of photo-realism? In other words, is painting inherently correlated with the painter’s emotion, even if it is unintentional by the artist themselves? Considering this approach, I don't exhaustively plan my work, but rather uses it as a mechanism of understanding for internal and external happenings.

Presentation

This piece is a digital character design I created to take part in a horror/fantasy story I wrote called ‘Mr Bunny’s Frantic Funhouse’. It’s name is ‘The Black Eyed Fiend’. The story is about these games that take place every year put on by the elite, called the Funhouse Games, that takes place in a, you guessed it, funhouse, and the winner wins 100 million coins. But in true horror fashion, with each task/level at least one of the contestants must be killed off, until there is only one person left, a Battle Royale if you will. This is where The Black Eyed Fiend comes to play, as he comes to make things a little more difficult for the contestants but a little more fun for the elite. 

'2020 Vision'

My triptych represents the three main sensory elements of normal life that during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic we, as a society, sorely missed. I have created three advert-style posters, each accompanied by an interactive element designed to replicate the lost or altered sensory experiences and help us as we navigated the new reality of 2020.

The first piece - 'Back to Reality' - is centred around how the audio landscape changed during lockdown. Put on the headphones and tune into the sounds of a lively city at night, or be immersed in the sounds of a busy office - taking your ears back to pre-pandemic normality.

Next in the installation is ‘2020 Vision’. You’re invited to leave 2020 behind and look through a ‘PPE’ lens into a future where everyone is vaccinated. It’s a technicolour future representing the return to the vibrancy of the lives we want back, while also referencing the NHS rainbow of hope.

Finally, ‘Human Touch’ reintroduces the tactile comfort we have lost in our socially-distanced lives. If you miss holding hands with a loved one or just a handshake with a colleague, why not try the ‘human touch simulator’ – offered today at just £3.99!

'Light: Still Life' and 'Nature v Manmade'

Light is essential in creating a successful image, it is what makes photography possible. Lighting, whether it be natural or artificial, determines the brightness, darkness, tone and atmosphere, therefore it is necessary to be able to manipulate light to convey information and emotion in an image.

In my final major project, I aimed to cover a range of styles within still life photography by considering a variety of lighting techniques as well as thinking about the colours and composition of the image. I wanted to be creative with light, and how it fell on my subjects. I used only items I could find around the house, to prove that ordinary objects can look extraordinary, in the right light.

Although still life photography was the theme for my project, my passion is with wildlife and nature photography. In my diagnostic project ‘Nature v Manmade’ my aim was to photograph the relationship between the two. I aimed to achieve balanced composition, good natural lighting and with a lot of patience and a bit of luck, be at the right place at the right time.

Presentation (contains nudity)

This project and my diagnostic project were about relevant ethical and political issues which face the fashion industry today. My project revolved around the ideology of the killing of animals for their fur/skin in the fashion industry and to visually communicate this subject to an audience asking the question of is it right or wrong that we kill animals for their fur in an age where it isn’t necessary to do so.

I wanted to explore the history of this topic in a range of practices whether it be through painting, collage, or image production. These pieces are collages which both explore the graphic nature and content of the subject but in two different lights. The work on the left covers the history of the fur trade, exploring how it has changed over time from periods during the 18th century where fur trapping was a necessity, contrasting to modern day where it’s a question of whether we need to compared to having to. The work on the right hand side, looks at celebrity culture, in terms of famous peoples' influence to modern day fashion and starting fur trends. It also tackles the lust of wanting to feel luxurious and how far someone will go to feel or look a certain way.

Presentation

I enjoy working with waste materials, to help reduce waste going to landfill, and repurposing them into something new. During the last lockdown I engaged with my local community and supplied an information pack and instructions on how participants could metamorphose their waste materials into an artwork that would resemble a happy memory from their time in lockdown. To assist association further with the lockdown period, I arranged the participants' tangible bricolage of rainbow coloured artworks in a rainbow shape, as many of us have become familiar with this as a symbol of lockdown. The rainbow is also a symbol of hope, diversity, sexuality, acceptance, respect and equality, and I hoped choosing this symbolic shape would enable the viewers to feel included in the collaborative artwork.

The artworks were then displayed within my local community and the colourful, engaging and fun display appealed to all age groups and was a tool that could help bring people, socially distanced, together at a time when we had to be apart.

'The Study of Presence and Absence'

My study of presence and absence has led me through a journey into photography, film and editing. My idea was to explore what happens when you edit key information. I focused initially on points of impact, and the moment of consequence for an action.

I was interested in understanding if I can engage the viewers perception and anxieties by creating images without explanation, for example creating sequences depicting the moment of impact or just before.

By removing the moment of impact in a film sequence where I filmed myself falling. Whilst the narrative shows presence of context and participant, the absence of outcome leaves questions about purpose and meaning.

The absence of impact is a jarring note in the sequential flow of the film. The absence of information is addressed in the mind of the viewer meaning they will cognitively build their own explanation altering the consciousness of reality.

The project is brought together with the still images of the impact moments collected from the original film.

Presentation

The aim for my project were to create a dystopian, alien environment for a video game. I created a settlement made from shipping containers which were displaced during a volcanic eruption. The survivors live in DIY shacks which are balanced between the edges of a canyon. The images were sketched in pencil and coloured digitally, and I took inspiration from video games like Borderlands and Fallout when researching for the project.

My diagnostic project was to produce character design for a graphic novel. My character is Veronica, an undead woman who was brought back to life by a nuclear spill. She was created to live in the world of Jamie Hewlett’s 'Tank Girl', and my images are a combination of pen drawings and digital paintings.

Presentation

For my final project I explored visual storytelling as inspired by the original silent graphic novel published in 1909 by Frans Masereel. I created characters and an original story using a sequence of storyboard illustrations for my graphic novel called “Mori", a retelling of the Morrigan myth. Mythology is a body of storytelling created over hundreds of years by countless contributors and they belong to no one, and the Morrigan witch warrior queen whose legend links to King Arthur.

My illustrative style was formed through a desire to communicate using a drawing process that was new and would challenge me to think differently about positive and negative space. I experimented with ink, paint, collage and digital media until I realised my strongest graphic work is in linoleum prints. Over four weeks I learnt a new process designing and produced 21 carvings to compliment my original story.

The distinctive quirky mark making of lino prints compliment the metamorphosis from a human to animal. I aimed to craft images that could communicate through tension or rhythm. I have selected pivotal moments in the story along with key pieces that were made before the final stages.