In the distant pre pandemic past it was always with great excitment that we would visit the degree shows across Scotland and on occasion, south of the border, to see whats happening in the various schools our graduates are going to or will be applying to. Keeping up to date with what is happening in the art schools is an essential part of what we do on CAP as it keeps us up to date with contemporary thinking and practices at undergrad and Masters levels. However it also gives us a chance to catch up with some of our own amazing graduates who have gone on to degree study. This year was the first opportunity since 2019 for us to get out into Degree Show land, so excitment was high as we jumped at the chance to get away from the screen and out into the world.
This year the majority of exCAPers were graduating from Glasgow School of Art’s Sculpture & Environmental Art course and we begin there with Niamh Mairead Cullen Dunphy:
Next up Rachael Watson who responded directly to the restrictions encountered during the pandemic with a series of interventions into various public spaces using hand made posters to raise questions of authority and compliance.
Coire Simpson‘s practice navigates a fear of the unknown, finding meaning through storytelling. She is interested in the ways in which we come in and out of being, drawing upon both personal and collective narratives of grief, loss, and healing. Recent work moves between physical and digital environments, using 3D animation and installation to explore the ambiguos nature of memory between virtal and real life spaces.
Nirver Kaur’s pots, clad in colourfully paterened knitted cosy’s conjour ideas of the domesticity and craft adopted and adapted by many during the pandemic.
Heading beyond Scotland this year we had our first graduate from the University of the Arts London Camberwell School of Painting. Reueben Sian de Gourlay has produced impressive large scale allegorical works reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites, however asRohena West explains in their review of Reubens work they go beyond any direct comparrison.
Unfortunately this year we were not able to get to all the degree shows we would have liked to for various reasons but here are some of the other works that caught our interest at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee:
DJCAD Dundee: Although there were no CAPalumni graduating this year Ben and I did catch up with wonderful exCAPers now living, working and studying in Dundee.
Edinburgh College School of Artand Design presents their annualend of year exhibition, showcasingwork from Graduating HigherEducation Diploma students
May 2–22 2022
Edinburgh College:Graduate Diploma Show
it was a pleasure to be able to go in person for the show.
I was impressed totally by the work, hard work of all the students.
Attending to the shows allows me to be surrounded by the artistic world and to have opportunity to talk to my colleagues , lectures and to talk through some future opportunities like UNI.
It was really uplifting overall.
Fruitmarket gallery, Edinburgh,Scotland
Rachel Hughes
“This project was based on me discovering myself through my cultural identity.
Throughout this project I explore bringing together Scottish and Malaysian culture to create something new that helped to represent me. I looked at art techniques, national flowers, fabrics, dances , and music from both countries” – R.Hughes
After 2 years of online learning and teaching it was an absolute pleasure and a privilage to return to an in person Graduate Showcase. Despite our live online presentations in 2020 & 2021 being a fantastic exeprience for us and a huge success it was with great relief on the part of myself, Jennie and Colette that this years presentation was at the prestigous Fruitmarket Gallery.
You can see the work presented in the galleries new warehouse space below:
Vera Bartolozzi:
My practice explores archetypes and gender with the use of found objects, sculptures, performance, and installation. After considering the universal symbols of the circle, source of life, and the pilar, activating power, in prehistoric art around the world, and then considering some of the main archetypes of Ancient Greece, I have inverted the features of some goddesses and gods from the Greek pantheon, and created screen-prints of the two renewed archetypes. On the floor, one vulvic and one phallic circle of sculptures offer the stage for an imagined ritual of integration.
Vera has direct entry offers for both Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) at Dundee University
Barbara Di Tucci:
Shifting and floating. Clouds are the greatest protagonists of this arduous world. Teaching us how to endure and persevere, without changing our true nature. I am a huge lover of those ethereal and yet powerful elements. I define myself a “clouds hunter”, often looking for the most captivating moment to capture their immense beauty. Life is already hard as it is, and our constant worrying accentuates and influences defining portions of it. Just like clouds do, our thoughts are constantly flowing, and “following” us throughout our daily existence. A perpetual cycle that powers itself through the ongoing emotions seasoning our life. In often cases, it hides distressful circumstances, which are merely visible when getting closer to knowing others.
Barbara is returning to her home town in Italy after several successful years in Edinburgh.
Kirsten Grant:
‘Living Quietly’ is a project about the day-to-day life, the mundane tasks that can build up when suffering from mental illness. For the past couple of months I have been documenting my life through a visual diary and how the pandemic has affected me post lockdown.
Kirsten is returning to their home town of Brighton to develop their art and music practices.
Rachel Hughes:
This project was based on me discovering myself through my cultural identity. Throughout this project I explored bringing together Scottish and Malaysian culture to create something new that helped represent me. I looked at art techniques, national flowers, fabrics, dances, and music from both countries. The piece I have on display is a multi-purpose piece of fabric, currently being used as a tablecloth but could also be used as a kilt or shawl. Accompanying this is a short photo montage video with music from both countries playing.
Rachel has direct entry offers for bothe Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) at Dundee University
Tammy McMaster Stewart:
‘I know this place but it doesn’t know me’
Tammy has been offered has direct entry for Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh University, Glasgow School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at Dundee University
Sean Obrzud:
The inspiration behind these artworks grew from the idea of creative rekindling. Relearning, trusting, and nurturing creative intuition. Each composition feels like an ode to growth, snapshots into a developing meditative practice of creative self-confidence.
Sean has direct entry offer for the Painting School at Glasgow School of Art. (GSA)
Caitlin Porteous:
This portrait serves as a reflection of my relationship with femininity and an invitation for the audience to think about what ‘feminine’ means.
The various expectations of women – young, attractive, hairless bodies – and the need to conform to the unachievable is instilled into girls from an early age. I am using this work as a means to reflect on how I view and present myself in everyday life.
Caitlin is currently looking for a studio to develop her painting practice in Edinburgh.
Finlay Warner:
In this project I wanted to show the loss I felt at the demolition of a city’s historical buildings and to combine that with the inspiration and colour of the architecture of Spain. I achieved the feeling of the loss of structure by creating an abstract piece which has allowed me to represent the feeling and drama in the loss of the historical buildings and cityscape. (This is a work in progress)
Finlay has acheived his dream of gaining entry to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) at Dundee University.
Ben Wilson:
My ritualistic gown was inspired by traditional pagan costumes and 70s folk horror films, and the small offerings are based on ancient methods of treating epilepsy or the ‘falling sickness’, for example the Romans used peony roots and hare’s stomachs and continuing on from that I included natural substances that I believe helped like turmeric and ginger. The performative ritual shown in my film would be to ward off unwanted epilepsy spirits or demons.
Ben is our prize winning artist for outstanding studentship over the last 2 years. As a result of his hard work and dedication he has received offers from Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), GSA, DJCAD and Goldsmiths University, London
Murdo Wilson-Watt:
For this piece of work I wanted to capture the streets of Edinburgh as I have found myself walking them in their almost never ending, winding paths of asphalt and cobbles. With this collage piece I have strayed away from my initial intended idea how ever I feel the collaged work highlights the multi levelled nature of Edinburgh’s layout and housing as a whole.
Murdo is taking a year out to further develop his portfolio.
:
“Damn her, the old witch; she has lived too long. Let her burn” – Patrick Sellar, Factor of the Earl of Sutherland, 1814.
Coming from a family who have experienced the generational trauma of forced displacement, the personal accounts of the Highland Clearances are painfully relatable.
In particular, accounts from the burnings of Strathnaver have driven the need to create this series of works.
It is important to me that history be actively remembered and engaged with; and this pattern of displacement is arguably still perpetuated today, with the majority of land in Scotland owned by nationals of other countries, not resident on the land owned.
This is a matter of course not limited to Scotland, as we can see specific groups of people the world over being forced from their ancestral lands again and again.
Despite the obvious challenges of the last 14 months our graduates have worked tirelessly to achieve their qualifications and future goals. This year our graduates have been offered direct entry to the following institutions at SCQF Levels 8 & 9
Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh Uni: BAhons Sculpture, Intermedia & MA Fine Art
Glasgow School of Art: BAhons Sculpture *& Environmental Art, Interior Design
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design Dundee Uni. BAhons Fine Art & Fine Art & Philosophy
Greys School of Art, Aberdeen: BAhons Contemporary Art Practice
Central Saint Martins UAL, London: BAhons Art
UHI Perth: BAhons Art & Contemporary Practices
So please join us and our special guests a week from today on our youtube channel at 7pm to celebrate their remarkable achievements!
Featuring work from all graduating artists and new works and presentations from our special guests including:
Neil Nodzak (Artist, Lecturer, Learning Technologist)
Kaitlyn Walker-Stewart (Artist, Curator, Founder of Staged Live Performance platform)
Shareen Sorour (Artist, AIRetc.., Educator)
Khadea Kuchenmeister (Artist, Rhubaba Committee Member & former Intern at Collective Gallery)
Please follow our social media channels for daily updates in the lead up to the live launch:
Well its Degree Show time again and from Aberdeen to London, Edinburgh to Glasgow & Newcastle to Carlisle and this years #CAPetcAlumni are having an impact up and down the UK.
This wee saw the openings of shows at Slade College of Art and Central Saint Martins, both London and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee.
Rhona Foster, who graduated from CAPetc in 2013 going on to study for 4 years at the Slade School of Art, produces video works featuring a mix of surreal cardboard adorned characters interacting everyday situations and settings. You can see excerpts from the ‘Shorts in Murmansk’ series below and if you’re in London today you can rush over and see the show before it finishes this evening.
Just a 20 minute walk away and open until Sunday the 28th May id the Central Saint Martin Degree Show which this year features 2 of our 2014 CAPetcAlumni Kaitlyn Walker-Stewart and Joshua Waterson.
Kaitlyn’s work is an examination of a personal interest in the relationship between celebrities and their fans. Her recent work compromises performance, video and photography often uses the Red Carpet as a sculptural platform to examine the phenomenon of the star and the impact on the general public and contemporary culture.
Also showing at CMS this week Joshua Waterson examines sound, structure, rehearsal, memory and preparation also through performance
Finally, also open until Sunday 28th is the Duncan Of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, DJCAD, in Dundee where #CAPetcAlumni 2013 Jenny Souter is graduating from the Time Based Art & Digital Film course.
Jenny’s work has taken the form of mental health advocacy. Her choice of subject matter is coloured by her own experiences of living with mental illness and the difficulties this creates in the formation of an identity. She is a firm believer in the importance of allowing individuals to control the narrative of their illness. Her tentative and raw approach, in her writing and drawings, aims to reflect the inevitable uncertainty that results from trying to navigate a functional life.
contemporaryartetc.com 