Wandering around the work of this year’s DJCAD graduates before the award plaques go up is a new and somewhat freeing experience. A dauntless spectator may attempt at a few guesses, but this year the work is so varied in media and approach that it’s even difficult to label it under course names; deep reverberating sounds and extensive processes radiate from the Art Philosophy and Contemporary Practice students whilst the Fine Art students’ work oozes complex ideologies. The Time Based Art & Digital Film work is sprinkled throughout the building, granting this year’s Degree Show a cohesive feel that fits well with showcasing such a close knit, collaborative year.

Helen King

In one of the Crawford building’s bright, open rooms, Helen King’s (APCP) immaculate blueprints peek out from behind the massive concrete slab that both greets and blocks you upon entering. Coming to notice how precariously the piece balances causes a tinge of doubt towards the supposedly stable walls around you. Combat this doubt against the blueprints, and they begin to act as a warrant for the Brutal Modernist architecture tropes; old-school, time consuming processes take precedence over new technologies and a long spent thought becomes the documentation and justification of one side of a polarized opinion. The concrete proves itself, standing tall in the foreground.

Sandra Schneider

Juxtapose King’s solid concrete slab with Sandra Schneider’s (Fine Art) evocative study on language; Schneider’s clicking tongue and slow, purposeful poetry fill the room as much as any matter, concrete or human. The vibe is more like a 70s living room and feels like a living, tactile set of a Svankmajer film. Tongues burgeon from the unassuming, floral wallpaper like moulding mushrooms and, although the soft light from the lamp and dark wood may make you feel at home, illusions of puddles and wet patches deter you from taking a seat. The subtly dominating sound of a trickling leak (or ‘bubbly saliva’) give the feel that this room, a metaphor for language itself, is weakened and weakening and the voice plays the part of the foundations and the leak causing all the destruction.

Veera Krouglov

Fulfilling Dundee’s recent appetite for graphic, psychedelic murals, Veera Krouglov’s fun-filled room contains all the characters you would want to meet on a dark night. The life-size doodles and miniature ceramic creatures invoke a childishly mature personality, as though Krouglov has managed to embody the exact behind-the-scenes sensibility of concealed adult humour in a kids TV show.

Sean Forsyth and Ewan T Gibson

Hazel Holloway deploys the term ‘physical empathy’, exploring her bodily self-awareness in restricted material work, and Eve Kerr’s filmed performance ‘Clay Kavala Graha’  displays a metaphoric extraction of artistic intuition through pure material. Shifting from materiality to the screen, ‘Elsewhere’, a beautiful short film by Sean Forsyth (Fine Art) and Ewan T Gibson (TBA), brings forth a celebration of the landscape on our doorstep through the ingenuity of unexpected interaction between a Fox and a Crow. The strong array of films this year is not to be missed on the big screen, showcasing on Wednesday the 25th of May at the DCA.

Kieran Milne and Thomas Stephenson

As far as guessing games go, the RSA Awards are a tough one to call. One room stands out as a tough competitor, housing the work of Kieran Milne and Thomas Stephenson (both Fine Art). On Milne’s side of the room, light streams in from the big old windows into a space as sleek and calm as an office in the Netherlands. Serene tones of Riso green prevail throughout the publications, houseplants and wall pieces, and exit signs act as an invitation for escape through the black kissing gate in the foreground. In Thomas Stephenson’s work, the name ‘wood burning stove’ manifests literally, at first glance beautifully and traditionally constructed, yet a strong satirical warning emanates from within; an uncompromising illustration of the destructive passivity we undertake in the daily living of our lives.

One thing that shines throughout this years’ Degree Show is an unwavering awareness of the artists’ surroundings, into which each work proclaims a corner of it’s own. An undoubtedly outstanding show from the graduates, Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design will keep you roaming for hours. It’s open until the 29th of May and the work’s above are just a small selection from the many, many memorable works on show from the emerging talent that is the class of 2016.

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design continues until  29 May in Dundee. Find out more information online here.

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Against the backdrop of Edinburgh in high summer (think festival, tourists, doubled population, general fringey-ness) Edinburgh College of Art is once again going through the Degree Show motions, this time in the form of its Masters show. The School of Art offers 11 students graduating from the ‘Contemporary Art Practice’ course. There is less of the sprawling, chaotic, ‘run of the building’ feeling that the earlier summer degree show offers. Instead, a smaller more concise offering allows this year’s Contemporary Art Practice class to present a thoughtful show. Spread across 5 rooms, there is a sense that the Masters students have approached the show with sensitivity to the curatorial process.

Phoebe Mitchell by Gareth Easton Photography

Upon entering the first room on the ground floor there is an immediate sense of refinement and a call and response between the spaces of the artists involved. In particular the work of Kirsty Macleod and Phoebe Mitchell sit well alongside each other. Mitchell’s paintings appear to be exercises in erasure that seem to question the very nature of painting itself. Thirty-one paintings in total, it is an impressive effort from the artist, upon reading about Mitchell’s ‘ritualistic routine’ the amount of work, alongside the intuitive mark-making (and more specifically ‘un-mark making’ if there is such a word), call to mind the obsessive nature of what it means to paint, or to be someone who makes things in already over-saturated circumstances.

This pre-occupation with making sits well alongside the work of Macleod, this time it is the medium of sculpture that questions the processes of making. Parts of instruction manuals are laser cut into perspex and lie strewn around an array of plinth type structures. In a nod to traditional materials the back wall of the space is clad entirely in wood, a striking relationship to the 3D printed elements that sit in front of it. There is a playful humour in this work, Macleod doesn’t give the audience this on a plate, but on further inspection there is an absurdity to the foam plinths, and the placement of individual elements is done with a wry eye for detail.

Work by Kirsty Macleod, image by Steve Fuller

Kirsty Macleod by Gareth Easton Photography

Alongside this, there are two other offerings in this room, Tom Rodgers and Abigail Smith, both working in Black and White, but with distinct differences. One working firmly with the camera (Rodgers), and the other adamantly without (Smith). Rodgers presents a quiet body of work, surrounding themes of home through traditional means of black and white photography. Whilst Smith rounds off the room’s pre-occupation with making. The processes of traditional film come to the fore in her room of slide projectors, complete with nostalgic mechanical clunking.

Moving upstairs, the first room encountered is an airy one, with the work of Malcolm O’Connell and Danny Lamb. O’Connell’s work is striking upon entry, filling the floor space with large framework structures of wood and glass. There is a sense of the work bringing the outside in, from the echoed reflections through ECA’s vast windows, to the green behind his work ‘Storholmen’ which I am told echoes the green of the doors in the building seen through said windows (a nice geographical touch). There is an honesty to materials within the work, and the effect against Lamb’s garish perspex and spray paint offering is jarring. Old meets new in this room. The quiet material strengths of O’Connell’s sculptures are offset by the frenetic Photoshop style brushstrokes of Lamb’s paintings. The room brings the mind back to the processes of making that were so apparent downstairs. There is a preoccupation with the precariousness of traditional processes, and this room serves to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional art and design values versus digital processes.

Work by Malcolm O’Connell, image by Steve Fuller

Next door there is an immersive environment by Fu-Le Chao which is at first confusing with a large woven hammock or platform hanging heavily in the middle of the room. The look is that of a stage set, rendered out of materials such as paper and card. It is only the addition of a small unassuming screen behind the door that points you to the subject matter, a panda clambers languorously from a bamboo strewn platform, it is a live feed of the webcam footage from Edinburgh Zoo. It is hard not to be sucked into this viewing material, and after a few minutes in the mirroring environment I leave with thoughts of voyeurism and otherness swirling uncomfortably through my mind.

This feeling is soon quashed by the in-your-face messages of Cat Meighan’s sculpture, her giant dazzle painted ‘£7K’ (roughly the amount the students have paid for this particular course) alongside a large set of scales shout at you. Cynical yet playful, it is a bold piece that commands the space well, balancing a large room. The large scale paintings of Gezi Yao take up an entire wall, my first impression is that they are hung strangely high, perhaps demanding to be revered. The high hang is echoed by Yin Xuerong’s photographic work, but on this occasion it has the opposite effect, the images seeming to try and remain out of sight of the viewer.

The final room on my travels reveals one last surprise: Martian Law. Emma Potterill’s offering to the show comes in the form of a live performance, and if caught during the act, rounds the show off in a cacophonic way. Complete with darkened space, live band and hand-made boiler suits, Potterill’s performance is buzzing with crude intensity, and serves well as the final piece in an eclectic but overall well-polished show.

Edinburgh College of Art Masters show continues until Monday 24 August, 11am-5pm daily.

See more about 2|1|4|1 Collective on Central Station here.

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Summer is upon us yet again and there has been a determined buzzing in the corridors and rooms of Gray’s School of Art meaning it is once more the week of the Degree Show.  20 – 27 June celebrates the magnificent 130 years of positive impact and inclusion Gray’s holds within the local community – and far beyond. Promoting and preparing the individuality of each student, the show is a rich culmination of the eccentric, the skilled, and the beautiful – not to be missed.

On entering the building we are immediately met with the works of the three dimensional design department. Stopping by the pieces created by Hannah Rachel Morrison a wave of emotions are brought to life by her sea-scape inspired vessels. As if on a beach-combing adventure, the collection of hand thrown ceramics with ethereal, shimmering pools of blue green glass collecting in their bases, alongside kiln formed glass vessels, evoke a sense of discovery and sentiment. It is incredibly difficult not to get hypnotised by a video set alongside the collection, showcasing the process of throwing on the potter’s wheel – reiterating the craftsmanship, skill and time that goes into each creation.

Hannah Morrison

As we move around each display, we embark upon the slick and well-oiled machine that is the product design department. Surrounded by innovative ideas, I was struck by an installation from Ross Marshall which focuses on upcycling and the responsibility of today’s designers. Constructed from re-purposed materials, the fun and quirky piece gently coaxes us into considering our impact on the planet as consumers and producers. With an element of art and design’s influence both present and future now at the forefront of our minds, we continue on to explore the labyrinth of the school’s corridors.

Carrying on through the building we finally come to the weird and wonderful world of sculpture. This section of the show is well worth exploring and is sure to surprise – there is even a car on display. Don’t forget to continue on across the courtyard where more students of Contemporary Art Practice display their hard work such as sculptor David Mitchell’s poetic representation of the beauty and intrigue of nature. Focusing on the nobility and strength of man, Mitchell’s work has a highly traditional feel. His busts are created using bronze, terracotta and plaster and each sculpture holds a strong presence in the room whilst revealing a vivid sense of the character it portrays.

Ross Marshall

David Mitchell

In the main hall, the Graphic Communication students serve up work that makes us laugh, cry and think twice. Work includes the charming illustrations of Holly Green. Aimed at children, Green has used her characters to beautifully tell a story and they come alive as decorative forms on a range of children’s products.

Holly Green

Be sure to save time for making your way to the top floor of the building where Painting and Fashion and Textiles can be found. I strongly recommend getting absorbed in the explosion of colour, life and narrative that fills each room and corridor. Be mind-boggled by the surrealist art and Rogue Taxidermy of Rebecca Gallacher; be intrigued by the patterns and depth of colour present in Erika Doy’s Bio:Morphology garments; lose yourself in the fluid vibrancy of Steven Tupper’s expressions where the smell of cut lino still fills the air…

Stephen Tupper

Erika Louise Doy

One of the final displays to be discovered was the work of Fine Art student Heather Macinnes. Each canvas conveys vibration, optics and a mathematical order of pattern – whilst also challenging intuition. These mesmerising sequences – created by scraping a layer of black ink away in part to reveal the colour underneath – draws the viewer in quietly. And in a similar way, this review barely scrapes the surface of what Gray’s has to offer this year. This inviting chocolate box of art and design welcomes you to come along and be inspired whilst celebrating the hard work and commitment put in by each and every student.

Heather Macinnes

Gray’s School of Art Degree Show 2015 continues until this Saturday 27 June in Aberdeen. Find out more information online here.

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It’s that time of year again, summer has sprung and the art & design students of Glasgow have collated the sum of 4 years experience into one eclectic whirlwind of a show. The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show began on 13 June and continues until 20 June, featuring work from graduating students across the schools of Design, Fine Art and Architecture.

Due to the fire which devastated the Mackintosh building this time last year the Fine Art show is taking place in the Tontine Building in the Merchant City while the Design show is running in the newly built Reid Building in Garnethill. Despite the physical distance separating the two shows, the work exhibited across the two venues maintains the strongly unique spirit that ties The Glasgow School of Art students together.

Entering the Tontine Building I was excited to see how the Fine Art students had adapted to their new space and curious to find out how it affected the work they produced. The first piece that caught my eye was Jess Kelly’s beautiful installation ‘Translucent.’ The work effectively acts as a walk-in kaleidoscope with seamlessly moving images projected behind a screen within the structure. The viewer becomes immersed within the installation and becomes part of the artwork itself.

Jess Kelly, Translucent

From sculpture I moved through to the painting rooms, this is where I found Anna Thomson’s work. Her large-scale paintings display serious skill with a deep understanding of texture and subtlety of palette, a perfect combination of bold and understated.

Anna Thomson

Anna Thomson

After leaving the bright white of the painting room, I ventured into the darkness of a windowless alcove where I bunkered down on a huge beanbag, intrigued by a voice that echoed around the small room. When the visuals began, I knew this was a piece worth getting comfortable for.

Jack Boutwood

The short film by Jack Boutwood explores collective memory through an intimate and engaging series of pondering thoughts and observations on modern existence. This skilfully written narrative is refreshing in its honesty and simplicity, nostalgically reminding the viewer of the beauty in the common everyday.

It was time to move on, although I could have stayed much longer revelling in the wonders of the fine art studios, I knew there was so much more to see. Entering the Reid building you cannot help but be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place; it is without doubt a fantastic building to exhibit within. As I enter the Communication Design Department I was struck by the vast array of varying styles of work, ranging from fine art style large-scale installations to cutting edge graphic design.

Romany Rowell, Time Through Colour

It was the work of Romany Rowell that first caught my attention, in this thought-provoking and frankly very clever piece of work, Romany investigates the way in which time is measured – in numbers – alters our perception of time. The aim of this project is to challenge the viewer’s perception of time by use of colour, light and movement.

Hannah Jane Nixon

At the other end of the Communication Design spectrum is the highly appealing and humorous work of Hannah Jane Nixon, her brightly coloured screen prints display a bravery and uniqueness all of her own. Obviously inspired by popular culture, Hannah has also made a comic book based on the childhood of tennis superstar Roger Federer.

Another Illustration graduate who stood out for me was Sam Russell Walker.

Sam Russell Walker, Bygone Magic Stone

‘Bygone Magic Stone’ is a double sided poster book born out of the idea that each generation looks to their predecessors for inspiration, imparting their own interpretations, creating a kind of Chinese whispers through time.

Calum Douglas, Only the dead have seen the end of war

From the Photography department of Communication Design I spy the work of Calum Douglas. Calum produced a series of powerful images as a response to the unseen and misunderstood aspects of war. The series shows a body of simplified and re-appropriated images that represent key events throughout the Middle Eastern conflict over the past three decades. The way in which the images are presented invites the viewer to question what they see.

Leaving the Communication Design department my head is spinning with all that I have witnessed but I am eager to see more as I venture into the fashion and textiles exhibit space. In this room I feel like a kid in a candy shop, the colours and textures of the work screaming out to be held, stroked and worn. Hardly knowing were to begin I am drawn, as if by a tractor beam to the explosion of pattern on display by fashion designer Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas; nothing about this work is mundane, everything about it makes me happy.

Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas

Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas

There is a passion for abstract forms and playful use of scale alongside a surreal use of found objects, all of which speaks of a great humour that warmly invites the viewer to rethink both traditional forms and functionality within fashion.

I was also very impressed by the work of Elinor McCue, who, like myself is a great fan of fringes. Elinor uses a mixture of hand cut leather, laser cut mdf and acrylic to create her wonderful fringed panels.

Elinor McCue

All in all this year’s Glasgow School of Art Degree Show has been a great success with too much quality work to go through in one review, I have not even mentioned the work of Product Design or Architecture but I strongly advise taking a look at the intriguing designs of Cheng Zhai Wei and the exciting concept piece ‘Tent in the Tenement’ by Michael MacFarlane.

If you want to see more, the show will be running until 20 June from 10am-5pm daily. Information on artist and designers who are participating in the show can be found here.

See Emma’s work online here.

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Edinburgh College of Art is buzzing. It’s the press, family and friends opening of the 2015 Degree Show. I’ve got two hours, plenty of time to see it all I ambitiously think to myself as I set off in the direction of the sculpture works. I soon come face to face with a man walking around Jerry Maguire style in his undies.

“Did you lose a bet?” I ask nodding towards his lower half.

“No,” he replies deadpan, “I’m re-enacting a performance piece from second year.” He hands me a card with Nappy Man National printed on the front and walks away. It was Alan Trashmouth Records formerly known as Alan Kerr (he sold his name to a record company for £200). The RSA Contemporaries 2016 Selected Artist printed famous artworks onto toilet seats as part of his degree show installation. Does this draw attention to the commercialisation of art or is it more toilet humour gone awry? If you can buy an iPhone cover with Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers on it from the National Gallery, why not a Turner toilet seat?

Alan Kerr

The next work to catch my eye is Alice Chandler’s wonderfully composed installation. Reminiscent of Karla Black’s works, Chandler has used steel, plastic, fleece and paper in a playgroud-esque situation. She has a strong understanding of materiality, colour and composition and is also an RSA Contemporaries 2016 Selected Artist.

Rail and Cloth by Alice Chandler

Installation detail by Alice Chandler

Sky Su’s interactive video piece projected a CCTV-like image onto the wall of those in the room. The data was coded and a programmed delay caused a duplicate of yourself replicating your past motions. It is an enjoyable work and a rare moment of fun for art-goers amongst the passive experiential works. I begin to think of data and image in the digital age; ownership of an image and the reflected-self. Just as it was all becoming a bit too overwhelming for a Thursday evening, the image on screen began to scramble into oblivion. That was my cue to move on. So much more still to see.

I move onto the painters and stop at Karen Fleming’s work, remembering we’d featured it recently on Central Station. It is much more impressive in the flesh and I stand in front of it for some time. Another painter to check out is Sarinda Devine. She has created a small ‘world’ upstairs within a colourful and fun installation. It reminds me of the jungle in the Zebraface Random Acts by Kid Acne.

Karen Fleming

Sarinda Devine

Using a completely different style and technique, RSA Contemporaries 2016 Selected Artist Daryl Shaw McKee explores line and colour using a scientific process of experimentation. She translates 3D spaces into 2D paintings resulting in Tron-like cyber grids.

Daryl Shaw McKee

Finally, photographer Mark Osborne’s work has been selected for the ECA Art Collections Purchase Prize whereby the University seeks to acquire works that represent the artistic output of the art school. I would acquire it myself if I had the chance. I saw his potential a few years ago when he was featured on Central Station and it’s great to see how much his work has developed since then. His abstract photo series analyses light, space and form; presenting the photograph as a considered object for gallery display. The photography graduates also benefit from moving into a more senior role in the established ECA collective, SOFTBOX. This is an ever-expanding network maintained by ECA undergraduates established to encourage collaborative practice, share opportunities and assist with events.

Mark Osborne

The bell rings and I realise I am suddenly out of time. I regret not getting the chance to see the work from the school of design. However I did grab a publication of their work on my way out and it looks exceptional.

The Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show 2015 continues 11am-5pm daily until Sunday 7 June and includes two late openings on Wednesday 3 & Thursday 4 June from 11am-8pm. For more information, please visit here.

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The build up to the degree show is always an exciting time at any art school; there is a palpable mix of nervous tension and creative energy flying around the corridors. There are always tears during install week, but these are soon brushed aside as the young artists knuckle down to finish what needs to be done.

The opening night acts as an orgasmic release to the weeks of tension. Results are in, awards are given and the newest crop of emerging artists take to their favourite drinking holes and clubs to celebrate the last four years of hard graft.

Daniel Dowling’s (fine art) sculptural work on show comprises a delicate balance of a keen aesthetic eye and a mature material sensibility. Dowling’s use of ceramics, casting and delicate pigment powder evoke natural textures and forms. Strange twisting forms bring to mind branches or antlers and sheets of textured plaster scales conjure up the rough surface of pine bark. Dowling’s work manages that intangible quality of drawing inspiration from an idea or form but not seemingly being “about” that thing, leaving space for personal interpretation and room for thought.

Struan Teague

Struan Teague’s* (fine art) dynamic range of works takes this to the next level, his combination of monumentally large paintings, smaller prints and artist books are a more than competent exercise in pure abstraction and beautiful, gestural mark making. Really great painting is hard to find these days but Teague has seemed to nail it. Flicking through his various books and publications it is easy to see why, this young man is incredibly prolific in his field and his range of experimentation with his work bodes well for the future of his practice.

This example of masterful handling in a chosen medium is continued in the short film Solium by Michael Hunter and Robbie Gray (Time based art and Digital Film). Solium consists of several short vignettes linked together by a man and his bathtub. Odd as it may sound, the rich, all encompassing soundscape and beautifully directed shots combine into a magic and surreal journey through various landscapes including a fantastical mist filled forest, a lonely beach and a hilltop in the grips of late winter.

Lewis Bissett

Another from the Time Based Art crop is Lewis Bissett’s tongue in cheek ode to the freemasons by way of the Scottish young team subculture. Bissetts’s work consists of an abstracted shrine setting with plaster cast footballs painted in popping primary colours, a strange eye at the top of a pole, conjuring images of the all seeing eye of the freemasons, alongside three stained glass windows and a banner depicting the insignia of the “New Young Masons”. On the ground are strange marks reminiscent of football pitch markings. Bissett’s work seems on one hand to build up the glory of his invented narrative but on the other highlights the faded grandeur of Masonic Lodges with faux-marble decorations and reclaimed church pews.

David Mackay

One of the standout sculptural pieces on display is David Mackay’s Standing Reserve. This formidable sculptural work consists of a monumental electricity pylon fabricated in wood, its form twisted and drooping in a state of impotency. The structure is accompanied by a twisting rope protruding from one of its arms with a wax-cast insulator attached to the end. In the background a soundscape plays, an electrical distortion and low hum building up over the ten or so minutes it lasts to a crescendo of bleeps and buzzing, it evokes imagery of this structure twisting, bending and creaking. The ambition in this piece and its command of the space it inhabits is what makes it stand out in the show and will no doubt make an impact in the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition next year for which it was selected.

Another of this year’s crop selected for the New Contemporaries, alongside Teague, Hunter and Gray is Fine Art’s Koren Dumbleton**. Her macabre installation Lavinia consists of an atmospherically lit space inhabited by a number of abstract torsos suspended from two sets of monkey bars. The grim spectacle brings to mind both an abattoir and a children’s playground and the result is unsettling.

Koren Dumbleton

Lotte Fisher

Amongst the other awards and opportunities up for grabs at the degree show is the Scottish Sculpture Workshop’s Graduate Residency award and this year it was granted to Fine Art’s Lotte Fisher. Stepping into Fisher’s space you are confronted by a narrow corridor flanked by wooden panels, the low ceiling forces you to stoop slightly as you emerge into a bright space occupied by miniature houses and the small figures who seem to occupy them. As you turn around to observe your entrance to this fantastically whimsical world the bulk of Fisher’s work is revealed in what appears to be a hillside growing out of the gallery wall. Dotted with more small scale structures, sculpted animals and mounds of moss this work was definitely a crowd favourite on the opening night.

There are many and more works on display which are worthy of their own reviews and these are but a small selection from them. The show is on until the 31 May and I would urge you to go along and take in all the hard work these talented bunch have put in over their four years. For more information, visit here.

For more about Kieran Milne, view his website here.

*See more work by Struan on Central Station here.
**Koren wrote last year’s DJCAD Degree Show review which you can view here.

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The theme of this year’s Degree Show at Gray’s School of Art, ‘Open Your Eyes’, aims not only to showcase the emerging artistic talent of the North East, but to do so to a wider audience than ever before; challenging perceptions and promoting creative practice and engagement with the arts. What is immediately apparent is the strong sense of identity possessed by each of the graduates and their shows.

Martyna Benedyka

The paintings and photographs of Martyna Benedyka contain a poetic stillness as she encourages the viewer to pause through the act of looking. Transient moments are recorded, transformed into objects of beauty and, through their modest scale and collective display, make a powerful impression. There is a certain intimacy with work of this scale – viewers will find themselves staring for what may seem to be hours at a possible wheel of cheese or a speculative bridge. Through Benedyka’s brush and lens, the everyday becomes more alluring, more beautiful.

Dreams; incoherent, strange, unsettling, fleeting. Printmaking graduate Siobhan Scott’s work explores this impermanent landscape. Her gentle mark-making and colourful palette depicts the dream as an ephemeral encounter. Diaphanous areas of colour bleed into hazy clouds as oneiric scenarios are literally stitched together across the paper. Scott uses the terminology ‘weaver’, considering the protagonist as the creator of this dreamscape, which links thematically to the other aspects of her work. Delicate fabric creates a canopy of Scott’s show, onto which a film is projected – the viewer, in this comfortable, enveloping space, takes on the role of this protagonist waking from sleep. The wallpaper, cushion and curtain she has made merge elements of the domestic and everyday with the playfulness of the subconscious.

Siobhan Scott

Dominic McIvor

“Endurance” is the key word Dominic McIvor uses to describe his practice, the term applying not only to the subject, but to both the material and the artist too. The painting graduate and selected RSA New Contemporaries artist rigorously tests how far he can push a material; in the paper drawings, this can involve scraping away much of the actual marks. For the plaster sculptures, this aspect of endurance is openly displayed – each model sitting proudly upon a formed disc of rubble, the detritus from the carving of each model. Themes of creation and destruction appear throughout his show, as there is often an element of recycling within his practice (accepting technical mishaps, damage or unpredictability and using these factors to make something new). Of course, as I said, endurance also applies to the artist. Strict rules are set for the making of the work, and each task is time-consuming and repetitive. There is a stunning contrast between the precision and symmetry of the drawings and where the marks meet an erased void. Perfection cannot always be achieved by control. The result is an intriguing and effective play between order and the power of chance.

Ben Martin

Ben Martin of the sculpture course has created for his graduate show an installation which resists definition. Referring to the piece as a ‘drawing’, its transition from two dimensions can be seen through its intense focus on shape and line. In lieu of a pencil, black rope becomes a linear tool through which to draw through space. There is an incredible elegance and simplicity in the starkness of its presentation – nothing is superfluous, every object has a purpose which keeps the work perfectly in balance. The piece also interacts with the space, creating new compositions depending on the physical parameters in which it is installed. Martin’s work also earned him the Fred Bushe Award, presented by the Scottish Sculpture Workshop.

Among the various accolades, and the strong and varied selection for the RSA show next year, Gray’s has also managed to produce a nominee for the prestigious Woon Foundation Prize. The Foundation, which chooses only ten UK graduates a year, has prizes worth £40,000, and selected artist and painting graduate Catherine Ross, was chosen for her evocative depictions of the mysterious and remote North. A defining feature of Ross’ collection, which she shares with her fellows at Gray’s, is the integrity of her work and the individuality of her vision and practice, which makes the show a rich and diverse experience. For these young artists and designers, the years of all-nighters in the studio, constant coffee-drinking and sheer hard work have paid off – these individuals have a clear sense of direction, and they are moving forward.

The Gray’s School of Art Degree Show is on display in Aberdeen until 28 June.

Words & photos by Julie-Ann Simpson

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Please visit here for more Degree Show reviews on Central Station.

Kim from Central Station gives an overview of a selection of works on show:

Entering the newly opened Reid building with a camera in hand and a notepad, Lesley Booth (GSA Press Officer) greets me and outlines where each programme is located. I head to the press launch where I get chatting to two journalists who seem mightily impressed that I’m here for the show; they reveal they’re actually here to try and interview a couple students on how the fire has affected them. I realise I’m in the wrong place and head downstairs to see the graduates’ work. On the upside, the Design students have the honour of being the very first to exhibit in Steven Holl’s specially designed building.

‘Speak & Speak Immediately’ by Lyndsey Smith

‘Saudade’ by Cliff Andrade

Aptly, I come across Lyndsey Smith’s photographs of journalists and can’t help but smile at the natural order of things. Cliff Andrade is another photographer who catches my eye with his photos of the island of Madeira, he explains his journey exploring heritage.

The typography is especially strong this year. Nicholas Davis presents ‘Life of a Letterform’ which challenges the perception of form in a refreshing way. Additionally, Zheng Li’s 3D letters and screen prints grabbed my attention with the letters themselves appearing to be in motion.

‘Life of a Letterform’ by Nicholas Davis

’3D Letters Photography’ by Zheng Li

Using the first perfect number as her starting point, Alice Rooney uses #6 to create systems dispersed across 6 sheets of acetate. Sean Mulvenna also uses systems, albeit in a very different way. Inspired by the Augurs of Ancient Rome (religious figures who interpret the will of the Gods by studying bird flight), Mulvenna has cleverly introduced a method of divining narratives.

‘Perfect Circle’ by Alice Rooney

‘Augur’ by Sean Mulvenna

Female empowerment and gender inequality is explored in both Franc González and Rachel-Jane Findlay’s works. González has scanned the female figure in 3D and returned it back into the physical world as an unrefined 3D print. Findlay’s study of female action heroes screen printed as movie posters reinforces the strength of the woman’s role.

‘Untreated Bodies’ by Franc González

‘The Development of the female action hero: Sarah Connor’ by Rachel-Jane Findlay

The Visual Communication department seems to be such a tight knit, organised bunch. They keep a regular blog, hold events and even have their very own Twitter page. Perhaps the lack of physical barriers (they work in an open plan studio) is a real advantage in growing together as a collective.

Catriona Clark

Nicole McCarron

Of the jewellers, I was particularly drawn to Catriona Clark and Nicole McCarron’s angular pieces and Kara MacAulay’s red seaweed-like necklace which hangs beautifully near Jordane Symington’s contrasting materials.

Kara MacAulay

Jordane Symington

The Fashion and Textiles work is not to be missed, in particular Michelle Ho’s futuristic prints and Catherine MacGruer’s geometric designs. As well as Laura Muir who makes kitting look cooler than ever with her ‘Knit, Knot, Knit’ merino wool creations.

Michelle Ho

Catherine MacGruer

Laura Muir

Each Fine Art graduate has a digital print hung anonymously in the McLellan Galleries. I ask Lesley for a floor plan, however none seems available at present and I sincerely hope the artists gain recognition for the public opening. Interestingly, in most cases, it is still possible to distinguish the painters from the sculptors, photographers and environmental artists. Below are a selection of prints I enjoyed.

Unfortunately, the Product and Interior Designers were still installing their work at the time of my visit, though I’ve since been told there’s much to see!

You can download a short guide to the show online here. A 214 page limited edition book of prints featuring each student print is available in The Glasgow School of Art Shop.

An open studio event for the Digital Culture programme takes place this Thursday 19 June from 10.00 – 16.00. Degree Show 2014 is open to the public until 21 June.

Words and photos by Kim Stewart.

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Central Station’s own Project Coordinator, Kim highlights a selection of works on display:

Wandering through the Glue Factory, I can’t help but notice how great a venue it is for a huge group exhibition such as this. Having been here several times before, I soon realise the material of the building stood out more than previously because so many artists have successfully created site-specific works, respecting and (in some cases) enhancing the fabric of the building.

‘Thigh Rack’ by Vigdis Storsveen

John Calcutt (MFA Programme leader) kindly gives me a brief intro to the show, showing me all the nooks and crannies the students have used to display their works. I immediately encounter Norwegian multi-disciplinary artist, Vigdis Storsveen’s large wax sculpture which hangs from the ceiling as you enter the building. Vigdis also has a ‘metal forest’ on display upstairs, resembling fragments from trestle tables.

‘Mercedes (café)’ by Maria Toumazou

Maria Toumazou’s work literally stands out with maze-like structures emerging from the walls. I am particularly drawn to the one pictured above as it holds an especially eerie quality in the darkness with beautiful contrasting textures – lambswool, wood and ceramic.

The unmistakable sounds of strong Québécois voices come from Sarah F. Maloney’s video piece – Gagnon-Ville you’re my Dearest. Maloney’s video explains the closure of Gagnon-Ville, a mining city in Québec which was completely torn down when the mines closed. This short piece becomes a melancholic ode to a city most have never heard of.

Jack Cheetham explores people as commodities using 3D printed ceramic models. An iPad sits on an unusual shelving unit and plays ‘fake’ CCTV footage of the models in a shopping mall along with the occasional tannoy announcement.

‘Asda made us great’ by Jack Cheetham

Installation by Fanny Wickström

Mangled and contorted forms in Fanny Wickström’s sculptures with enlarged genitalia and extra limbs is reminiscent of the Chapman Brothers‘ works. Mixing humour and the grotesque, green painted fingers grow from the ‘garden’ and a scrotum earring hangs from an oversized human ear.

Aniara Omann’s altered replica of an Easter Island Moai figure is slightly hidden upstairs. The imposing structure becomes somewhat less intimidating as a playfully raised eyebrow shifts the viewer’s first impression. Complimenting the figure in a bizarrely appropriate way are two videos which include Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing his life and body.

‘Real Bodies #2: Moai, raised eyebrow’ by Aniara Omann

‘Zabriskie’s Point Reversed.MOV’ by Emily McFarland

Emily McFarland’s reversal of cult film, Zabriskie’s Point approaches film as a ready-made, in a similar manner to GSA alumnus Douglas Gordon. McFarland reappropriates found footage by reversing the main explosions, crashes and fire elements in the film; creating a poetic composition.

Stephanie Burt’s mixed media installation is aesthetically titillating from every angle. Amazingly, Burt also succeeds in portraying the installation as an accident, with shards of glass on the floor and torn chicken wire across its frame.

‘Celine and Julie Go Boating’ by Stephanie Burt

‘for a bucket: your hand or mine’ by Kirsty Palmer

The building serves Kirsty Palmer’s work particularly well with her flaky, fragile sculptures mirroring the edifice’s degenerative qualities. Icelandic artist, Selma Hreggvidsdottir creates a “Shrine” inside the building, revealing and celebrating a neglected space with exposed brickwork and cobwebs aplenty. Selma highlights this again in the adjoining space where a video ‘through a keyhole’ plays in a room where a divider wall is papered with a white brickwork pattern.

On its surface, the Glue Factory still appears a bit battered and bruised from years of neglect. However, it’s precisely this history which makes it the perfect venue for this year’s MFA graduates who have the energy and diversity to bring this building back to life.

‘Shrine’ by Selma Hreggvidsdottir

The exhibition continues at The Glue Factory, 15 Burns Street, Speirs Locks, Glasgow G4 9SA until 22 June. A selection of works from MFA 2011-2014 is also on display at citizenM Glasgow until 28 June.

Words and photos by Kim Stewart

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The Time Based Art & Digital Film course can seem a little ‘out there’ for the first time degree show attendee, but a true highlight. It is a visual smorgasbord of goings-on. Step into ‘The Void’ of Ryan Esson – an unnerving mirrored infinity. You can’t be sure whether you’re in heaven, or in hell. Laura Corrigan presents SHUAIR – bottled and branded designer air– something seemingly impossible, yet the familiar glitzy campaign photos are disturbingly close to home.

Ryan Esson

The aforementioned Kickstarter film comes in the form of Corpach – a mystery thriller, with the teasing Prelude on show. This is a joint project between Jeppe Rohde Nielsen and Alan McIlrath. In 1975, a young girl goes missing from her small community in Corpach, the Highlands, after what seems to be a paranormal earthquake, the aftermath is devastating. What we’re given is already highly engaging, and we can only eagerly anticipate the feature length film to follow. The future bodes well for both the final film and the success of its creators.

Jeppe Rohde Nielsen

From Fine Art and Art, Philosophy, Contemporary Practices there is such a plethora of work you’ll be hooked for hours.

Molly McEwan’s blinking eye is daunting and uneasy. Her array of ceramic characters filling nooks and crannies are toy-sized and interacting like a giant game of chess. While you are drawn into their world, the eye watches over you, and it’s not clear if it’s protective or intrusive.

Molly McEwan

Lucas Battich has a simultaneous video and projection piece showing you every colour from the digital spectrum and plays over a 24-hour period. Another screen shows the generation of endless digitised colour variations of Josef Albers’ Homage to the Square. One after the other a new image is created, exploring how Albers’ investigations on colour theory could be continued in a contemporary format. We are left to question the reality of the art imagery we consume in today’s techno-centric culture.

Lucas Battich

Samantha Wilson demonstrates that drawing and painting are still an incredibly powerful medium. Her larger than life characters can be seen in a dizzyingly packed crowd, or in solitary, but each one is compelling. “It is the eyes that get you”, a fellow enthusiast remarks, and they really do.

Samantha Wilson

In the same room Jenni Bangs’ theatre-inspired ceramics are comforting and nostalgic. Having a background in performing arts herself, tokens of the stage can be deciphered from intimate objects that suggest the physical exertion on the performer’s body: while the artist relies on their hands, the performer must rely on their feet.

For the intrepid spectator, what is always intriguing is the selection of RSA award winners for next year. Lucas Battich, Samantha Wilson and the Corpach collaborative team of Jeppe Rohde Nielsen and Alan McIlrath are just some of the chosen few. After the huge successes that came to DJCAD graduates this year at the acclaimed New Contemporaries (the representing artists’ scooped up 7 prizes in total between them – the most of any Scottish art school), it’s been asked consistently if this year can match it. Yet, for the college and its students’, things have gone from strength to strength. The graduate show is outstanding, and these young artists have more than enough talent to not only defend and but champion DJCAD’s continuing triumphs.

The DJCAD degree show runs until 25 May. Further details can be found on the DJCAD Degree Show website. Check out our featured event about the show.

Images courtesy of DJCAD.

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