Joe’s hyper-stylised computer art is going on exhibit alongside Saran Glöbel at the Glasgow School of Art from the 9th of June. Read more about Superzone here.

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Tsunami

Blowing your own Trumpet

One Step

Recent residencies I have undertaken tend to use collaboration as a modus operandi, and include a Creative Lab at CCA Glasgow, 2012: a Collaborative Residency for Counterflows Music Festival 2013, with Berlin based sound artist, Annette Krebs, at CCA Creative Lab; a Rough Mix cross platform collaborative residency for Magnetic North Theatre Co, at Tramway March 2013; a Protest and Propaganda Lab at Metal Liverpool; and a Team Effort residency at South Side Studios, Govanhill, Glasgow.

Recent exhibitions include Sluice Art Fair, London; Turin & Marseille Artists’ Exchange for WASPS’s Studios; ‘Rough Edit’ at InterviewRoom11, Edinburgh Art Festival 2014, ‘East End Transmissions’ at the Pipe Factory: ‘New Wave’ at the “Old Hairdressers”, ‘Seven Inch’ and ‘Record Store’ at Monorail Records, Glasgow and Avalanche Records, Edinburgh; ‘Fools Gold’ at the Briggait Project Spaces.

Wealth

I am currently President of Scottish Artists Union, (the main representative voice for visual and applied artists living and working in Scotland, campaigning for better working conditions for the artistic community); I am also a Freelance Representative for Engage, the National organisation for gallery education; and a Regional Advocate for the Paying Artists Campaign.  These involvements doubtless have an indirect influence on my practice through an ongoing preoccupation with the politics of creativity and cultural engagement.

At the moment I’m up on Lewis, about to start a project for ‘Mapping The Arteries’ through An Lanntair, using the bus routes of the islands as a starting point to develop artworks that will be sited in the iconic bus shelters of the islands. This commission will be an interesting way to develop new works that further consolidate different aspects of my practice.

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Grid Play, 2015, Projected Stop Motion Film, Laser Cut Wood, Perspex, Screenprints

Grid Play installation by Rachel Hendry.

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Barreirinha Beach Funchal, from social landscape series Saudade

Cliff Andrade is a Communication Design graduate from Glasgow School of Art. Here he tells us what he’s been doing since graduating last summer.

I am an artist, the majority of whose personal practice is currently made up of long-form, research based photography projects. Professionally, I am pursuing a career in the lighting and shooting of moving image.

I have a vision of myself in the future. In this vision, I work as a (probably world famous) cinematographer, mainly on feature films. In between shoots, my long and tough weeks/months on set earn me the right and opportunity to engage in self-initiated long-form documentary photography projects. The solitude of the photographer forms a necessary and valuable counterbalance to the highly collaborative nature of the cinematographer, and each one reinforces the other. My photography projects are well-received by the ‘Photography World’, although whether this is due solely to my skill as a photographer or whether I am trading on my reputation as a cinematographer I’m not quite sure.

The Taking of Old Flo 

In reality I am, of course, a long long way from this – a recent photography graduate working hard to gain any and all experience he can to progress in approximately the correct direction. However, that I am able to put together a semi-coherent idea of what I would envisage myself doing in the future, however outlandish, is encouraging. This is the result of spending the months since graduating working in a variety of freelance jobs and gaining work experience: anything from running for TV shows and short films to assisting photographers on an ad hoc basis. Some paid and, unfortunately, many unpaid. Some which people have been kind enough to recommend me for and others sourced after endless hours on the internet and hundreds of ignored emails.

Vanessa, from social landscape series Saudade

I have also been lucky enough to have my own photography work selected for a few exhibitions, and was an award winner of the annual Jill Todd Photography Prize back in October. More than anything, these things give you self-belief in your work and the invaluable opportunity to meet and converse with others in the industry, be they experienced individuals or others in the same position as you. Off the back of this and the positive feedback I received, I continue to plan and develop my own personal photography projects and plan to carry these out alongside paid work. I think it’s important not to neglect your personal work for the pursuit of paid work. In fact, I think it’s essential for my sanity.

After leaving art school most of us knew we wanted to work ‘creatively’. I knew that for me this work would be centred around photography, either moving or still. The trick is finding out exactly what the world out there is like and where you and your skills are best suited (and how to get there). This is, unfortunately, something art school cannot teach you. The only real way to figure it out is to get out there and work away at finding this out for yourself. Some days most of us will go through feeling like this is beyond us. The important thing to remember is that to feel this way is absolutely normal, and that it will pass.

Jill Todd Photography Prize Exhibition

Monte Bom Sucesso, from social landscape series Saudade

To see more of Cliff’s work check out his showcased work here and our GSA Degree Show review from earlier this year.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a what to expect from the upcoming Life After Art School features here.

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Photo: Deramores

Laura Muir is a designer, owner and freelancer at KNIT KNOT KNIT. Making the unwearable, wearable. Here she talks about life after the GSA…

When I was a student I couldn’t imagine life after art school. I became so used to being with my friends, the familiarity of the shared studio and my everyday routine. However, six months on and life after art school is extremely busy and fast paced. I find myself juggling many different things at once but this is incredibly fun. I am so happy to have full control over my own creative direction and produce products that are 100% KNIT KNOT KNIT. On 1 November I launched my KNIT KNOT KNIT website with three snoods available to buy. Since then I have been balancing knit orders, designing the website, creating press, organising stockists, freelance work and working a part-time job (to create cash flow – a must!).

Before launching my website I attended workshops with Business Gateway and Cultural Enterprise which has definitely made me more focused on my brand. It has given me an awareness for the different aspects needed to create a successful business.

Before graduating I always thought I would go straight into a company and start a career in design. However I have come to realise that this is often not the reality. I want to be in control of my own creative direction and create my own expectations and goals. Therefore creating my own brand is perfect. I love creating a world that a client can step into and be transported into the sculptural, chunky knit world of KNIT KNOT KNIT. Colour, texture and photography are definitely key elements that I focus on when designing. The end photograph/product gives me a buzz and makes the frantic days worth it.

Laura’s snood was featured on the Instagram and Twitter of personal style blog Thankfifi
Photo: Thankfifi

My aim for the next few months is to work on new cashmere orders and develop my website with a larger range of products. I also want to continue collaborating with bloggers, photographers and other creatives developing and creating exposure for KNIT KNOT KNIT.

I could not think of having a career that I didn’t enjoy. If you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to have a career in something you enjoy you have to take it.

For more from Laura, see her My Process feature and learn more about her graduate collection.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a preview of what to expect from the Life After Art School features here.

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My name is Kelly McGrath but I work under the name/brand KellyDawn Riot. I’m Irish but moved to Glasgow to do my MA at GSA. I’m originally from a purely printed textiles background, but have transitioned into a both a print and menswear designer in recent years. The opportunities in Glasgow have been wonderful and so I have decided to stay here as so far it’s been very kind to me.

Photography: Gabriela Silveira, Model: Bejoy Sanjeev

Since completing my MA two and a half months ago, I’ve been lucky to have had fantastic opportunities come my way quite regularly, but that’s not to say that they fell into my lap. A lot of it was days spent searching for opportunities online or going the extra mile to go out of my way to approach people.

The GSA Promenade and accompanying publicity was a launch pad as it provided great exposure for me. I was featured alongside two other classmates on The Herald and on the college website. From this, I was contacted and offered two photoshoots, one for an online retailer, and the other for GUM magazine. Following this, GUM offered me the main space for a fashion show at their launch event in December.

I think it’s important that if you meet like-minded creative people that you keep in contact and network as much as possible. There’s a lot of people who want to collaborate with other creatives and the photoshoots I have on my website were the result of this. Gabriela Silveira Photography and Bejoy Sanjeev were two people who really just wanted to get involved and be creative and I think you can see that in the shoot.

Since finishing college, I have ensured that a large portion of my time was spent entering both large and small competitions. Although it’s sometimes incredibly disappointing not to win or to hear that they don’t want you, it’s good to see who wins and what their website or CV looks like so that you can better yourself and improve on things (like your website, like I did).

However I have recently been awarded The New Talent Award for Scotland Re:Designed which was an exhilarating experience. It has provided me with fabric, funding and a mentor which is more than I could have asked for. From this, I was offered a fashion show with Glasgow University and have had the most amazing feedback and compliments from various creatives such as the director of Grazia and the director of Victoria Beckham.

If I had any advice it would be to network constantly and to research, research, research.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a preview of what to expect from the Life After Art School features here.

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Steven Swinney is a designer from Elgin, in Glasgow, not in London. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art with a degree in Communication Design.

Since graduating from GSA, life has been super crazy and hectic. In the best way. Right after our Glasgow and London Degree Show exhibitions, I was employed by GSA to be in charge of coordinating and curating the Design School’s presence at the Commonwealth Games. My concept for this was an egalitarian art school which offered the public the opportunity to get involved with some of the processes involved in creative practice through a series of workshops led by graduates that I wanted involved in the project. I curated an exhibition of selected graduates’ work and this was available to buy at public-friendly prices – an attempt to further dispel the myth surrounding galleries and the cost of owning original artwork.

Since then, I have been nonstop grafting as a freelance designer, which is super, super hard work but really rewarding. I’ve been fortunate enough that I have had incredibly exciting cultural sector jobs come my way (hold tight Neil and Steve) that are rad to work on and keep offering up more opportunities.

I have been working as the designer for My Bookcase a new social initiative dedicated to the understanding, appreciation and dissemination of books. Being entrusted as the sole graphic designer and design advisor on a job as important as this has been really daunting but is really gratifying when you see your ideas being successfully implemented in the real world. This project has also led to off–shoot jobs, for example, myself and My Bookcase are running a collaborative workshop as part of Analogue Social’s 11 Mitchell Lane event at the Lighthouse in Glasgow – something which fits with my interest in design and education.

A recurring medium in my art school work was books and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to continue working within this medium since graduating. I’m currently working on two publications different cultural clients. Designing the book for the Fashion Cultures Festival has let me collaborate with the photographer Callum Rice and the illustrator Ailsa Sutcliffe, which has led to a really rich body of content to work with and the freedom the client has offered is crazy but great! I’m also producing a 3-volume series of books for the fashion designer Tommy Zhong whom I met whilst at GSA. There’s also the smaller jobs that you find out about through chatting to people in pubs or at exhibitions. I ended up redesigning someone’s business cards and a bar’s menus just through striking up a conversation with people.

I would like to offer the best advice I received in the run up to Degree Show, “Art School is a frame of mind.” – Neil McGuire, 2014. Big up.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a what to expect from the upcoming Life After Art School features here.

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We’ll hear from GSA alumna and fashion designer Kelly Dawn Riot, who recently won the Scotland Re:Designed New Talent Award along with sculptural knit designer Laura Muir, whose cosy snoods have begun to take the internet by storm. GSA Communication Design graduate Steven Swinney talks about taking on the Commonwealth Games alongside his freelance work while fellow ComDes alumnus Cliff Andrade revels in the recent win of the Jill Todd Photographic Prize Award.

Ryan Esson – Air and Space

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design graduate Samantha Wilson’s drawings and paintings were put on our radar at the DJCAD degree show. In her take on professional life, Wilson talks about seizing opportunity while fellow DJCAD alumnus Ryan Esson considers the less glamorous side of post-art school life and emphasises the value of staying motivated. Also from DJCAD, Ellis O’Connor discusses the difference between her undergrad and her current postgrad degree, as well as the importance of artist residencies for the development of her work.

Bryony Strange

Edinburgh College of Art graduate and fashion designer Bryony Strange writes about the importance of networking and mentoring in the Scottish creative industry. As she details her transition to professional life, fellow ECA alumnus and illustrator Alexander Jackson talks about taking on the editorial realm. Also from ECA, digital artist Richard Phillips-Kerr (who will be showing his degree show piece at RSA New Contemporaries 2015) explains what he’s now doing in Birmingham.

Finally from Gray’s School of Art, award-winning painter and model-maker Catherine Ross and multimedia artist Dominic McIvor reveal their most recent exploits in Aberdeen and Birmingham respectively.

Stay tuned for updates from these art school graduates all next week.

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See work from the Digital Design Studio and International Heritage Visualisation programme and be transported to various different worlds from the inside of present-day Barlinnie Prison (Eddie Beggan) to the Finnieston Crane and Queen’s Docks of Glasgow in the 1930s (Nichola McCabe) and beyond to the Scottish Parliament House in the late 17^th Century (Annette Whitelaw).

Annette Whitelaw

Medical innovation meets digital technology in mobile and education applications which facilitate learning created by Medical Visualisation graduates. Their work explores such diverse themes as jaw surgery (Yeshwanth Pulijala) and asthma (Kirsty Jordan).

Charlotte Craig

Moths (Charlotte Craig), Greek Philosophy (Mi Lin) and creation through destruction (Atsuko Nakano) take centre stage in the illustration, graphics and photography students’ works on show in the Reid Gallery.

Graduate Mi Lin explores the idea of breath as a life force

MLitt Fine Art graduate Teresa Malaney focuses on loss in this the life-size latex representation of the doors to the Mackintosh Building

In the MLitt in Fine Art, see work from painting, printmaking, sculpture and fine art photography graduates over three different spaces in the McLellan Galleries focusing on a wide variety of themes.

Sculptural work by MLitt Fine Art graduate Jasper Coppes

MLitt Fine Art graduate Edwina Bracken combines oil paintings with gallery benches

The GSA Graduate Degree show runs in the Reid Building and McLellan Galleries until 12 September. For more information see the GSA website.

MDes Fashion Promenades are at 7 & 8pm on Friday 12 September.

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Joe Keogh’s Chasing Ghosts is the first public show to grace the Art School’s project space. Tucked away on the top floor, the space is intimate, a not-so-secret clubhouse that breaks with the hustle and bustle of the café downstairs. It’s a place for ideas and thinking, and most of all it’s a place for art. Two white walls and a window offer a view into The Glasgow School of Art’s main library. It’s a fitting view considering the depth of Joe Keogh’s work. Based on a fascination with the Cosmos, Chasing Ghosts is an exhibition that plays with ideas around dark matter, dematerialisation and the undetectable.

Echo (4 drawings layered, ink on translucent paper, steel pins)

It’s also a return to Keogh’s roots as an artist. He studied at the GSA in the 80s, leaving with a degree in sculpture. At the time, the MFA course didn’t exist, and although he considered a postgrad in sculpture, he was persuaded to do the Masters in Design. “I wasn’t so happy with that, unfortunately. I kept saying, “I’m an artist!” but it was really interesting. We were learning a lot of new stuff.” He deviously put on a sculpture show in his second year anyway and passed his degree.

Chasing Ghosts remains true to Keogh’s sculptural roots, “The work is about sculpture and traditional sculptural ideas like forms relating to other forms in space.” The exhibition features three new pieces: Halo and Tau which are both small wall pieces and Echo which consists of 4 layered drawings.

Tau

Halo

Halo and Tau are white fibreboard sculptures. Halo is layered on the wall in different configurations, filled with holes and shadows. With the lighting, Halo appears full of different circular layers and depths that seem to build upon each other. Keogh explains,“I read an article recently about a halo of dark matter around galaxies and that just struck me. Although it’s not halo shaped in any way, it has halos in it. And halos, religion and spirituality aside, suggest something that is invisible. You never see a halo, but it’s a traditional and round object.”

It’s here within Halo that Keogh begins his play with positive and negative spaces. “You can imagine that the negative spaces could somehow be positive and that the white elements could be space that’s made into a positive tangible thing,” he remarks.

Tau (detail)

As it turns out, the two pieces although separate, are in fact a part of each other. Tau, named after one of the three types of neutrinos, was created out of offcuts from Halo. “I thought it suited because those elements are the positive elements that came from Halo. I threw most of those away before I discovered that they had something about them. Once he created it, he pierced it; liking the idea of it as a dematerialised work.

Tau (detail)

Tau isn’t the only piece where chance intervened in his practice. Keogh initially worked experimenting with ellipses on canvas. “I had cut out loads of ellipses, almost like a pack of cards. They all spilled off my desk and made all these intricate patterns. I manipulated them a bit and then I put them onto tracing paper so that I could remember the pattern that they made. I discovered that I quite liked the look and decided I was going to layer several drawings so you could see one through to the next.” These drawings became Echo, a piece which through a simple gesture is transformed. As he runs his hand over the paper, he reveals three more layers of drawn ellipses and likens it to the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang.

Echo (detail)

It’s a piece that draws from Keogh’s fascination with the Cosmos and science. When I ask him how he came to be interested in the Cosmos, he talks about an interest in all things scientific, stemming from a knowledge of the periodic table as a result of using elemental metals such as copper and aluminium in his work. Of the cosmic elements, he cites a love of learning, “I read a lot about quantum physics. It fires my imagination…things are never one dimensional. They’re always in several dimensions and layers. It’s about trying to put ideas together.”

Halo (detail)

Halo (detail)

This foresight and depth is what give Keogh’s work such strength. Inspired by the invisibility and raw potential of ghost particles and dark matter, he transforms the undetectable into a tangible play on the theme of visible/invisible. “I envisaged that Halo would be on a white wall at some point, white on white, making it camouflaged and invisible. I had the pieces out on the floor and they actually looked quite good sitting one next to another, but I had to make it more three-dimensional, to give it much more depth. Having layers of things makes it far more interesting.”

Although initially reluctant to proceed with his Masters in Design, it is perhaps this experience which continues to influence his artistic practice; leading to the creation of such precisely well-designed sculptures.

Interview and words by Madeleine Schmoll. All images by Gordon Ballantyne.

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