PP3 Presentation Slide 1 - essca title page In order to understand who I am creatively, how my practice has developed and where I position myself today - it is necessary to reflect on where I have been. Slide 2 - collection of 1st year work This was me Beginning of the course - free to explore and motivated by future potential. Great first year. Slide 3 - Collection of 2nd year work This was also me Second year, struggles with personal identity, pressures regarding not conforming to “the box”. Lost self confidense and an all round crap year. Slide 4 - Black slide This became me Beginning 3rd year, thought I was ready but the negative views regarding myself personally and the aspirations I wasn’t hitting with regards to my practice ultimately led to a suspension from the course and a 9 month hiatus in an attempt to better my frame of mind Slide 5 - Cop3 In search of me 3rd year - 2nd time lucky Motivated to make this year work for me. Hard work pays off and despite my personal struggles - determined to create work fit for a graduate portfolio and one which will make me proud. COP3 happened despite being bed bound and proud moment - never got this far on my degree course before. WIN Slide 6 - EP3 colour Highlights EP3 Pivotal point this year EDITIONS:COLOUR - Allowing myself the freedom of exploration, creative research and mistake making which in turn developed into a defining moment for my practice. It is ok to indulge in obsessions and find out who you really are. Slide 7 - Friends Let downs - so much time spent alone locked away afraid to show my face for what I was going through. Despite this I was determined not to run away and make the same mistakes as I had done previously. Communication is key to accessing support and I have maintained a good communication with my peers, tutors and support staff throughout my final year. This has been crucial for my development. I am still just as embarrassed about my condition as ever but talking about it and making people aware has enabled me to complete this course on a high.
Slide 8 - Home studio This is where the magic happens per se. I have spent a lot of time here over the last 4 years and although isolating and regretting missing out on important daily time in the studio - I have developed my practice for me in this room without my tendency to get distracted and compare myself and my practice to others. My comparisons with others has shaped my practice negatively - adapting to what I think people want as opposed to what I want which has resulting in me lacking ownership of my work and identity. Developing myself creativily has been a focus of my year and despite the hardship this has never let up. I am now in better place mentally with regards to how I view my work and have a good grounding to finally begin to speak my own voice and like it. Slide 9 Plans for my practice post uni: Studio, print internship, contact agencies and free lance Slide 10 Life plans post uni: A busy summer ahead leaving Leeds after 4 years, moving out of my family home, being reunited with my sister and working on becoming truly well again Slide 11 Creative presence plans post uni: Engage more frequently with social media, launch my website and continue to populate with blog and current project updates in the hope of gaining a following of people interested in my diverse creative practice Launch an online shop (etsy, big cartel etc) to get making and selling work with the purpose of funding my creative practice Cambridge has a great community art markets and I hope to finally bite the bullet and attend my first one. This will be great experience for me in boosting my confidence and presenting my work face to face with potential buyers - I can’t wait Slide 12 GOALS My current goal is simple. To combine my life and my creative passions. I am lucky enough to have a passion and have the drive to turn this into a job that I love Slide 13 Future Projects include Stationary Collections (gift cards, notebooks, sticker sheets etc) to develop my practice for sell and hopefully populate an online shop with nice little bits and pieces people won’t be too upset parting with their money for LAYERS - I have developed a new practical approach this year using printed textures and layers and manipulating these digitally. I hope to expand on this and
develop further into a refined body of work and potential practical direction of my practice. Papercut - My papercuts have been well received this year and having moved away from this skills set for fear of my outcomes being too chinsy - I hope to return to this way of working and create some cool interactive stuff - pushing the boundaries of what Illustration can be. Throughout my time at uni I have been keeping a collection of personal projects hidden from view which I cannot wait to get started on. Some of these include a “Im Here, You’re There” publication / zine / comic exploring the concept of time and the different day-to-day / hour-to-hour juxtaposition between myself and my life here in the UK and my sisters experience in New Zealand Slide 14 Reflection To close, this course has been quite the journey and in reflection I can see that my creative practice has come full circle. I have returned back to that state of play and enjoyment of process I can to the course with, with a renewed excitement to where this will all lead. I have produced an amazing body of work which I see as a development of my skills as an illustrator and have a portfolio to step out into the industry with that I can say I am finally proud of to call my own. My practice is incredibly personal to me. My name is essca (after a pet name my younger brother used to call me growing up) and achieving my degree has taken 10 years of hard work, dedication, being a coward and having to be the super hero I never thought I would need to be. 10 whole years and over 20 years of dreaming of becoming an illustrator has resulted in this moment. I am getting happier. I am much stronger and more experienced. I am taking myself less seriously and opening myself up to my fears. But most of all, creatively - I am ready.