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MA MADegree Degree Show Show2018 2018 Wolverhampton School School of Art (Est. 1851) delighted to present The Wolverhampton of Art (Est.is1851) are delighted to a dynamic diverseand exhibition postgraduate work. This a present aand dynamic diverseof exhibition that showcases year, we have joined forces with Wolverhampton Art Gallery range of multi-disciplinary work from our graduates. This year andwe The Art to Gallery Walsall to provide an international areNew thrilled see our students work exhibited across and two professional pad for our I would very much sites, with launch Wolverhampton Artstudents. Gallery and The New Art Gallery likeWalsall to thank both galleries for their support providing international stages forand our continued graduates. engagement with the Art School and for providing so many ongoing opportunities for emerging artists and designers to Students havepublic. come from a variety of backgrounds and reach a broader experiences to contribute to contemporary debates and extend their individual practices, with a good proportion Theofstudents havestudents come together to study Master’s courses international also contributing to a vibrant and at the University of Wolverhampton a variety of national enriching cultural community thatfrom explores multiple meanings andand international backgrounds and with diverse portfolios of methods within art and design. professional and educational experience. They have joined our courses to use our world-class workshops and studio facilities experienced researchers renowned and/or professional andOur to staff work are withallour staff of internationally artists, designers artists in theiryear, ownaright, who have shared their designers andand theorists. Each unique creative community knowledge and expertise with students to deliver exciting emerges in which staff, students and visiting artists in residence and challenging learning. The result of their collaborate, debateopportunities ideas, explorefor methods and build new valuable input is clearthat in the high standard of student work on approaches to practice they couldn’t realise independently. this year. Theshow exhibition is an important showcase for this new and exciting work. We would like to convey our very best wishes to all the
graduating we wish them well in next I would like to students, take this opportunity to wish alltheir the graduating endeavours will delight in theand undoubted students well inand their future careers practicesuccesses and I look that they will experience in the forward to hearing about theirfuture. successes and welcoming them back to the School as leading alumni in their fields.
Sam Hope Head of the Wolverhampton School of Art (Est. 1851) Maggie Ayliffe Head of the Wolverhampton School of Art (Est. 1851)
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Contents 07 MA Design and Applied Arts 37 MA Digital and Visual Communications 99 MA Art & Design by Research and MA Fine Art 139 Artists in Residence 5
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MA Design and Applied Arts The MA Design and Applied Arts course at the Wolverhampton School of Art (Est.1851) offers postgraduate students a programme that has a strong focus in contemporary practice, and is one which builds on existing art and design theory and applied arts traditions. Our students are encouraged to be independent thinkers, designers and makers. Importantly, they are allowed to develop their own unique identity within an environment that nurtures a philosophy of self-sufficient practice and thought. This year’s cohort has once again achieved a diverse body of work: Each student has developed a pathway that suits their particular way of working and artistic expression by utilizing his/her own research techniques and methodologies. Many cross boundaries of material practice, looking at the world in a way that is challenging and new and addresses design problems that have arisen form their own personal investigation.
Our students come from a diverse range of backgrounds, disciplines and territories. Many will go into industry or establish their own business strategies for continuing their work. Others will add to the varied creative community around the world by seeking employment in the educational sector or entering into further research. As they progress from academia to professional status we wish this year’s alumni well for continued success in the future and in all their endeavours. Well done, and many congratulations! Dr Max Stewart Course Leader, MA Design and Applied Arts
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Thomas Beeson
MA Design and Applied Arts With every footfall across this littered industrial landscape there is a reverberation deep within this earth. Each footstep echoing the agonized moan of the torn and rented earth. A landscape that for millennia provided nutrition and nurture for all forms of life. Diminished now, subjected to human avarice, the brutality of ‘Global Commerce’ and the artifice of humankind. There is no doubt the impact on the natural world. Now being recorded as, the ‘Anthropocene’ period, referencing human presence in geological time. What is the cost of this human indulgence? My work seeks to examine the residue of this turbulence in the ground that gave birth to the Industrial Revolution. Giving expression to the very materials, minerals that were regarded as ‘waste’.
Contact e: tombeeson3@gmail.com
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Gemma Bullock
MA Design and Applied Arts It is estimated that 350,000 tonnes of textile waste goes to landfill each year in UK alone. This volume of waste leads to a number of issues that impact upon the environment including waste, pollution and the build-up of non-biodegradable fabrics. My work derives from and disseminates a zero waste attitude towards fashion that has been informed by extensive theoretical and practical research into recycling and zero waste. I have created a fashion collection that is a reaction to the global issue of textile waste. Using discarded fabrics and biodegradable fabrics, paired with DIY kits and instructions to encourage everybody to get involved with a zero waste movement.
Contact e: g.bullock@wlv.ac.uk w: bullockgemma.wix.com/fashiondesign
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Isobel Coleman
MA Design and Applied Arts Through explorative research and live project design, I have uncovered the needs and issues of today’s UK knowledge workspace. Most would think we work to make money, but the reality is that satisfied people do their work because they feel that they are in charge. This control can be given through variety and stimulation, but it cannot be gained by design alone. I plan to support employers to offer the right culture and tools within the correct environment for their individual needs, to lead to a productive, creative and engaged workforce that can be retained. This process has led to a conceptual exhibition that questions why we work, looking to the future of workspace design and exposing these issues through a creative and interactive installation.
Contact e: isobelcoleman@hotmail.co.uk w: breathingspacedesignblog.wordpress.com
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Jaqueline Cooley
MA Design and Applied Arts I am a long term tenant on the Dudmaston Hall National Trust Estate in rural Shropshire. I have become aware, through conversations and old photos, of both present and former tenants who lived and worked here and made contributions to the community over generations. At the same time I have spotted visual clues of the lives they once lived, leading to an interest in their untold stories. Having moved away and returned to the village I have developed a sense of history, of both time passing by and time standing still. This body of work represents a palette of images, textures and mark making, gathered together in a collection of vessels. Accompanied by video, photography and audio, the collection draws the viewer into the immersive world of Quatt.
Contact e: jaqueline@jaquelinecooley.com w jaquelinecooley.com
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Kan Di
MA Design and Applied Arts My underwater restaurant design is a combination of restaurant interior design and underwater restaurant construction research. It is a place where visitors and tourists can directly visit the sea and relax. And from the point of view of the coastal landscape control, the organic combination of nature and architecture, and the open space sequence of landscape organization, the realization of the diversified urban functions of the coastal area. The location of the restaurant is in Weihai, China, the city’s north, east and south are surrounded by three seas with a total length of 986 kilometres.
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Kennedy Glews
MA Design and Applied Arts “The art of movement” “The art of movement” has been a voyage of discovery to add technology to Dance costumes with the combination of computer science, fashion/ textiles and dance. Surface pattern design and garment are all inspired by movement created when dancing. Using Arduinos, fibre optics and servos and linking to more traditional textile techniques, this collection breaks tradition and challenges the “normal” dancewear. Dance costumes have been worn as an addition to a performance, but by adding technology my work explores the possibilities of dance costumes being more than just worn, but, being a part of the dance itself. Tradition and history have advised that certain dance disciplines hold certain styles and shape of costume, however by learning these rules, and then breaking these traditions, has allowed me to create an androgynous dance costume that is as integral to the movement/performance of the routine.
Contact e: k.glews@wlv.ac.uk
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Tristan Guerrero
MA Design and Applied Arts The aim of my Master’s project is to provide a structure and define my creative aspiration through evaluative studio practices. Inspired by nature, my work explores the relationship between Biomorphism and Biomimicry designs, because this approach to innovation explores sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. I was also inspired by Julian Melchiorri’s profession on advances in biotechnology and engineering based on biomimicry, the ‘’ Exhale’’ which is the first living Bionic Chandelier which purifies the air indoor. With influences such as Julian Melchiorri and Dr Neri Oxman who pioneered the field of Material Ecology, I was fascinated and motivated by their project. My ideas have grown into an innovative approach to developing a connection with nature by introducing illustrations of nature, characteristic patterns and spatial conditions into the built environment.
Contact e: tristanguerrero@hotmail.co.uk i: instagram.com/tristan_projects
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Rhyan Jenkins
MA Design and Applied Arts In this project, I have aimed to create a new school environment which improves learning, delivery of education, and the well-being of students and educators – primarily within Art and Design at a Secondary School level. Although I cannot change the delivery of Art and Design in the curriculum, I can change the approach to how it is delivered through the environment in which it is taught. Creativity is one of the most important traits in the workplace, and it is vital to our wellbeing, often being an outlet for emotion. The lack of facilities for, and the approach to, creative subjects in recent times is abysmal and whilst many changes are government based; some aspects can be changed through design. My work derives from a need to improve conditions for both educators and students; and the want to become a lecturer in Interior Design.
Contact e: rhyanjenkins@hotmail.co.uk w: rhyanjenkins.wixsite.com/folio
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Mabel Lowman
MA Design and Applied Arts My work is inspired by mathematical construction and geometry, especially tessellation. My forms have emerged through the process of folding, and the conversion from 2D to 3D. The juxtaposition of organic texture with geometric structure is mirrored by the contrasting material properties of fabric and porcelain. I have investigated repetition found in nature such as moss, frost and crystal formations, and recreated these through hand built and slip cast porcelain. This body of work is modular, allowing the piece to respond to the space, and the magnetic components can tessellate in a variety of ways, creating an environment for the viewer to explore and engage with.
Contact e: mabel.lowman@gmail.com w: mabellowman.co.uk
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Jennifer Mottram
MA Design and Applied Arts
In my work I use semiotics and mathematics to inform my designs and create repeat patterns that not only mimic the beauty of nature originally and distinctly, but that also infuse a deeper (even sentimental) value. This collection is based on inspirational women throughout history, using the Victorian language of flowers to communicate the distinct characteristics of each woman. The collection includes hand-rendered prints inspired by Amelia Earhart, Emmeline Pankhurst and Mary Somerville.
Contact e: jennifermaymottram@gmail.com
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Alice Mundon
MA Design and Applied Arts They are lovingly crafted with the Hand Tufting technique, which forms a contrast with the modern images they are based on. These bespoke rugs should add a unique design touch wherever they are placed. The rugs are based on the colours that are found in nature, the shapes of the rugs are based on the cracks, holes, chips and pothole shapes that are in the urban environment around the Wolverhampton area; from these shapes I have created an interlocking rug. With this interlocking design I can see these rugs being used for a high end domestic or for a contract space purposes.
Contact e: a.mundon@outlook.com t: 07423999909
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Daniel Pursall
MA Design and Applied Arts We are currently producing more plastic waste than we can recycle. As a result, the plastic that does not get recycled ends up in land fill, or dumped on land or in the sea. By designing an inexpensive filament extruder to recycle plastic at home and by using QR codes on plastic packaging, I hope to teach people about recycling their own plastic waste and about circular economies. By adding a QR code to plastic packaging, I can provide the information needed to recycle the packaging into a product that can be recycled again when it is no longer needed.
Contact e: DanielPursallPD@gmail.com w: danielpursallpd.wixsite.com/danielpursall
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Debs Watson
MA Design and Applied Arts In 1984 a body was found just outside Manchester. The man in his late 20s had been stabbed, beaten and hanged. The well preserved Iron Age bog body, Lindow Man, is now on display at the British Museum. My body of work reflects my experience of sitting with Lindow Man, noticing human details that transformed him from an object into a person. I use ceramics to create my work as it has been taken from the earth, like the bog bodies. Preserved in the peat bog. Preserved in clay. My work is cast from life as I want the audience to recognise it as human and to make a connection. I hope my work creates a dialogue about the way human remains are displayed and treated.
Contact e: info@debswatsonart.co.uk w: debswatsonart.co.uk
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Henry Watson
MA Design and Applied Arts After completing a conceptual project of combining parametric design and biomimicry to create organic forms, I challenged myself to find a new and unique method of design. A method where I could channel my expressive thoughts and movements into objects without a meaningless click of a button. Using Virtual Reality as a new tool to design, my postgraduate journey has seen me become one of the first Virtual Designers. Immersed in the virtual world I have created forms and products that would be hard to create using traditional methods. However, the biggest task has been bringing the virtual into reality.
Contact e: H.N.Watson@wlv.ac.uk i: instagram.com/henryvrwatson
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MA Digital and Visual Communications The MA Digital and Visual Communications offers study in a broad range of digital and visual communication theory and practice. Specialist areas covered are: • Animation • Computer Games Design • Design for Advertising • Film and Video • Graphic Communication • Illustration • Multimedia Design • Photography
This MA attracts students from a wide range of disciplines and from all over the world, giving it a strong international flavour. Over the last few years students have comes from as far afield as China, Nigeria, India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Poland, Greece and Germany, as well as the UK. The course gives students the opportunity to develop their own creative practice as well as their creative thinking and research skills. It also equips them with the skills and knowledge essential for a career in the competitive market place that is International Visual Communications. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the graduates every success for their future careers in the creative industries. Ian Madeley Course Leader, MA Digital and Visual Communications
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Kieron Allen
MA Digital and Visual Communications Aesthetically Good? An ‘Exchange’ project undertaken during the MA programme resulted in an exchange of conversation with a busker in the nearby university subway. The meeting resulted in the re-design of one of the busker’s garments which was re-made and re-invented incorporating the use of two of my own items of clothing. The process essentially made something out of nothing. My work builds on this initial approach by taking old garments and objects and reinventing them whist aiming to make them aesthetically pleasing.
Contact e: allenkie@live.co.uk
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Juliane Boese
MA Digital and Visual Communications I have always been fascinated by architecture, particularly the modern style. At one point I realised, that for a lot of people architecture is a function, or a shelter, but these elements are often recognised at the expense of an appreciation of design. With my photographs, the observer gets to pay more attention to the architect’s design, as well as my interpretation of this. In order to highlight design aspects further, the approach taken to my MA project uses the visual language of minimalism.
Contact e: juliane.boese@gmx.net w: julianeboese.myportfolio.com
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James Davison
MA Digital and Visual Communications Tales from Espalore Tales from Espalore is a game currently in active development by the fledging company ‘Progressive Games’. Set in the fictional world of Espalore, the game follows Nickolai Lancaster, a young man from a migrant society, and his journey to aid his group’s efforts to build a permanent residence for themselves after an attack on their convoy leaves them with the inability to travel. After losing his mother Alexandria in the attack, Nickolai hopes that he’ll be able to deal with the grief of the loss of his mother and that the support he provides his community will serve to give his life greater purpose.
Contact e: J.davison@wlv.ac.uk
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Philipp Debatin
MA Digital and Visual Communications I will create a public awareness campaign drawing attention to data privacy issues, the digital fingerprint and the GDPR. I will try to break the passive behaviour most people have when it comes to data privacy, allow them to understand the GDPR, and inform them about what is happening to their data and how to protect themselves. I will create a series of posters and a homepage.
Contact e: P.Debatin@wlv.ac.uk
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Kolja Harbs
MA Digital and Visual Communications Blackandwhite – A Story About Dementia Using the format and visual language of the book, the work sets out to communicate and convey the progression of symptoms associated with memory loss and the gradual deterioration of thinking skills. On the one hand the book will contain the contextual and graphic references to the person concerned, whilst the early stages of the illness are interpreted through increasingly absent words, blurred photographs, typographic disorder, and the use of laser cut interventions upon elements of the printed page. The term “Blackandwhite” is a reference to the graphic language employed to convey the light, shade, and darkness of memory loss.
Contact e: koljaharbs@gmail.com w: koljaharbs.de
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Maximillian Helmer
MA Digital and Visual Communications My project takes as its starting point, the emotional bond between people and their sense of national identity. All around the world there are examples of disputes around issues of national, religious and ethical identities. Brexit and the rise of populist ideas in Europe are consequences of this trend where it can appear that dysfunction and negativity are more popular than positivity. This project seeks to reach out to everyone to reconsider their own sense of personal ‘self’. The European project is often more commonly known for its economic aspects rather than social. My work reconsiders the EU project as a unifying identity with values such as unity, tolerance and exchange.
Contact e: maximilian.helmer@gmx.de
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Jana Hesse
MA Digital and Visual Communications Not to be Censored My Masters project seeks to give voice to the observation that the ordinary appearance of female bodies has become taboo. Social media, as filter and agent for comparison appears to reflect an emerging problem; that the idealised image of beauty that has been constructed is, effectively censoring images which are contrary to expectations of female beauty. We should start to confront society’s standards of femininity. Why are our attitudes still so restrictive towards women’s bodies? Once freed of all obsessive preconception, freed of all moral striving for perfection we could embrace a normal, fulfilling life.
Contact e: janahessedesign@gmail.com
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Klaudia Karpete
MA Digital and Visual Communications It all started with social media and happiness. This then turned into emotional issues, toxic relationships and body negativity. Not everyone on the internet has a perfect life; this is what I discovered for myself by trying to present a flawless image which didn’t exist. There is also the more positive side to it all. People who support others, resulting in me feeling like I no longer need to hide. If I had been told a year ago that my life would turn out this way, I would’ve laughed and said to myself that I don’t believe in fairy tales.
Contact e: K.Karpeta@wlv.ac.uk
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Carmen Leiss
MA Digital and Visual Communications Melancholia Melancholia combines the pleasure of reflection and stillness, with the mourning of loss or the yearning for something. Being reflective, alone, withdrawn and thoughtful doesn’t fit into today’s society. We only wait for the future, expecting happiness by tomorrow whilst trying to suppress our yesterdays. This work is a collection of imagery, poetry and text in response to the subject of melancholia, and differentiates the mood from sadness and depression, revealing the bitter sweetness, beauty, and potential it brings. The book includes handmade paper with flower petals capturing the transience of beauty.
Contact e: carmen.leiss@yahoo.de
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Yue Lin
MA Digital and Visual Communications I moved to my place of residence in the UK, and began to experience something new; I started to pick up on visual aspects of the area in which I live. Things that provided me with new visual experiences are those that people living here every day probably do not really pay much attention to; which made me realise that if we actually turned our attention away from our phones we can create the opportunity for interesting visual experiences. My approach will be to take photographs of the area around me for 90 days, in doing this I hope to remind not just myself but others to appreciate and reconnect with the engaging present moment as clichĂŠd as that may sound.
Contact e: y.lin3@wlv.ac.uk
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Maria Ling
MA Digital and Visual Communications During my studies in the UK, I have come to realise how much I miss being surrounded by nature and specifically my experiences of particular mountains. The environment is something that a lot of people take for granted, which is something that my work seeks to change. I started to take images in the National Park and experimented with these pictures. For my MA project, I decided to drive to the Scottish Highlands and take photographs in the documentary style, which show the beauty of nature. I also aim to convey the different influences that mountains have on people through the combination of image and text.
Contact e: mariareling@aol.com w mariareling.myportfolio.com
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Ben Mantle
MA Digital and Visual Communications Is nature just a construct of an ideal world? Does nature actually become a significant part of our lives? Would we care if nature did not exist in the future? This project aims to understand the relationship between humans and nature and the impact we have on each other. Is our relationship with nature a positive one or is it something that should be encouraged to change for the future? The work will seek to engage the viewer to feel loss and melancholia for nature in an attempt to redeem humanity’s relationship with nature through acts of atonement towards feelings of happiness.
Contact e: ben@wlv.ac.uk
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Jara Niemeyer
MA Digital and Visual Communications Geometry of the Senses Re-sensitise the body Today the ‘depth of our being’ stands on thin ice. - Steven Holl As we spend so much time in front of the screen, watching and admiring how other people live their lives on social media, we completely forget to experience the world with our own senses. In my final MA project, areas such as fashion, architecture and the senses are merged with Printed Body Architecture, which are wearable’s printed by the 3D Printer. Building forms, rather than conventional fabrics, stimulate the senses of the wearer. It may be possible to improve the relationship between object, body and environment with the result of being able to experience the visual language of architecture in a different way.
Contact e: jaraniemeyer@gmx.de
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Vinicius Ferraz Pereira
MA Digital and Visual Communications The aim of my project is to explore the status quo of technology with regard to the individual and their inner self. The complexity and scale of our information culture, and the effects of social media, are, relatively speaking contemporary issues that haven’t been around for so long. Therefore, my aim is to reflect further on these issues and to explore different approaches to the visualisation of how technology connects to people’s daily experience and their subconscious.
Contact e: ferrazpereira.vinicius@googlemail.com
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Jana Poppenborg
MA Digital and Visual Communications Soul Dogs - a Special Connection For my MA project, I decided to design a series of engaging messages around the role of therapy dogs and present them in the form of a campaign. The project is intended to show the special relationship between therapy dogs and the individuals that they help. A lot of people are not familiar with the term therapy dog and the different ways in which they can provide comfort and support. Furthermore, therapy dogs are not recognised because it has not as yet been scientifically proven whether they really help the patient. “With a short tail wagging, a dog can express more emotions than some people with hours of talk.” — Louis Daniel Armstrong (1901-1971)
Contact e: contact@thinksquare.design w: thinksquare.design
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Hannah Quellhorst
MA Digital and Visual Communications You Can Be What You Can’t See Identity – A sophisticated construction In my research I focussed on the areas of identity, stereotypes, and perception. I was interested in how far the self-appraisal of individuals differs from the outer appearance and the disconnection or even conflict that can arise from this issue. The body’s meaning can only be seen at once as dependent on a whole context. It is necessary to understand the composition of a human identity. My constructions aim to explore the sophisticated make up of personalities. The case of having something to touch and feel provides a sensory perception as it is experienced in everyday life. The shadows produced by the work convey the message that there is always more to see beyond the surface.
Contact e: hannahquellhorst@gmail.com
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Hanna Runge
MA Digital and Visual Communications Experimental City Exploration - Unfolded Stories at the Sidewalk The present is controlled by technology and speed, with the result of us not noticing what is going on around in our environment. People are absorbed in a virtual world, preventing themselves from having experiences in public space. There is the danger of us taking for granted the things that our daily lives offer us. The aim of this project is to show the viewer that streets are rich places, full of stories, inspiration and our traces. My work has the intention to inspire people to explore cities in an experimental way.
Contact e: hanna_125@hotmail.de w: hanna-runge.myportfolio.com
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Sarah Schiffmann
MA Digital and Visual Communications Tales of the Boogeyman Our seven sins It sometimes seems that we do no longer feel responsible for our planet. We have developed complacent attitudes where the number of followers we have on our social media apps appears to be more important than issues of equality and human rights. Often, we celebrate the achievements and greatness of mankind but fall silent when an issue gets too serious. We should raise our voices for equality, social justice and become more aware of ourselves, our environment and the consequences of our consumption; but instead, we hate, fight, and exploit the weak. These are not fairy tales, those are the tales of the Boogeyman. In my photoseries I combine fashion, symbolism and a satirical view on contemporary issues. I want to show the disconnection and a new interpretation of the seven deadly sins.
Contact e: sarahschiffmann@aol.de w: sarahschiffmann.com
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Jessica Schmitt
MA Digital and Visual Communications Froufrou Within the framework of my contextual research, I developed two areas of focus for my creative practice; female identity with regard to fashion, and the illustrative potential of traditional graphic design. Fashion can be considered an extension of the self either physically or mentally, whereas illustration and graphic design are typically considered as separate. To combine these two aspects, I developed branding for a fashion label inspired by 90s girl culture and designed an associated capsule collection exploring unconventional femininity. The illustrative branding visually complements the quirky aesthetic of the garments, exploring the relationship between fashion, the body and contemporary feminism.
Contact e: j.schmitt@wlv.ac.uk
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Mareike SchrÖder
MA Digital and Visual Communications You cannot make more time, you can just change time. In our society people become dazzled by material things and lose sight of the true richness of spirit and the joy of living in the present moment; a central theme informing my work is the message “Do not let anybody or anything steal your time”. Creating a world that picks up on the issues of time, self-management and identity, I want to bring the viewer closer to these issues through both - a print and a digital product: A PopUp Book accompanied by an App which are based on the fairy tale novel “Momo” by German author Michael Ende.
Contact e: mareike.schroeder.design@gmail.com w: mareikeschroeder.myportfolio.com
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Yasemin Sezgin
MA Digital and Visual Communications SEMICOLON The human brain is the most fascinating organ of all; it forms our identity, what we like, what we don’t like, what we want to achieve and how we can achieve it. But all of this can be impacted as soon as our brain gets sick. These illnesses are often invisible, untouchable, inaudible; which can be reasons for many to believe that they don’t really exist, resulting in misconceptions about mental health and therefore make it harder for those suffering to become fully understood. SEMICOLON is a magazine about mental health issues, which seeks to offer a platform for helpful information, support, facts, and advice.
Contact e: yasemin.sezgin@yahoo.de
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Sarah Sonnenberg
MA Digital and Visual Communications “All that really belongs to us is time� (Baltasar Gracian) I started the Master’s program with an interest in Japanese art. This really moved forward when I engaged in more depth with the process of print making and in particular linocuts. Time flies. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It just feels as if I arrived yesterday and had a weekend stay. The matter of time is an important theme for me. I came here for study and I knew it would be only for a year but it feels so ridiculously short; that is why I have been reflecting on the value of time. For my MA project, I wish to explore the visual language of time and convey its effects around a particular location.
Contact e: kontakt@sonnenberg.design w: sonnenberg.design
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Melisa Sözeri
MA Digital and Visual Communications VOGUE FOR ME! Vogue the Ultimate form of self-expression. “Vogue” Is not about the Vogue Magazine or Madonna, it is about Vogue Dance & the Ballroom scene. Vogueing, a form of dance created in the clubs of Harlem by a subculture of young gay men and drag-queens in the 60 ś . In a beautiful escape, they express the most outrageous version of themselves through costumes, attitude, and dance. The “Ballroom scene” is when people come together to exchange. Serving the runway, being bizarre, or competing in drag categories for trophies and prizes. The objectives of documenting the ballrooms is to show the interaction between audience and dancers. I wish to take the viewer inside the culture of house-balls and to convey the diversity, identity, and unity of Vogue. My aim is also to develop a new character for the category “BIZARRE” using the theme ‘goddess of the Nature’.
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Luise Trilsbach
MA Digital and Visual Communications Internet Security for Children Dealing with the behaviour of selfie-taking and the neglect of privacy, led me to the topic of internet security for children. Today, the youngest people of our society are influenced by the internet the most. The digital world with all its merits contains also numerous risks. This is why I would like to raise the awareness of children through my digital poster campaign to be aware of dubious content on the internet in order to protect themselves. The animation style has a beneficial effect on the attention of the viewer. The posters are part of the campaign by a fictitious organisation which aims to offer children appropriate information on the topic. My aim is to prepare kids to react in a safer way in complicated online situations.
Contact e: trilsbach-design@t-online.de
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Nijie Tu
MA Digital and Visual Communications After nearly a year of studying in the UK, I was exposed to a lot of western art styles and I discovered that these art styles are very different from China, both in painting and design. My work seeks to use Western Art Styles to depict and display elements of traditional Chinese culture, so that when combined, these elements convey a new visual effect. The Cheongsam is a traditional costume of Chinese women, and I have therefore chosen to use the visual language of the cheongsam as the main element of my design. When visual elements of Western and Chinese culture appear in the same compositional space, they are both contradictory and unified, so my work aims to convey a special relationship between both cultures.
Contact e: N.Tu@wlv.ac.uk
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Liam Wesson
MA Digital and Visual Communications 50 Years of Gay Men This project looks at the way in which societies opinions have changed since the part decriminalisation of male homosexuality in 1967. It delves deeper into the issues surrounding LGBT people, and the difficulties that many in smaller communities and different cultures around the UK face, as well as those in sport such as football; and although the law has changed in a positive way, the project also asks whether society has changed with it? The project aims to tell stories in a compelling way using photography, video, and sound.
Contact e: liamwesson@outlook.com
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Deborah Wills
MA Digital and Visual Communications TV Canvas Nam June Paik described the Video Synthesizer he created as; “... a device that would enable us to shape the TV canvas...as freely as Picasso, as colourfully as Renoir, as profoundly as Mondrian, as violently as Pollock...” It is Paik’s concept of the television as “canvas” that has shaped my approach to this project. Today’s throwaway culture sees mountains of obsolete, electronic consumer goods piled high. Inspired by both Paik’s work and my own reaction to that culture I aim to use the television set as an art canvas and produce a Video/TV Art installation.
Contact e: rebelfilmproductions@outlook.com
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Joseph Williamson
MA Digital and Visual Communications Questioning my previous illustration practice, I came to the conclusion that the ‘had-rendered aesthetic’ - which has become ubiquitous within food packaging and advertising, reminds us of times when attitudes were optimistic and less complicated by choice, technology, and the shortcomings of consumer culture. I seek to create work incorporating digital art with infographics and elements of graphic design. Making use of psychedelic colour schemes, I aim to subvert the way food and consumer choice are presented through advertising, as a means of exposing the artifice and superficiality of lifestyle. Addressing the class implications of healthy organic raw lifestyles, I hope to highlight the fact that these are being promoted from a position of privilege whilst other people are living below the breadline.
Contact e: josephwilliamsondesign@yahoo.com w: behance.net/jwilliamso2f5b
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Carolin Windel
MA Digital and Visual Communications Beauty of Diversity My research has explored the meanings and definitions of identity and beauty. What does it mean to be beautiful today? How do you learn to feel beautiful and why is it that outer beauty has such a huge significance and value for us? People, particularly of our generation, have tremendous problems with finding their own beauty and often feel compelled to adapt to certain standards. Western society provides many norms and rules. Society impacts how we view, respond, and react to every experience. How can we find a true self (an identity) in a society that has little tolerance for diversity? This project is about people who are affected by society’s stiff standards and stereotypes in relation to Sexuality, Gender & Race. With my Portraits I want to demonstrate different definitions of beauty away from the conventional standard. I want to celebrate the beauty of diversity and make people rethink their biases.
Contact e: mail@carolin-windel.de w: carolin-windel.de
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Lena Wurthmann
MA Digital and Visual Communications Graphic Novel about the experience of a refugee My Masters Project is a Graphic Novel that tells the story of a young, Afghan refugee and the things that occur on his flight to Germany. The depicted incidents that happen during the journey are based partly on a personal interview, and partly on a study about the experience of flight, whereby results are based on 123 qualitative interviews. I unified these elements into a fictional story that is based on true incidents. The subjective experience of flight is at the centre of my Graphic Novel, but there are also information pages about the refugee crisis as a phenomenon of the mass immigration to Europe and the history and meaning of the right to asylum.
Contact e: lenawurthmann@yahoo.com
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MA Art & Design by Research & MA Fine Art The graduating students of 2018 have lots of stories to tell. They have created something very special together. A lot of educational institutions in art talk of community, the value of shared experiences and cross-disciplinary approaches. The fertility that prospers in the ground when the many, rather than the few, stand upon it. Students, artists, theorists and practitioners working together as a creative force to improve their own understanding of what it is to be an artist, what artists can do and why they might do it. But is this just a wishful nod back to the art institutions of the past? Do those communal experiences, that are celebrated features of such places as the Bauhaus and the Shillito Design School, really still exist? If they do still exist then do these communal experiences mean the same thing in today’s world?
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The students here from the MA Fine Art and MA Art & Design by Research gathered their collective approaches in January as part of an offsite exhibition at the Direct Art Action Gallery in Sutton Coldfield. What was once a large branch of British Home Stores, now converted into a contemporary gallery space, housed a group exhibition that pulled diverse concerns together and enabled the group to test ideas and strategies. Risks were taken, chance embraced and lessons were learned. Afterwards, in their studio spaces they gathered and talked the exhibition through, and then they moved forward. Visiting lecturers came and the students listened, questioned and participated. Contemporary performance artist Robert Luzar proposed that they become part of his work in an impromptu piece… and they did. The brilliant staff from the Ikon Gallery visited and challenged them to put together a proposal to be part of their Slow Boat Programme… and they did. Hosting the 2018 Dirty Practice Conference and Residencies, the School of Art challenged the students to propose and become part of the conference… and they did. Every step of the way they convened as a group, in the 6th floor studio kitchen during a morning tea break, in their studio spaces late at night… they valued the interaction and strengthened the community of artists that they were becoming.
Then there is the New Art Gallery Walsall – what can be said about the level of support and opportunity that they opened up to the students? The Director, Curators, Front of House Staff and Technical Support treated our students with upmost respect from the word go and importantly they treated them as professional artists. They raised the bar again and asked the group to meet that challenge... and they did. I am genuinely proud to have shared in the experiences of this group of artists, they have been a pleasure to work with and I am sure that all of the staff who have taught, talked with, and worked alongside them with me will join in that sentiment. What is clear from this exhibition is that community is alive and thriving in our School and this particular community of graduates is proof that in today’s world there is a place for collective creative experiences. Well done and to all the graduating students I say… Go somewhere and be brilliant! Dr Dean Kelland Course Leader, MA Art & Design by Research and MA Fine Art
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Antoinette Alleyne
MA Fine Art Prettiness
The work aims to toy with individual perceptions of prettiness. Using colour, form and narrative the paintings question the synthetic nature of prettiness. Complicated by simplicity; bright and deliberate, vacant, banal and pretty with non-conventional lines of vision. Colours are derived from nature’s palettes then used as symbols of what is considered pretty. These paintings, special yet crowded are an expression of laboured prettiness of abstract painterly, while still enjoying the considered and constructed forms of kitsch. They have as much to do with absorbing the vivid almost unnatural colour laden parts, as considering the empty spaces and full of narratives.
Contact e: a_voltegalleries@hotmail.com e: a.m.alleyne@wlv.ac.uk
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Debra Arrow
MA Fine Art
I create work to provoke, and inspire discussion, hopefully raising awareness of issues facing the vulnerable in our community. This is a memorial to at least 78 people who died on our streets last winter. Forget-me-not flowers adorn the tent representing the lost souls who perished, whilst cold and hungry. This tent is a conflict between the safety and security felt by heavy knitted blankets in what is not a secure situation for the homeless. Later, this tent will be broken up to provide blankets for the homeless. Thank you everyone who has donated squares for this project.
Contact e: D.C.Arrow@wlv.ac.uk w: issuu.com/debarrow9/docs/doc2
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Adam Bryce
MA Fine Art
Traditional sculpture is stereotypically associated with certain materials. To only focus on those specifically, we begin to distance ourselves from the key elements of sculpture such as space, form, context and scale. Sculpture shares many of the same characteristics and values with architecture and construction. By implementing such aspects into sculpture we could revise our perception of sculpture, and reconsider the role of industrial material. The frame for this work, being both modern and functional allows for alteration at any time. Through doing this it allows the object to resist the fixed nature of conventional sculpture.
Contact e: adam.bryce1989@outlook.com i: instagram.com/adambrycefineart
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Duncan Costello
MA Fine Art
Working as part of a collective, in collaboration between art and labour that seeks to break down the imposed distinction between artist and worker. The work is produced through a knowing contribution to the concept from worker artists who have been briefed fully on the theoretical underpinnings of the collective, allowing full autonomy of creative choice. Inkhuk seeks both the annihilation of the division between artist and worker and the re-siting of artistic practice into the real world.
Contact e: duncan2148@icloud.com w: inkhuk.org
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Bethany Dugmore
MA Fine Art
Looking at human interaction in its most digital format, “After the Fact� is an installation that questions surveillance in everyday life, its growth into a digital platform and its availability in just a click. Using webcams and traditional means of surveillance, this installation is an insight into revelations of current virtual issues and conventional means of people watching one another. This piece looks at communication through video and other materials, for viewers to see relevance to their own lives alongside the many screens and cameras in which they interact with daily.
Contact e: bethany.dugmore@hotmail.com
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Todd Jones
MA Fine Art
Produced in-situ, this work employs sculpture to produce architectural boundaries. A space within a space is forged and contained within the gallery, dividing an exhibition area into a positive and negative space. Due to the ephemeral qualities of these installations, the work requires photographic documentation. This forms a multidisciplinary practice where sculpture and photography become both instrumental, yet they enforce a division of roles. Although the photographs document what was once there, they do not capture the entire space or scale. They conceal the identity of the situation, where as the site and sculpture can reveal it.
Contact e: nolightpro@hotmail.co.uk i: instagram.com/todchenko_art
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Xiaojing Liu
MA Fine Art
All have been shaped by our social surroundings, and conformed to the ideologies it upholds. Just like a dictatorship within democracy, an invisible order sustains our apparent freedoms. Ideologies are our spontaneous relationship to our social world, how we perceive and understand. We often desire escape from the constraints and pressures put upon us, however the tragedy of our predicament is, that if we attempt to step outside these ideologies flushing these away to experience true free will, we inevitably find ourselves falling back into yet another ideology, that of the individual existence.
Contact e: x.liu@wlv.ac.uk
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Nicola Maxwell
MA Fine Art
This work is an interactive piece that seeks to examine questions around value and exchange in art. The participant viewer is encouraged to make a transaction whereby personal data is exchanged for a piece of sculpture. With reference to the profligate release of such personal data on social media this work seeks to ask questions around not only the institutional value of artwork but the cultural value of personal information. The sculptural forms have a child-like quality about them; this places the participant into the a position where notions of childhood vs technology are resonant and also addresses the sustained use of mobile phone and screen based technology that so many now rely upon.
Contact e: nicolarrr@hotmail.co.uk i: instagram.com/sohtaem
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Mac McCoig
MA Fine Art
There is a vital thread running through my works; this is something of the artist’s persona and is carried through into the artworks. They are, in a sense, ‘alive’. If artworks are, as Isabel Graw suggests, projections of this ‘aliveness’ then I make art that suspends or defers the anxiety of this vital force: it mirrors the development of our emotional and moral selves and creates a model of the process of internalising real experiences. The Meme Game is a means by which these vital forces can be played out beyond the reality of the objects to hand.
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Ruth Morby
MA Fine Art
Explorations in colour and space This work looks at the relationship between the art, the creator and the audience. Her automatic style of sketches is a look at the relation between tone and texture. This approach allows the audience to see the processes the artist went through to create it as each mark. The sketches themselves are not precious or overworked but spontaneous and quick with the intention of showing every movement and mark made. Each piece is unique, but over time have formed a collection with characteristics that flow though the many sketches. On show is a selection of work that Ruth Morby has deemed to be the most ‘successful’ demonstrating balance, tonal range, interest and diversity of mark making through the techniques she has developed.
Contact e: r.morby1@gmail.com w: ruthmorbyart.com
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Simon Morris
MA Fine Art
Currently my work explores the dying art of Darkroom Photography, with the over saturation of mobile photography people often don’t look at the photographs they take. Adopting CMYK as a link to modern media I have chosen to obscure sections of my photography that has been meticulously created in the darkroom from 35mm negatives. Giving a modern view of how society documents to forget, losing the importance of the photographic image. The darkroom is an important aspect, the hand rendered element that shows the time dedicated to a process that will ultimately not be viewed. For this series the images have been collated from trips to New York and Berlin. My broader body of work continues to challenge the limits of photography and the requirements to be considered. This aspect of occlusion within my imagery leads me to consider the social implications of modern photography.
Contact e: simonjmorris@live.com
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Patricia Newell
MA Fine Art ‘Rhythms as a ‘Du Rag’© ‘I, a stranger and afraid In a world, I never made’
My practice explores the notion of lost cultural heritage, through the eyes of mother and daughter’s perpetual transient journey for home. The book ‘Taste the Roughness’ featuring my mother, a seamstress, is the source for a series of portable works consist of fragmented and found materials, combined with sound. This collaborative work with J.Tastic features his bespoke cinema-scope track ‘Darker Moments’. By combining sound with visuality the pieces attempt to perform the journey of memories, the multiplicity of conflicting emotions and reminiscence.
Contact e: mirriampsalmost@gmail.com i: instagram.com/Hadassa Arts
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Glyn Owen
MA Fine Art
Seeking to Infiltrate the Exploring Eye. Beauty in desolation abandonment the lost dreams of humanity, chaos, calamity, neglect the half-life and sad beauty of decline. Shattered shells of human existence conferring a beauty all of it’s own. Emergent from the decaying fabric of dereliction, the poetic suggestion of inherent melancholy. The sense of incompleteness its allusiveness found within the fragmentary nature of the body of work. Alienation, absurdity as characterized by Camus as dereliction. Compounded bleakness bereft transition, innumerable interventions, urban blight generates shattered shells of abandonment when social fabric crumbles, humbles, neglected vulnerability, assemblage of visual imagery.......... A poem is never finished ... only abandoned- Paul Valery.
Contact e: glynowen45@hotmail.co.uk
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Satinder Parhar
MA Fine Art
I have been fascinated by both natural and man-made apertures. I explore areas such as: tunnels, arches, cave openings and fissures. These forms create an intervening space called an ‘interstice’. I photograph these interstitial spaces and through the medium of dry-point etching, I highlight these spaces. The medium allows me to manipulate the photograph to where I can emphasise these openings. These etchings are enlarged in size to help lay emphasis on something which is visually non-existent. My practice does not acknowledge the structures that form these interstices but however recognises the interstitial spaces that are formed within.
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Clair Shepherd
MA Fine Art
This work seeks to explore self-portraiture in relation to historical and contemporary photographic practice. The use of film and chemical photography is employed to rupture our familiarity with the contemporary look of the omnipotent ‘selfie’. The work tests the artist who engaged over a concerted period of time with the single images, building an uncomfortable relationship with the portraits in a way that is unusual in a world of constant self image making. The decision to distort the artist’s identity by using chemicals to destabilise the negative and remove something conversely introduces elements that further instigate closer inspection of the subject.
Contact e: clairshepherd@hotmail.com
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Andreas Singh
MA Fine Art
Inspired by a lifelong fascination with cosmology, my practice has come to resemble a scientific study. The subject matter of my installations is drawn from physics, generating a conversation between the work and the viewer. I believe that the mystery of the cosmos is something reachable only in a theoretical or artistic way. In the start of my practice I wanted focus on the role of silence in spatial compositions. I create voids inside environmental spaces, moments in the viewing experience where time and space become suspended. How would one visualise a void or “nothingness”? This is where my work starts to move into the subject of singularity. The work becomes hypnotic often losing the viewers focus and attention into one single point, until they get lost in a never-ending space or void. Where nothing else exists but the viewer’s conscious.
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James Weston
MA Fine Art
Homoerotic Art was once a dwindling genre of art within the public eye. In recent decades, it has grown and began to flourish within many contemporary pieces of work. The concept of male desire is dominant in my work. This idea of perfection, impossible to achieve without the right editing or filter on social media especially, is something many gay men come to deal with at some point in their lives and it’s time this arrogant state of mind changed from this one idea of what a man should be, this idea being somebody who is derogatively described as “masculine”.
Contact e: Le-JamesX@live.co.uk i: instagram.com/jomzzyy_art
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Charlotte Westwood
MA Fine Art
“Clarity, How Clear Does an Image Have to be?” explores the process of reducing a complex image down to its most basic form, displaying abstract pieces that hold detailed memories for viewers. Drawing inspiration from movie/TV show posters or scenes to create these abstract drawings, it is no longer important if you recognise the scene or if you’ve not seen that specific movie before. Consequently, making the images more abstract allows the viewer more room to interact with the art work and draw their own conclusion to what they think the image is trying to show or represent.
Contact e: WestwoodCE@yahoo.com
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David Westwood
MA Fine Art
Art is evolving into something that no longer relies on visual engagement alone to stimulate us. More and more works are designed to be experienced through physical interactions. Sound, smell, taste and touch are often employed by Artists to present unique situations and sensations. Art Galleries however are still widely considered places of quiet contemplation, and hushed reverence. My work playfully challenges expectations of how artwork is supposed to behave, and our preconceived notions of Art Gallery environments. Inspiration has come mostly from memories of growing up in the Black Country area surrounded daily by the noises of heavy industry.
Contact e: westwoodd65@gmail.com
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Artists in Residence Artist in Residence is a scheme designed to encourage practising artists to engage with the Faculty of Arts and its students. It provides visual artists and designer makers with the opportunity to undertake a period of research or realise a project, using our workshops and supporting facilities, in exchange for volunteering their services to the Faculty for one day. This gives those participating the opportunity to use equipment which otherwise may not be available to them, as well as benefitting the Faculty by bringing ideas and techniques which may not otherwise enter the University environment.
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Claire Buckerfield
Artist in Residence Composition #17
Concerned with drawing in the expanded field, Claire’s practice explores line, space and form using non-traditional drawing methods and materials. Her current work is a site-specific exploration of the familiar but often overlooked areas that exist around us. These are re-presented and perceived anew leaving the viewer to consider his or her own relationship to them. During the making process, architecture and existing materials inevitably become incorporated into the work. The composition itself is constructed around historical marks and imperfections that exist on the surface area. As a result each configuration is unique allowing it to feel alive and in the moment.
Contact e: clairelbuck@gmail.com i: instagram.com/clairebuckerfield
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Corrina Field
Artist in Residence
I enjoy a gentle relationship of allowing the materiality of glass to express its innate mutable qualities. The simple colours and textures upon the surface of the glass, suggest an ancient quality and the presence of belonging to another time. The vessels are imbued with the symbology of caves, cocoons and wombs, all these are considered feminine forms; receptive containers where creation and transformation may happen. I imagine the vessels I create as ensouled objects, a symbol of the human body as a receptacle of experience and knowledge that maybe transmitted to others.
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Serge Sanghera
Artists in Residence Yin Yang
The inspiration for my work derives from the Chinese concept of Yin Yang, the philosophy of which sees two opposing energies within the universe. One energy cannot exist without the other. To express this I use the simplicity of wheel thrown cylindrical forms with my main focus on an installation of multiples. The composition of the multiples is of paramount importance in the concept behind the work and I have incorporated the Golden Ratio to give a fixed proportion to the work regardless of the individual scale of each piece. I use two different clay bodies with very opposing characteristics to communicate my work; black brick for ‘Yin’ and porcelain for ‘Yang’.
Contact w: sergesanghera.com
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Phoebe Stubbs
Artists in Residence
I originally trained as a glassmaker, making tableware and lighting, but I fell in love with the optical effects of the material. I now work between glass and photography, striving for new ways to express its effects. In the glassblowing studio, I am drawn to the movement of hot glass, then as it cools, controlling its optical properties by drawing clear glass from very thick to thin. I often take blown pieces into the photography studio to manipulate and play with light. I like making objects and images that don’t reveal their construction, that confuse the eye.
Contact w: phoebestubbs.info e: phoebestubbs@gmail.com
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Wolverhampton
School of Art Est.
152
ER1040
1851
Wolverhampton School of Art University of Wolverhampton The George Wallis Building Molineux Street Wolverhampton WV1 1DT
Tel: 01902 322 898 Email: arts@wlv.ac.uk Visit: wlv.ac.uk/mashow @WLV_Arts /WLVArts