School of Design and Creative Arts Student Vlogs 2024
Every year the final-year students in the School of Design and Creative Arts put together a final collection to be shown in the Degree Show. This is the culmination of their work throughout their degree course and a platform to raise their profile prior to graduating and starting their careers, as well as an opportunity to share their work with family and friends.
We commissioned six students from Design and Creative Arts to put together a short video charting their progress as they worked towards the installation of their collection for the 2024 exhibition. These videos give a fascinating insight into the processes involved and the range of skills and techniques the students have used to complete their collections.
Alongside their videos (which you can watch below), we asked each of the students to tell us a bit more about themselves and their practice and/or collection. We have also added links to their profile on the Digital Degree Show website. The remaining videos will be added to this page as they go live and by Monday 17 June at the latest.
The Degree Show 2024 runs from 14-16 June. After this date you can view the show online and find out more about all the finalists.
Becky Jordan
Textiles: Innovation and Design
Becky specialises in repurposing textiles through the art of screen printing, quilting and embroidery. Using what we already have and focusing on making it multi-functional, durable and something to cherish. Striving to exhibit the stunning textile pieces that can be made, without making more.
Inspired by our relationship to the landscape and each other. Her work aims to exhibit a symbol of what we have to protect for each other and to be good ancestors for generations to come.
Watch Becky's Vlog
An Limkatanyoo
Fine Art
I've always found the mind endlessly fascinating. Through various media, I use art to rediscover and recover memories, both from my early childhood and those that are repressed. My art serves as a diary, a celebration, a confession, and a form of self-documentation.
I don't have a specialised medium for artmaking. Depending on the context and my senses, I experiment with different media to find what best suits each project and develop it further. Personally, I believe the essence of art lies in its process rather than its outcome. Although I enjoy exploring new methods, I often feel anxious about not having a specialised medium, especially when starting a new project, because I never know where the starting line is.
By incorporating elements from my memories, I imbue pieces of myself into my work. When I look back at my old creations, it's like reading my diaries. It's always rewarding to see how much I've grown, providing a comforting sense of continuity and self-reflection.
Watch An's video
Olivia Nichols
Textiles: Innovation and Design
Hi, I am Olivia, I am a textile student and I specialise in woven textiles. I am deeply interested in travel and culture - especially Asia - and love to incorporate that into my textile practice. I am especially drawn to the different wildlife and communities that live in this part of the world, the relationship between them and the history of their traditions. I find it fascinating the richness and diversity of this topic and learning about another’s perspective in life outside of Western societies. I am intrigued by how textiles can also play a part in storytelling through time, sustaining traditions that have existed for thousands of years and how the surrounding wildlife influences them.
For my final project, And Then There Were None, I was first inspired by the works of wildlife conservation photojournalist Paul Hilton, who did several photo essays on the Leuser ecosystem in Sumatra, Indonesia, alongside a series of photographs on the palm oil industry affecting the Leuser and the illegal wildlife trade happening across Asia. These highly emotive images of wildlife destruction fuelled by ever-growing consumerism for palm oil and animal products resonated with me, and I was inspired to delve deeper and research the stories behind them. On my research journey for the project, I came across the traditional North Sumatran woven cloth called ‘Ulos’ meaning ‘blanket’ in Indonesian. Ulos is an integral part of Sumatran culture and to be a ulos weaver is seen as prestigious in the Batak community. However, over recent years due to growing tourism and new technologies, the traditional invaluable reputation of ulos has been diminishing. My project is inspired by all of this and aims to cast a spotlight on the need for the conservation of irreplaceable wildlife and community traditions before they are just a point in history.
Watch Olivia's video
Zed Omri
Graphic Communication and Illustration
Hi! I'm Zed and I'm a final year Graphic Design student. When I'm not working at my computer or in the studio, you can probably find me upside-down in the swimming pool with AU Canoe or getting a coffee at a local cafe. Over the last three years of study, I've tried my hand at a lot of different areas within visual communication and found my passions lie in image-making and storytelling. My projects this year have all been self-directed, and I have been focusing my practice on illustration and animation for various contexts - branding, advertising, narratives and editorials.
The two projects I am exhibiting in the Degree Show this year are an original children's book, and a digital editorial project. The children's book is called 'Changed' and is fully written and illustrated by me. I have always loved storytelling, and this project gave me a chance to spend a longer time working on a story and being super imaginative with character and environment designs. I wrote my dissertation on children's visual narratives, so I also love to think about the theoretical aspects of crafting a visual narrative and creating impactful visual storytelling. My digital editorial project features animated illustrations to accompany an article about some NASA satellites that are critical to how we monitor our world. One of the best things about this degree has been the chance to explore a lot of different topics - design and illustration appears everywhere in every sector and therefore a project can be informed by just about anything. This project introduces animated elements to editorial illustration, as I am always fascinated by how simple motion can bring an image to life.
Holly Reed
Fine Art
I am a final-year Fine Art student specialising in ceramics, with a particular focus on Haptic Aesthetics. My passion for ceramics began during a study abroad year at the University of Michigan, where I fell in love with the material.
My practice is rooted in exploring tactile experiences and visual expressions through clay and other mediums. I am particularly fascinated by the intersection of texture and form. My work delves into the sensory engagement of art, inviting viewers to visually and imaginatively explore the textures and shapes of my sculptures.
As I approach the Degree Show, I am eager to present a collection of sculptures that embodies the skills and insights I have gained throughout my academic journey. My series, "Embodied Landscapes," investigates the interplay of Haptic Aesthetics and organic forms. Inspired by natural landscapes, these pieces showcase intricate textures and vibrant glazes, inviting viewers to appreciate the tactile qualities of the work. The sculptures embody a playful material expression, each piece playfully expresses the familiar forms of nature, encouraging deeper visual engagement with its textures and contours.
Watch Holly's video
Diya Sanjeev
Fine Art
I am an Indian artist, born and brought up in Dubai, UAE, and now residing in the UK. My practice centres around my desire to understand the meaning of home and its role in the creation of one’s sense of self. I have an oscillating relationship with different “homes” in my life. During my childhood in Dubai, I called India my “home”, and now I live in the UK calling Dubai my “home”. Is it all transitory then? More interestingly, is it my evolving sense of self that is changing what I view as my home, or is my dispersed home scattering my notion of self? These are the questions I am trying to answer through my work.
I create films using video and audio recordings I capture on a day-to-day basis along with archival footage in the pursuit of forging feelings of longing, contemplation, nostalgia, and so on. My film Choir Of Selves, weaves together different threads of culture, memories and moments, to create a narrative of leaving and longing for home and finding solace in the in-between. The film is projected onto a paper screen to create an ephemerality that mimics a stream of consciousness.