James Beech

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

My work, whilst varied in subject matter, always carries the same hallmarks of precision and often with the underlying theme of the progression of time and all its effects. The work should ideally be viewed in silence, allowing the artwork alone to create the soundtrack to a suitably peaceful ambience. This is to induce a period of self-reflection for the viewer, using the art as a looking glass towards a clearer vision.

The drypoint work I have created is a continuation of the Extinction module, during which I chose the Plumage Act as the subject, in particular the hunting of the Egret for its feathers to be used in the fashion industry.

I have used hatching and cross-hatching techniques to add depth and tone to the resulting prints, whilst ensuring the printing plate holds a consistent volume of ink in the engraved areas prior to printing. Drypoint is a relatively new medium for me; it is a method I had not attempted before beginning this course. I will be continuing the development of this complex process via further research and experimentation in my continuing studies, perhaps with the aim of blending this technique with other mechanisms of creativity.

Aaron Cole

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

I’ve come to know a dependency and a natural affinity with the land and sea that surrounds Cornwall – ritually immersing myself within its nature, studying the earth and water’s symbiotic relationship to inform my visualisations.

This series of prints was inspired by a dendritic chalcedony rock, discovered in Trevascus Mine and displayed in the Royal Cornwall Museum. Its striking skeletal structure captivated me, with its complexity and interwoven lines and formation. I was inspired to use this as a basis for some linear lino prints and to translate these beautiful rocks into simplistic yet hopefully just as striking representations on paper.

My focus has been more heavily on the lines from the chalcedony. When exploring and playing with this through the medium of print I preferred not to overlap the lines. This ultimately lead to a series of prints which are more smooth and simplistic in contrast to the busy layered structure of the rocks themselves – however I like to think that they represent one of the many layers that builds up the beautiful rock.

Megan Gant

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

My work aims to explore the ever-changing landscape. The passage of time. The beauty in decay. How the use of these buildings has shifted from being places of work, to places of leisure. I work through the experimental use of mixed media as I feel it gives me the freedom to express this sense of change in a number of ways. The process of deconstruction in my images through tearing, contrasted with the reconstruction using thread, intends to symbolise the idea of old vs new, that derelict structures and buildings often acquire new meanings and purposes once defaced. In a way, they become art themselves.

Can graffiti and the act of defacement give another life and purpose to buildings that are no longer of use?

Zoe Haney

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

These three baroque inspired horses were created with the intention of testing and challenging the boundaries of contemporary art. My inspiration for these pieces was the decorative and historic functions of the mediaeval horses and their barding (armour) which was primarily used for both showcasing and jousting. Horses throughout the majority of human history have been vital to our development and success as a species, so these art pieces were designed with celebratory objectives in mind. Alongside this, I wanted to create something with an extreme contrast to old styles of traditional painting, such as with oil paints within the renaissance, while also keeping the fundamentals of light and shadow, albeit more colourful and eye-catching.

All three of them were illustrated digitally, using a program called Procreate, originally in shades of blue. These colours were extremely easy to change and adjust, with the use of gamma and gradient maps. With these pieces, I hope to inspire the viewer with the potential power that digital art has to offer, and the ease of accessibility and portability it has on society in today’s technological world, because creating and printing art is just a single tap away.

Katie Hatherly

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

"Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment" Claud Monet

The foundation of all my artworks no matter the medium is colour, I am fascinated with it, how it can lift a mood, or how it can carry a conversation without one word muttered. It can be representative and symbolize so many things, and how exciting it is to see a colour change when it plays and interacts with others.

Kate Hope

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

Memories and dreams are recognisable yet obscure, pictured as though looking at them through a sheen of water or foggy glass. They often take on the feeling of other-worldly experiences, but always hold a sense of familiarity strong enough to feel the environment and presence of people or objects, as if they were real yet too far away for us to touch.

In our waking life our senses continue to guide us by interpreting things that we can see or feel yet cannot grasp, such as light that inspired me to begin this body of work. As humans we rely heavily on the physical, although something as elusive as light has the power to alter our perceptions, emotions, and trigger memories.

Whether it’s the sun’s illuminations dancing upon a surface, or the undulations carved into the rocks that speak of the presence of earth’s elements over millennia, we are continually exposed to these echoes of space and time; the seen and yet unseen, present and past, all existing simultaneously.

It is this that inspires me to explore how we can both interpret and describe these phenomena by way of physical and 3dimensional forms, allowing them to become something tangible.

Hannah Hudson

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

For this end of year show I was inspired by a visit to Royal Cornwall Museum. In particular I was drawn to some pen and ink illustrations by Catherine Tate Oates. I really enjoyed the black and grey images as well as the quality of line, the deep black ink, contrasting with the washes of grey. To focus my work, I decided to use images from the museums archive, particularly those of fishermen and the fishing industry in Cornwall.

Within my practice I am predominantly interested in printmaking and ceramics, here I have concentrated on linoleum printmaking. Initially I will choose an image, in this case from historic photographs and then draw that image in reverse onto a linoleum plate before carving and printing. I really enjoy peeling back the paper and revealing that final image, although it is the process of planning and carving that I am particularly drawn to. This process often takes upwards of 15 hours per linoleum plate.

Ana Pinto

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

This year I rediscovered my Portuguese culture. I am incredibly passionate about certain topics from my country’s history Some of my favourite eras of history are the Regency, Victorian and Georgian eras and my favourite archaeological periods are the Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greek/ Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods.

When I went to the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, I was very interested in the Egyptian exhibition, they had a statue of my favourite Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, I researched beliefs and eventually settled on a very curious bit about the Tree of Life. I made some abstract paintings based on my research and experience.

I chose to represent a real life “Tree of Life”, the Baobab tree, some of which are believed to be over a thousand years old.

Sara Thomas

Foundation Degree Art & Design Practice

My work focuses on the Egyptian Journey to the afterlife inspired by the Egyptian section in the Royal Cornwall Museum. Intrigued by the symbolism of colour and connection with the natural world I was inspired to create the afterlife journey combining these complexities in oil and cold wax medium then printed onto fabric.

The combination of oil and cold wax lends itself to textural mark-making, which has several layers and takes days to dry before arriving at the finished piece. This process has a way of taking its own path, almost as though you are being led by some invisible force allowing the paint to move at its will. The series of paintings unfolded quickly with energy to tell its story. The colour palette is related to the richness and meanings in achieving their journey allowing them to blend and find their way.

I have then formalised the paintings into a fabric installation delicately layered using georgette fabric creating a tangible materiality capturing the space and experience both personal and interpersonal. A themed installation can create the most interesting, unexpected connections. These abstract pieces take you on a journey, passing from one world into the next.