Degree shows ;
Degrees of preparation
It’s the turn of Glasgow and Edinburgh art students to exhibit their degree shows. Ruth Hedges, Jack Mottram and Rachael Street spoke to some of these pre-graduates about their current methods and plans
for the future.
LOUISE GRAY Textiles, Glasgow School of Art
LOuise Gray specialises in embroidery. Drawing on sketches of everyday objects. especially the tackier kind of holiday SOuvenir — models of the Eiffel Tower. cuckoo clocks. miniature windmills have all featured in recent work — she works by hand on embroideries for womenswear. Making use of mirror-images and repetition. Gray's wilfully naive. childlike work makes much of brightly coloured and metallic thread applied to mixed textures. from washed-out fabrics to rich silks. jersey and linen. And while her inspiration comes chiefly from contemporary objects. Gray is also influenced by Swedish peasant embroidery. adding an explicitly traditional element to her quirky choice of motifs. (JMl
Next steps Louise will be starting an MA in fashion at Central St Martins in September.
GEMMA PARSONS Fine Art Photography, Glasgow School of Art
Gemma Parsons makes portraits. mostly. Working in series. she seeks to explore the relationship between her subjects and their immediate environment. foceising on feelings of displacement from the natural world. and the alienating qualities of life in the city. Influenced by the likes of Diane Arbus and August Sanders. Parsons' recent work includes rather ghostly portraits shot in the light of sitters' mobile phone screens. and images made after visiting rural communities that reveal another strong influence. landscape painting. (JM)
Next steps Parsons relishes the prospect of working in Glasgow. the city that has inspired much Of her practice.
86 THE LIST '1) -2-'. Jun 200.:
HELEN WILSON Silversmithing & Jewellery. Glasgow School of Art
Drawmg heavily on her agriCuItural background (Helen's (‘lissertation was on the representation of cattle in visual art) Helen Wilson creates jewellery that abstracts the liVing landscape into geometric. linear forms. often making use of repeated motifs. Combining traditional Silversmithing with bleeding- edge laser-welt‘ling techniques. her gold and oxidised silver pieces range from delicate brooches to long neckpieces designed to be draped and wrapped around the wearer. That said. Wilson doesn't allow form to override function. aiming to make pieces as wearable as they are Visually arresting. lJMi
Next steps Helen plans to work on making jewellery as well as exploring large-scale contemporary silversmithing.
ANDREW MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY Painting, Glasgow School of Art
Andrew Margolies-Mevmsky makes avowedly political work that deals with the Superficialin of knowledge in the information age and the gap between reality and its representation in the mass media. often expressed by making the familiar human form grotesque. His paintings have a sculptural element too. with canvases constructed out of bunches and folds of cloth collaged together. This device reveals another strand to his work: an investigation of the composition and technique of the Old Masters. revisiting the illusion of depth in their work by using three dimensional canvases in his own. lJMi
Next steps Margolies--Mevinsky plans to develop his practice at an artists' colony in Slovenia.
GEM POPE Photography, Napier University
HOUSOWIIO or whore? Gem Pope's large scale self-portraits (llli‘ to challenge this dichotomy created by modern soCiety's portrayal of women. The rise of feminism has changed something about the way women live their lives. but what? The naked woman in the sink is surrounded not by traditional cooking utensils but by instruments of the beauty regin‘e — eyelash curlers and make—up brushes. She embodies the twin ideals of domestiCity and aggressive sexuality. yet she faces away from the camera. defying the ga/e of the ODSCIVOT and refusing to be objectified. iRSl
Next steps Gem plans to move to London where she WI” continue her photographic work in both the commerCial and personal sectors. while making an application for further study.