Our Creative Arts Department enjoyed a fantastic evening celebrating the talents of our Fine Art Painting and Graphic Design students at their annual Creative Arts Degree Exhibition, SHOW 23!
The students showcased their proudest pieces amongst friends, family, and lecturers, displaying an outstanding selection of print graphics, illustration, animation, fine art paintings, character design and digital projection.
Fine Art Painting student, Saudina, focused her creative intention on topophilia, which refers to the love of place. She drew inspiration from often overlooked micro-organisms such as lichen, whose significance in our ecosystems and environment is frequently underappreciated.
Speaking to Saudina about her work, she said: “For my final project I magnified the appearance of lichen on a monumental scale using acrylic and oil paints to capture its unique patterns, textures and peculiar forms that are rarely visible to the naked eye, in reference to Georgia O’Keeffe’s work.”
“The largest piece in my collection was painted with luminous oil paint after I discovered that certain lichens glow in the dark under UV light. To give the viewer an immersive experience I created a dark room for them to view my artwork.”
Saudina’s impressive oil painting titled 'Pink-y Fungi', was one of the winners at last year’s World of Glass 'Open Art' competition, a competition for artists who reside, work or study in the St Helens Borough and is popular amongst creatives every year.
After finishing her degree, Saudina has plans to continue her studies and undertake a postgraduate PGCE in Secondary Teaching, Art and Design at Liverpool John Moores University.
Meanwhile, Graphic Design student, Matthew, had on display his impressive collection of artwork influenced by retro design and Swiss styling, drawing inspiration from American Graphic Designer, Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co and French Artist, Matthieu Bessudo of Mcbaise.
Matthew started his journey with St Helens College at our 14-16 Academy, where he first discovered his love for media and design. He then continued onto our Level 3 Art and Design course, before progressing to University Centre St Helens on the BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree, where Matthew has hopes of securing his dream role in Editorial Design after graduating.
We spoke to, Ian Greenall, Head of Creative and Performing Arts, who said: “The end-of-year Graduate Exhibition is the highlight of the year for our students and is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase the talent and skills they have developed and perfected throughout their degree, as they prepare to move into careers in a wide range of creative industries.
I am always amazed by the talent and passion demonstrated by our students in their final projects, and it’s been a pleasure watching them develop over the last three years, into promising artists and designers.”
University Centre St Helens is located in the centre of St Helens and provides Creative Arts degrees that are validated and approved by the University of Chester and the University of Central Lancashire. Students can enjoy smaller class sizes, access to experienced lecturers, and lower tuition fees.
Interested in studying a Creative Arts degree?
Find out more here.
