Fine-art degree show at University of Chichester set to open
Among them is Charlotte McCarthy, aged 22, of Bognor, who describes her time in Chichester as fantastic, largely because it has allowed her to operate at the scale she wants.
“At school you are doing just little paintings and tiny clay works, but here you have got the freedom to go much bigger. You have got the freedom to go large scale.
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Hide Ad“My concept is that I am exploring space and how the human body interacts with space.”
Her work is a series of wire-framed cubes: “I am trying to define space and make people aware of the area around them. Each indivdiual cube is a defined area of space, and by accumulating them together. Each cube is defined by its edge. It is almost a barrier, but it is not. They are not welded together. They are just balanced.
“With installation art, you have to be able to take it down pretty quickly. I have been able to develop my practice and rework and rework it. I am still discussing with tutors whether I want people to interact with the work, move the cubes around. I am wanting to see how people interact with the space.”
Evieae Kezra, aged 21, from Wales, has also thoroughly enjoyed his time in Chichester, attracted by the location and by the sheer sunniness of it all.
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Hide Ad“I was a print-maker when I arrived. I dabbled in painting, but I was not very good at it. I was figuratively restricted. It was the feeling that you had to be true to life that I didn’t like. When I became looser with the work that I was creating, it became more interesting, being able to bend it to my will.”
His works depict pack-hunting, pushing the idea of pack-hunting as an emblem for violence and wrong-doing against a balanced natural world: “You feel for the victim. You can see past situations and past trauamas and associate them with the idea of being overwhelmed, but it is something that just happens in nature.”
Evieae hopes to go into gallery work after graduating: “I have helped with setting up galleries within the university, and it has just been a lot of fun. It has been interesting to see how everything can slot together.”
Hermione Medjanteseva is originally from Estonia, but has been living in the UK for the past eight or nine years: “I live in Portsmouth. I moved in with my older sister who settled here and I decided to settle here too. I studied art in college in Portsmouth, and I didn’t think a BA was an option in Portsmouth. The choice was between Southampton and Chichester, and I decided to go with Chichester because of the location and the studio spaces. It seemed very attractive!
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Hide Ad“I have enjoyed the course. At times, it has been challenging, but mostly very enjoyable and rewarding.
“I am doing sculpture and installation. I use mostly wire but it is a combination between organic objects such as branches and copper wire and melt glue. My work is about biomorphic shapes and forms. My inspiration is the human anatomy, especially micro-organisms such as cells. I use images of cells to make work and create shapes. I am also very inspired by the work at the Cass Sculpture Park.”
The show runs from Friday, May 11-Thursday, May 17 (weekday opening 11am-6pm; weekend opening 11am-4pm; walkabout with exhibiting students, Tuesday, May 15, 5:30-8pm. Free.
For other stories by Phil, see: https://www.chichester.co.uk/author/Phil.Hewitt2
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