BA(Hons) Fine Art Degree Show Catalogue 2023 Vol.1 University of Sunderland

Cover Art Work

by Mia Allyssa East

BA HONS FINE ART 2023

UNI VER SITY OF SUN DER LAND

Foreword

Welcome to the University of Sunderland BA Fine Art Exhibition 2023.

This exhibition features work by graduating BA students alongside an open studio event by our MA Fine Art students. I would like to congratulate all involved on producing a fantastic exhibition and thank all the staff who have supported them in what has been another excellent year. This year, we have welcomed new members of staff Fiona Larkin and Natalie Gale, who make a fantastic addition to our Fine Art family.

Our BA Fine Art students have participated in projects with Sunderland Culture at the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art (NGCA). The students responded to works in the ‘Mark Pinder’ ‘Macromancy’ exhibition and as part of the exhibition ‘Rimaldas Vikšraitis: Daily Rituals of Work and Play – The Collective Life of a Village 1975-2012’ at NGCA the students presented their own digital artwork exploring the photographs on display.

Sunderland Fine Art students also benefitted from a vibrant programme of exhibitions, talks and workshops by visiting artists who have offered insights into contemporary working practices to our students. While our inaugural series of micro residencies provided artists James Stephen Wright, Sophie Buxton and Kate Liston with access to our RISOs in our self-publishing lab and our Priestman Gallery, to explore the RISO printing process and experiment ideas of how this can be used in a gallery context with our students. If you visit:

https://www.instagram.com/sunderlandfineart/

you will see it has been a successful & productive year. I wish all the graduating students’ success in their future art careers. As Joseph Beuys said: “Man is only truly alive when he realizes he is a creative, artistic being.”

James Hutchinson BA Fine Art Programme Leader University of Sunderland

Cover Art Proposal by Jude Warham

Cover Art Proposal by Hannah Brown

2023 ARTISTS

Hannah Brown

Ben Chorlton

Sarah Coombes

Stephanie Cooper

Summer Cooperwaite

Helen Dunn

Mia Allyssa East

Alex Jay Fletcher

Ana Catarina Gouveia

Anna-Marie Gallares

Bethany Hales

Jess Houliston

Ashley Jay Hunter

Briony Jones

Chloe Layton

Brogan Melville

Racheal Purvis

Chantelle Quigley

Stacey Simpson

Jude Warham

Chenyang Zhou

Hannah Brown

email: hannahjanefineart@outlook.com

instagram:@hannahjanefineart

My work often explores the relationship between the universality of myth and culture. I am heavily inspired by both global and personal history, which is complimented by the symbols and stories imbedded within the culture at that moment in time. Most of my practice consists of paintings, some which are now complemented with prints/zines and sculptures. The complementary prints are impressions of the textures and marks found when layering paint to create a base for my paintings.

Dissertation Title

Looking Forward: How the next generation of artists create a living?

Leve for å hedre de før

acrylic on canvas

230 x 200 cm

Ben Chorlton

website: https://www.instagram.com/grit.art/

I am a final year fine art student who enjoys using a variety of mediums to explore creativity and narratives. I have been fascinated with communication and storytelling from a young age, and over the past couple of years I have looked at how to explore this through the fine art process and how we can create an inner monologue for ourselves or a real-life situation through still image, video, and audio. I like to try to push the mediums I use as far as I can and explore new methods in innovative ways. My project is exploring the narrative of progression and if change truly happens after the fact. We claim to have progressed over time, but is our progression limited, are some situations a case of instinct? I decided to explore the lack of development within humanity, by showcasing two case studies, one from 1940 and one from now, to show how little has truly changed.

Sarah Coombes

email: sarahwrightartist@gmail.com

instagram: @sarahcoombes

I painted my first ever self-portrait in 2020 and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Each time I paint a self-portrait I notice a new detail or a new expression. Our faces are forever changing when viewed in different lights, angles, moods and even makeup! Painting self-portraits allows me to act out scenes, dress up and really have fun with creating unusual and captivating compositions.

By focusing on myself, I draw from personal experiences to create interesting portraits. This piece, entitled ‘exposed’, was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits and her use of medical imagery. I try to paint more than just a pretty portrait of a face, by using interesting compositions and imagery I hope to create something that has a narrative. A narrative is something I strive to create in my work, to look at a painting and see more than just a face or figure, but something that tells a story, something confrontational, or just something that makes you think.

Dissertation Title

How Self-Portraiture has Evolved in the Female Art World

Stephanie Cooper

email: Stephanie.c1990@hotmail.com

web: https://bh55xx.wixsite.com/stephaniecfineart

My artwork offers an insight into my experience of domestic abuse. My trauma is my subject. My practice is an ongoing experiment with different media and search for new ways to approach my personal history.

My intention is to offer insight into how domestic abuse can completely takeover someone’s life. My art man¬ifests through a range of forms, from the use of items broken by an abuser, turning them into artworks by the application of paint, transmogrifying something awful into something positive. This cathartic process acts as a form of self-expression, liberation and freedom.

Dissertation Title

How are disabilities portrayed through art in society?

Broken installation (studio presentation)

arylic on broken items

variable dimensions

Summer Cooperwaite

email: cooperwaitesummer@gmail.com

web: https://cooperwaitesummer.wixsite.com/summercooperwaite

My work comes from exploring the inner feeling we seem to withhold at some point in our live, the feeling of loneliness.

The seasonal paintings Include figures of people who present themselves in a state of despair, sitting on a park bench enclosed within a transparent circle, a bubble, almost like a protective shield. The paintings are also picturesque landscapes. The contrast from the dull dark oil paint colours to warm autumn oil paint colours are composed throughout these paintings. The warm colours are an attempt to make the viewers feel comfortable in feeling lonely and be confident to speak about it. The paintings are an attempt to inform the viewers that loneliness is okay, and nothing to be ashamed of, and that people should feel comfortable in speaking up about it to family or friends. ‘To burst that bubble shielding them from their internal fear.’ With the doves present in some paintings as a symbol of love and peace. I want it to appear as a story like notion, and for the viewers of the gallery to stop and connect for a few minutes to look into these paintings.

Dissertation Title

Art and the mind of loneliness

Loneliness

Dimensions: 90 x 90 cm oil on canvas

Helen Dunn

email: b26hdunn@gmail.com

facebook: Helen Dunn - Artist / instagram: HelenDunnArt

My practice primarily focuses on emotion and autobiographical perspectives. Heavily influenced by my own mental health struggles, I channel my emotions and experiences into creating expressive and vibrant abstract, surrealist and conceptually expressive artworks. My focus is painting; however, I aspire to experiment and gain skill in sculpture making. Major inspirations towards my methodology and style are primarily from avant-garde sources, within the art, music, and fashion industry, as well as the style and influences from the 1960’sand 1970’s. Movements such as surrealism, conceptualism, and both expression and abstraction expressionism have played large roles in influencing the development of my contemporary practice. Whether it be the painting technique, practice ideologies, working concepts, or influence in the art world.

My works express a perception of emotions associated with, and experienced by those suffering mental health issues; specifically borderline personality disorder (BPD) and Bipolar (II). My pieces are a representation of the emotions and experiences I tend to face, living with these conditions. My aim is to provide a perspective of the condition and of how turbulent the mind can feel: and to provide insight into the conditions. Each piece is a representation of a particular symptom, or a narrative of a personal experience caused by a reaction to a symptom.

Dissertation Title

Mia Allyssa East

email: miaeast1@gmail.com

instagram: @east.mia.art

My interest in tactile and touchable art started late in second year, as I wanted to make my work accessible to all while creating pieces that could be seen and interacted with by my 5-year-old niece, Alia. When it comes to the tactile pieces, I like to explore with how I can use art products such as paint, clay, yarn, and modelling paste as well as household materials such as plastic bags or packaging and garden wire as I like to adhere to new and familiar materials especially for those who have sensory issues. With this piece especially I have included more artistic features (clay and acrylic paint) to ensure it has ridges and bumps for the audience to explore as well as a bright colour palette for the detail. I am also looking to continue my artistic practice with the tactile interactive style.

Dissertation Title

The Accessibility of Art in All Its Mediums to Every Culture, Background and Ability

Sun

clay and acrylic paint

50 cm (diameter)

Alex Jay Fletcher

email: Alexjay2802@icloud.com

instagram: @fletch_sketches

Hi, I’m Alex a mixed media artist from Hartlepool. A lot of my work involves illustration and photography however paintings are what I specialise in even though I use other techniques beyond that. I am very interested in using my art as a voice and especially as a podium for expressing my emotions and feelings. My work involves a lot of bold messages and activism, I feel like art should create layers of emotion and thoughts for the consumer. Themes of activism and socialism carry through my work as I try to highlight different issues and topics exploring the corruption of British government. These topics include systems of power, capitalism, feminism, and corruption. I’ve chosen these topics to present in my work as I feel like it’s my duty to show an insider’s perspective of the failure in the systems. I am a product of the failed systems in small seaside towns, and I produce my art as a voice of reason and power.

Dissertation Title

Is it harder to become an artist if you are from a lower income background?

Ana Catarina Gouveia Coelho

email: anadegouveiaart@gmail.com

web: https://instagram.com/anadegouveiaart?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

“I promise to be true (to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life)” Is a take on today’s feminism. This interactive installation uses satire to critique the ones around it. “I promise to be true”, challenges traditional dynamics and explores themes of vulnerability, gender and power roles. An important aspect of this piece is the role of the viewer. The participation of the viewer blurs the line between piece/viewer, making it possible for them to experience first hand and be part of the artwork. Overall, “I promise to be true” is a powerful and provocative work that confronts the viewers on their own desires and expectation, and raises questions that resonates long after the interaction is over.

Dissertation Title

The relationship between art and contemporary culture

I promise to be true (to you in good times and in bad,in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life) resin and metal

lifecast, metal work and airbrush

110cm x 60cm x 45cm (production shot)

Anna-Marie Gallares

email: Annamariegallares01@gmail.com

instagram: _bannanieart_

One of the significant turning points in my life was when I moved from the Philippines to England. I didn’t get to choose to move, as it was my parents ‘choice, so my sister and I could live better lives and be given more opportunities.

From my seven-year-old self ‘s point of view, my first year in England was filled with positive emotions of curiosity, wonder and excitement. However, it also had a fair share of negative memories, such as struggling to fit in, not understanding or speaking English and unfamiliarity with everyday life.

I have explored different formats of journey and storytelling. One artist who stood out to me is Grayson Perry, specifically the chaotic nature of his tapestry collection, The Vanity of Small Differences. I find it fascinating how the colours, shapes, and patterns can be elements that shape a story format.

I am interested in co-creation and collaboration with artists and communities. I create art stemming from my experience or the experience of others to inform issues that have been silenced or have never been told in a format that a broad audience may understand and relate to.

As A Year In My Life is a year of my story, I choose to tell it through a painted tapestry. Filled with traditional Filipino indigenous tattoos, patterns, and elements from my primary childhood photographs.

Application Title

Bethany Hales

email: bethanyhales1@gmail.com

instagram: @b3th.h

Currently a lot of my work is based around the topic of mental health. This piece is from a series called ‘Disconnected’ which focuses on disabilities such as Autism and ADHD. This series of work is based around the topic of being overwhelmed and overstimulated. I work with bright colours, different patterns, and shapes to achieve this, as well as using different mediums such as sculpture and acrylic carving to represent the feeling of being overwhelmed. Unlike this piece, I make a lot of my work to look overwhelming and chaotic so that the viewer has to look closer at the piece in order to see all the small details and understand what is going on within it. This is why the technique of acrylic carving plays a big part within my current work as it allows me to create a busy and dynamic piece as well as incorporating many colours together with a layered effect.

Dissertation Title

How has the portrayal of the relationship between art and mental health changed over time? Untitled rubber bands 40 x 50 cm

Jess Houliston

email: jess@houliston.co.uk

instagram: @art_houliston

My current practise is incorporating useful, everyday mundane items, which then become worthless after they have served their short ‘real life’ purpose that they were manufactured for into artworks. I also explore how painting on nonconventional materials can change how we perceive the value of those materials.

Dissertation Title

How ordinary, everyday materials have been used to create art

Banana

acrylic paint on crisp packet

22 x 17 cm