Highlights from the BA Illustration Graduate Showcase 2021
- Written byGrizelda Kitching
- Published date 02 August 2021
BA Illustration students at Camberwell are encouraged to challenge the position of the illustrator within commercial, social, political, and cultural contexts. You can see how the class of 2021 have responded to this challenge on the UAL Graduate Showcase, where this year’s graduates present their final projects and explain more about their work.
Here, graduating students Taylor Proverbs, Jade Morgan, Molly Jones and Gracie Dahl share work from their Showcase submissions.
Taylor Proverbs, Spring Cleaning
With a want to construct light and the feeling it brings, I set to document spring days. I spent the month of April consciously noting spring which I measured by the way light hit me in the morning, and how warm the kitchen seemed. I took my practice through into 3D, intending to capture light in lamps. Each one sits as a tangible representation of these spring days.
As an autobiographical artist, I find my process often begins with writing. Dissecting journal entries and 3-line poems, my process is often born in these scribbles. Being a multi-disciplinary artist, I have explored a range of mediums.
Finding inspiration in this sedentary period, over the last year, I felt it was necessary to acknowledge my own dependency on the trivial things that exist with certainty each day.
As someone who favours organic forms, challenges surrounding my own capability had to be tailored to my advantage. Having only experimented with ceramics in this last year, the challenge came in submitting to the material, learning the limits it can be taken to.
View more of Taylor’s work on the UAL Showcase 2021.
Molly Jones, I see you
Throughout my third year I have been researching into poor quality imagery. My interest began when writing my dissertation at the beginning of the year, evaluating and assessing the pixel and what it can communicate.
I have investigated the value of poor quality imagery and how artwork is viewed from behind the camera. I felt like this topic is highly relevant right now since everything has been online and digitised.
My Graduate Showcase submission is a series of images illustrating self-distortion, they communicate how we can be seen through our own reflections as well as digitally, online. I got the idea of self-distorting when I was walking past a shop window while seeing 3 different versions of myself. I found It interesting as you can be perceived differently in so many ways: no one ever sees you as the real you.
In addition, I have also had bad luck with my internet this year which lent me towards researching noise, disruptions, and the value of poor quality imagery. I also explored tufting for this project, producing a small punch needle rug.
View more of Molly’s work on the UAL Showcase 2021.
Jade Morgan, Mount Zion
Why do we automatically assign black history to slavery?
This was the question that formed the basis of my project. I produced this zine to educate and promote unpopular black history by showcasing an alternative and more positive perspective. The film Black Panther was released in 2018 which marked a prominent moment in history for black people. I wanted to reiterate its significance and celebrate some of the stories depicted in the movie by drawing on real life experiences, combining spoken word and digital drawings.
My final images were drawn on paper, then transferred over to Procreate (illustration software) where I turned them into digital drawings. Before this, I did extensive research to produce the ideas for the images. My research allowed me to identify the problems and gaps in the black community that needed attention and support. This led me to create work that would contribute to the dismantling of these constructs, for example, the misrepresentation of black people.
Unfortunately, I was not able to print my zine as originally intended. I managed to tackle this by creating a digital book instead.
View more of Jade’s work on the UAL Showcase 2021.
Gracie Dahl, Illustrated IRL
Illustrated IRL was born from the realisation that, being 5’11”, both myself and characters I draw always wear trousers that are a bit too short. Why do illustrators draw people who look like themselves? I have been exploring my self-image across the 2D and 3D worlds, aiming to bridge the two, and give my illustrated and real personas a chance to meet and get to know each other.
This outcome takes the form of a life-sized puzzle, complete only when my real 3D self stands in the middle of it, displaying the intrinsic link between my illustrated work and real life. Each puzzle piece can also stand independently, as a 2D item in a 3D world.
View more of Gracie’s work on the UAL Showcase 2021.
- Visit the UAL Graduate Showcase 2021
- Find out more about BA Illustration