University of East London Homepage

Artists make exhibitions of themselves at Showcase 09

Friday 5 June 2009

Marie Brenneis

Leading artist Cornelia Parker joined hundreds of students, together with their families, friends and art lovers, at the opening of this year’s Visual Arts Degree Show at UEL’s Docklands Campus. The first in a series of UEL summer showcase events, it exhibits over a thousand individual pieces of work by graduating students in BA honours degree programmes including Fine Art, Graphic Design, Fashion, Textiles, Photography, Graphic Fine Art, and Digital Arts.

Cornelia Parker, famous for works including the Tate installation, The Shed, and The Maybe, which encased Tilda Swinton in a vitrine at the Serpentine Gallery, awarded prizes to Judy Breen, Derek Wess, Seema Uddin, Serene Khan, Theo Bonman, Jake Reynold and Dominic Montague.

She told the students: “Starting out as an artist is tough and you learn to get used to rejection. You’ve had a great start here and and I hope you’ll make every opportunity to create and show your work wherever you can.”

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Susan Price said: “This is a wonderful exhibition and it is a real pleasure to see how you are working and studying together. You have created a fascinating range of work that is imaginative and inspiring. Congratulations to you all.”

UEL’s School of Architecture and the Visual Arts is known for its innovation in architecture, digital arts and visual communications, fashion and textiles, fine art, and visual theories and research, attracting students from around the world. Staff and visiting professors include Turner Prize winners Grenville Davey and Grayson Perry, Venice Biennale film-maker John Smith, and world-acclaimed sculptor Richard Wilson.

Forthcoming showcase events at UEL this summer include the Architecture Year End Show, Fine Art Professional Doctorate shows, and MA Fine Art and MA Digital Arts & Visual Communication shows. For details, visit the School of Architecture & the Visual Arts

Students exhibiting at the Visual Arts Degree Show include:

Judy Breen won the Subject Director’s Prize for Fine Art and is now going on to study her MA at UEL. Her large-scale paintings and collage are based on her Anglo-Indian family heritage reflected in Hindu iconography and layers of culture and history. Judy, who worked as a secretary while studying evening classes at Waltham Forest adult education service, said: “It has been a fantastic course – I have grown so much as an artist and I have been lucky to have such wonderful tutors.” Her husband Bob, a martial arts instructor, said: “Judy has worked incredibly hard and we’re very proud of her!”

Marie Brenneis created an enigmatic performance piece entitled “Spoiling my perfect world”for her BA (Hons) Fine Art show and is now going on to MA in Performance at Laban. Marie, who is a visual and movement artist working around London, said: “My art is about escaping from reality and creating fantasy worlds.”

Carole Bredon created bronze masks of three generations of females in family – herself, her daughter Philippine, and mother Jacqueline, who flew over from France to see the show. Carole, originally from Paris, has lived in Walthamstow for 25 years and now has 3 children, said: “I chose UEL because I wanted to work in bronze and I could balance part-time study with work and childcare. It has been a very good course – the tutors are excellent.”

Hannah Rogers worked with Rolf Harris and was presented to the Queen while studying for her BA (Hons) Fine Art at UEL. For her sculpture and performance work entitled ‘Moving On – Magic Shoes’, Hannah took 20 colourful pairs of her old shoes and covered them with plaster, papier mache and decorated some with feathers. She said: “I wanted to transform the shoes into a magical sculpture that signifies life, happiness and hope for the future. This has been an incredible 3 years - UEL is a great place with many wonderful teachers and students.”

Many of her family members flew from the Caribbean to see Hannah’s show, and she is hoping to continue working with children and local charities as well as developing her career as an artist.

John Scott created ‘Squirlygig’ – a giant machine-like sculpture made of timber and plywood for his BA (Hons) Fine Art show. John, who specialises in large scale outdoor sculpture – hopes to get more commissions in East London. He said: “I’ve loved every minute of my time at UEL – it has been very challenging at times but has really helped me develop as an artist.”

Pooja Sokhal graduated with her BA (Hons) Graphic Arts degree and hopes to work part-time in creative role as well as freelancing. Her showpiece ‘Bedroom Invasion’ was inspired by work of artist Annette Messager and created by screen-printing photographic images of herself onto sections of a mirror. She said: “I enjoyed my course a lot – it was always challenging and interesting.”

Natalie Brown created ‘Treeboyz II men’, a fusion of wood and skin for her BA (Hons) Graphic Arts show. “My work is a kind of organic transition. This course has been really interesting and I’ll have many great memories”, she said.

Serene Khan won the Dean’s Prize for her BA (Hons) Textiles & Surface Decoration show, which featured soft furnishings and wallpaper inspired by childhood art with cutouts, comic books, tessellating shapes and simple patterns. “It has been an amazing time – I’m really glad to have won this prize and have enjoyed studying at UEL - there is a great spirit of friendship here and everyone works hard", she said.

Casselle Clarke-Brown hopes to set up her own interior deign company now she has completed her BA (Hons) Textiles & Surface Decoration degree. Her show included fabrics, wallpaper, chair coverings and lampshades, and placemats printed with black and white designs based on photos and drawings of trees, plants and insects, she created at UEL’s Fab Pad print and design bureau. She said: “I’ve always wanted to be a designer and I’m inspired by nature. I really enjoyed my 3 years at UEL – a fantastic group of classmates and some wonderful tutors. I am looking forward to exhibiting at the national New Designers show next month and developing my career.” Her Mum Sarah said: “Casselle has worked extremely hard and is an inspiration to her brothers and sister.”

Seema Uddin won the Dean’s Prize for her BA (Hons) Fashion Design with Marketing collection, inspired by visits to rural India – simplicity and plain colours. Seema, who hopes to go into fashion buying, said: “I learned so much at UEL and was inspired by my fellow students.”

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information