The School is one of the leading art institutions in Britain, highly rated for both teaching and research. It is unique in that, from the basis of the traditional core disciplines, many students who wish to work in a multi-disciplinary environment are encouraged to use all the facilities in the School, such as the wood, casting and welding workshops, to further their personal creative development.
Head of School - Euan McArthur. Tel 01382 345226
Louise Runciman FINE ART
Louise’s interest was stimulated by the antipathy people show towards their passport photographs - we never like the way we appear in them and don’t think they show how we actually look. Yet such ‘mug shot’ images, used for police records, passports and other official documents, are regarded by society as an accurate representation of their subject. Louise, 22, from Denny, says, "Through reproducing photographs of friends and family on a large scale (7' x 5') I am adding to the image my relationship with that person, something which a photograph can only inadequately show. The paintings will still be judged in the same way as the photograph would, with people making assumptions about someone they don’t know, but now these will be based on what my relationship is with that person. By painting the image I am creating a subjective response not only to the photo but also to the person."
Image - ‘Gran’
Contact - goblinlouise@hotmail.com
Isobel Morris FINE ART
Isobel draws and paints removed by distance from her subject - life on her home island of Tiree. She says, "I feel no inclination to make ugly art, cynical art or political art. My work makes no specific comment on island culture. It is not a deliberate preservation of heritage. My work stems from an instinctive need to translate my observations, thoughts and emotions into tangible forms. It is a filtering of memory, a natural means for me to sort and resolve my internal goings on."
Image - Untitled
Contact - 01382 665616
Claire Allen FINE ART
Claire’s work concerns the female body, narrative within painting and the intrusive presence of the unwanted eye upon the naked body. She has been working with the idea of the viewer making up their own story about the female nude. She said, "I’ve worked with blank space in my paintings with no clues such as furniture or objects. This allows the individual to draw their own conclusions about what’s going on. They ask, ‘ Who is the young lady? Why is she alone? Does she look scared, shy, intimidated - and why?" Influences include Cindy Sherman and Eric Fischl. Claire is 22 and from Dundee.
Image - Untitled
Contact - salutallan@hotmail.com
Sharon Sinclair FINE ART
Sharon’s work revolves round all things kitsch. She says, "As I child I used to visit an art gallery every Friday night: 15e Baberton Court, Dundee - the home of Aunt Peggy, an appreciator and collector of mass market masterpieces. Her home was a world of Trechikoff prints, oversized brandy glasses, holiday souvenirs, beautifully lit fountains, glass animals, flamenco dolls and plastic flowers. My work has been inspired by being brought up in these surroundings on a 1970s council estate." Sharon is 32 and from Dundee.
Image - Untitled
Contact - 01382 454742
Claire McAlister FINE ART
Claire’s work has progressed using food in general as the medium, to specifically looking at the Story of the Cake. Claire, 22, from Lisburn, NI, says, "I have spent this year looking at the baking, decoration, preservation, decay and resurrection of the cake, and have made performances and installations out of these. It has been a true celebration."
Image - The Celebration of the Cross Community Cake Baking Project
Contact - erialc99@hotmail.com or 07715 201912
Sarah Forrest FINE ART
Central to Sarah’s current practice is a spatial awareness under-stood and defined by the interactions and relationships between figure and environment. A fundamental aspect of the process and working method of Sarah’s work is the use of video which enables her to record and edit movement of a figure through or within a staged space. Sarah, 22, from Dundee, says, "The different formats, with regards to scale and shape, are used to explore viewer and personal response in the reading and perception of my work."
Image - Unititled
Contact - 01382 665616 or sarahforrest6000@hotmail.com
Graham Hardie FINE ART
Graham’s work comes from an interest in ancient Scottish cultures. Pieces he is exhibiting for his degree show such as a green laser-light pentagram explore his belief that today’s technology-driven materialistic society overpowers man’s once close relationship with nature. ‘Ogham’, an ancient Celtic alphabet and language, has inspired much of his work. He says, "I hope that my work is an embodiment of the demand to preserve and, in many cases, relearn our relationship with the natural environment, which I feel is fundamental to our well being as a society and race."
Image - Reflections of a Base Metal 2
Contact - shadyphil@hotmail.com or 07759 521495