Five art and design students from DJCAD Degree Show 2026 share the inspiration behind their work – from violence and racism to sustainability

Content warning: this article discusses themes including violence against women, racism, and illness.

Ahead of the opening of Degree show 2026 we caught up with five students who shared the inspiration behind their work.

From personal experiences of violence and racism to a family diagnosis of cancer, unseen medical conditions, and sustainability, the stories behind their works are powerful.

These are just some of the exceptional works to discover at Degree Show 2026.

‘Daily Males’ newsagent addresses violence against women

Contemporary Art Practice student, Lauren Evans, has created an entire newsagent from cardboard, featuring a newspaper stand, counter, till and various other shop items.

Her installation reflects an ‘epidemic of violence’ against women and children in the UK at the hands of men and a set of scratch cards within her exhibit reveals shocking statistics.

The large newspaper stand is filled with prints displaying real headlines from the Daily Mail over the four-year period she was studying at DJCAD, September 2021 to September 2025.

Inspired by her own traumatic experiences of image based sexual abuse, Lauren, originally from Essex, hopes her work will challenge the way male violence against women is viewed in society.

She has previously spoken out about her experiences, including at the Houses of Parliament, and campaigned for change.

Lauren said, “There’s an epidemic of violence against women – a woman is killed by a man every three days on average in the UK.

“One in four women are sexually assaulted or victims of attempted assault in their lifetime.

“It happens so often but it’s never really shoved in our faces. We’ve become desensitised to all these terrible things that happen to women.

“When you look at these headlines, the choice of language to describe these crimes very often moves to some form of victim blaming, shifting the blame onto the woman.”

Lauren chose to remove punctuation and grammar from the headlines, to reduce the capability to skim-read and draw attention to the chosen words.

She added, “I want people to take the time to understand what actually happened, without being desensitised.

“I hope my work will put a spotlight on the issue and make people realise how common violence towards women and children is, and how our culture views it.”

Lauren also has a QR code within her installation which links to her fundraising page for Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Perth and Kinross.

Fungi bring hidden medical conditions to the forefront 

Some of the largest paintings in the show this year were made by Contemporary Art Practice student, Gemma Carpenter.

These self-portraits portray hidden illnesses, particularly autoimmune diseases, as fungi sprouting out from affected areas of the body in vivid colours.

Gemma, from Kirkcaldy, took inspiration from many different areas of interest which were sparked as she looked into her own hypermobility issues.

She describes dealing with pain in her hips and knees since the age of nine, but adds, “It’s not life-changing but it does affect my life.”

While going through tests to receive her diagnosis Gemma became interested in unseen illnesses. 

She spent some time volunteering with Alzheimer’s patients, before researching autoimmune diseases and collecting lived experiences from people with various medical conditions which are hidden within the body.

She said, “One thing that hit me was how people can feel fatigue, and it can vary from day to day. They describe good days and bad days, and on a bad days they can get a lot of judgement.

“I thought about how that might be different if the illness could be seen. What if these conditions were visible? I decided to make them visible through fungi because that can grow in unseen or hidden places.

“I focused the growths around the affected area. One person talked about skin on her hands, so I added tiny mushrooms crawling over the hands. Another talked about a tingling in her liver, so I added hints of slime, mould and structures on the liver area.”

Gemma hopes to raise awareness of autoimmune diseases and other unseen conditions through her work.

Large red tent offers comfort and healing from mum’s cancer diagnosis 

Fine Art student, Agnes Borland Sinclair, is exhibiting a large red tent with a huge pillow at its base. 

On the outside of the tent is text representing surface level comforts, such as ‘doom scrolling’, while on the inside are words which reflect more constructive ways to sooth and heal, such as ‘comfort in connection’.

Agnes said, “I wanted to create an introspective space where people can take a moment to escape the everyday chaos and have a safe space to think or to share with others.

“Inside the tent is very red to block out the harsh lights and evoke that protective feeling.

“Red and pink are nostalgic colours for me and the felt it’s made from reminded me of felt crafting materials I used when I was younger.”

Agnes began the project near the time her mum had been diagnosed with a terminal cancer and found the process helped her to deal with her emotions.

She created the installation around visiting her mum and family, who live in the West Coast near Glasgow, and have been supportive of her continuing her artwork.

“My mum wanted me to carry on with art school,” she said. “She’s seen lots of pictures and is very excited to see it and is proud of me.

“It’s been therapeutic having this project to focus on while dealing with everything that’s been going on. I hope it can fulfil for others what it’s done for me.”

Confronting racism and othering through art

Contemporary Art Practice student, Ocean Anton, has created her exhibit in response to an experience when she was subjected to a racially aggravated comment as a teenager.

Ocean, who was born in London and moved to Blairgowrie when she was a child, was unaware what the comment meant at the time it was made towards her, and sought clarity from her mum.

She said, “I wasn’t angry or upset but it was the first time I had been confronted with being othered in a way I had never experienced before.

“After that I started isolating myself and I’ve had a really hard time making friends. I never really put myself out there – it’s an accumulation of things, not just that one incident.

“I think it has subconsciously impacted on me being able to socialise though because up to that point I’d never really seen myself as I do now.”

Ocean’s work is a literal representation and intentionally confronting. She added, “I want people to focus on what is being shown to them, just as I had to.

“I want it to be seen and known that someone who is a lighter skinned mixed person can be boiled to what can be discriminated against. Often being left to face othering and racism alone.

“I’ve put myself into this work and made it for my mum and dad.”

Inquisitive jewellery showcasing sustainability 

Jewellery Making and Design student, Aurora Stevens, was inspired by her love of food, cooking and nature to create sustainability-themed jewellery.

Aurora’s exhibit is a collection of pieces which fall into two categories – fine jewellery and inquisitive jewellery.

Having grown up in Edinburgh to landscape architect parents, Aurora spent a lot of time as a youngster in vegetable patches and cooking home-grown food produce.

She said, “We had an amazing greenhouse. When you walked in you were hit by the smell of tomatoes – it’s one of my favourite sensations and I wanted people to experience that.”

She incorporated organic matter into her project, including using tomato vines to make casts for silver earrings, and making other items with the actual vine.

“I want people to question the value of precious metals to the value of food,” she said.

“There is a disconnect between food and the natural world. I hope people can start to see that connection again and realise how much the natural world provides for us and the care we need to take to protect it, so that it can continue to provide for us.”

DJCAD Degree Show 2026

The show will be open to the public from 10:00-16:00 each day from Saturday 23 to Sunday 31 May, with late openings until 20:00 on Thursday 28 and Saturday 30 May.

For more information, see the Art & Design Undergraduate Degree Show 2026 page on the University’s website.