Maria Tolia

Lovely book explorations by Greek artist Maria Tolia who has just graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee.

Joanna Migut

The degree show of Joanna Migut, unapologetically appley from the pip to the core. The peel to the name of your true love!

'I was looking for an object to paint that is quite simple everyday almost trivial but also symbolic and chose apple because it carries a lot of meaning. Everyone knows the story about Eve and Eden, the apple became a symbol of curiosity knowledge. There’s also Plato’s myth of Aristophanes which explains the origins of humans - once there were eight limbed creatures who grew so powerful they became a threat to the gods and Zeus decided to split them in half. Since then they live on Earth constantly seeking the wholeness they had lost. This is why the fruit in my works is split in half. What is more in Polish language we have a saying ‘they’re like two halves of one apple’ meaning soulmates. I like linking the curiosity of Eve, the search for wholeness from the Greek myth with the essence of artistic practice itself.'  Joanna Migut 

Katherine Fay Allan I

Wonderfully sensitive and poignant work by Katherine Allan for her degree in Art and Philosophy on show at the Duncan of Jordanston Degree Exhibition this week. 

‘The rest of us, we just go gardening’

Born from witnessing my mother undergo intensive treatment for a life-threatening illness, this work aims to capture the process of medical procedures and the physical suspension between wellness and sickness. 

In the book ‘Adventures of Human Being’ I came across an account by a surgeon that compared brain surgery to the act of gardening. This comparison illustrates the true physicality between the medical professional and the patient’s body during this process; as parts are removed and mended by another. While also making us consider the boundaries made between the sterile and the unclean in regards to the environment of the modern hospital. This artwork takes the form of a patient bay reimagined to embody this surreal suspension by drawing attention to the boundaries made by the state of the body itself.

Treatment is to be suspended in the space between
inside outside
sterile unclean
in-organic organic
machine human
alive deceased
wellness sickness
care giver cared for Katherine Fay Allan

Sandra Allan

This is Sandra Allan's apocalyptic, Blue Peter vision of her home town in Fife. absolutely unflinching in its honesty, autobiography and calm understanding portrayal of a world gone wrong.

"Born and raised in a mining village in 1970, Blue Peter was a favourite children’s programme of mine. I spent hours trying to recreate Cindy and Barbie houses as a child. This was the inspiration for my latest work. Creating a village through my eyes as an adult. Inspired by Nathan Coley, his cardboard churches enabled me to be inspired to work with this material. My choice of recycled cardboard enabled me to work within a reasonable budget to produce a fictional village. This material is very flexible. I want to promote recycling to an audience that might be inspired to enable a future generation that art can be fun as well as inexpensive." Sandra Allan

The Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Degree Show 2019 runs from Saturday until the 26th f May.

Heather McNab

These are some images from Heather McNab's degree show at Duncan of Jordanston, Dundee. Heather's work reminded me of Scottish artist Joanne Kaar's documentation of moss and litchen gardens on the tops of fence posts.

"This project investigates the dynamics of the diverse and rugged terrain of the Scottish Highlands, including the influence of its effects on our assumptions of what landscape means to us emotionally. Rather than presenting a factual reality, the work constructs an illusion to conjure the realms of the imagination, with a specific focus on capturing the crux of these remote locations.By exploring the concept in a nostalgic way, the work deals with the documentation of erosion and time, exploring the question of how it can be conveyed to the audience as a contemporary reimagining through the mediums of painting and sculpture.Inspired by natural rock and cliff formations, the sculptural forms display the diversity of the ever-changing landscape without referencing recognisable form. The results are deconstructed to the extent that meaning is shifted and possible interpretation can become multifaceted. The individual pillars are clustered together to form an installation that displays the literal themes of erosion and time, working in conjunction with the paintings to generate a juxtaposition between the two. Sequestering feelings of serenity, the paintings highlight the stillness and wonderment that I have personally experienced whilst climbing Munros." Heather McNab

Tina Scopa

Tina Scopa is obsessed with plants that most people take for granted, and her degree show consisted of beautiful and subtle botanical prints made by crushing specimens between sheets of paper to create a print and by creating impressions in gesso.

She has also published this little gem of a book about the plants squeezing a life out in the streets of Dundee.

Annie Ross

Annie Ross's degree show at Dundee was a psychedelic, colourful, bright delight, contained in a geodesic dome.

"Microscopic patterns and fractals in nature have been the main inspiration in my practice. I have created an immersive geodesic dome structure where people are welcome to step inside and become transported to a completely mystical and psychedelic world. These hypnotic patterns are illusions of infinity and represent the microscopic world of which we are largely unware of, highlighting our limited vision of nature. I hope upon entering the small globe-like space I have created, each individual guest will leave with a strong aesthetic experience which is meaningful to them." Annie Ross 

Ruth Mae Martin

Ruth Mae Martin's The Fictional Swimmers of Govanhill Baths, is a lovely illustrated book about the Victorian baths in Governhill, Glasgow. Ruth Mae is originally from Glasgow but has just graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Lauren Morsley I

Lauren Morsley is just graduating in illustration from Duncan of Jordanston College of Art. This is one of her projects called 'The Sea Captain', where a sailor gets shipwrecked on an island of dogs, at first they annoy him, and he is unfriendly to them. However later one rescues him from deathly grip of the islands Monstrous cat and then they are inseparable.

"This original story came from being inspired by growing up by the sea in Fife. There are a lot of fisherman towns and villages and I really wanted to capture some of  essence and adventure that I grew up with in a children's book " Lauren Morsley

Janine Getty

In a very personal commemoration of her mother's life, Janine Getty has created a vibrant synergy of neon and nature for her degree piece; 'Oxenfree' in 'Time Based Art & Digital Film' at Duncan of Jordanston College of Art.

"When my mother Catherine passed away in 2005 I spread her ashes inside and around a dominant, hundred year old oak tree in Loch Katrine. This tree self seeded atop a large rock and has grown to both smash through and wrap its roots around the boulder itself, holding everything together, a fact that reflects my mother by nature. This is the same spot she went to find peace when her own mother passed. Now, almost thirteen years later, I feel immense joy and celebration when surrounded by the life that has sprung from her remains under that tree. This is the story behind Oxenfree, an interactive exploration and celebration of the spirituality that a place may possess once a loved one passes and the abundance of life that is left in the wake of loss." Janine Getty