Gray’s Degree Show’23 Neon Futures success
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Students from Gray’s School of Art Degree Show ‘Neon Futures’ are celebrating success after receiving awards at the opening launch of Gray’s Degree Show.
Friends, family, students and community of Gray’s gathered at RGU’s Garthdee campus for a launch event with live music, a DJ, awards ceremony and speeches.
A special stakeholder event, with speeches, prizegiving and private view also welcomed industry figures from the north-east’s creative sector.
This year’s Degree Show showcases the work of 150 students and celebrates the theme Neon Futures, reflecting the graduates ‘new’ and bold futures in the making.
Dean of Gray’s School of Art, Libby Curtis and RGU Vice Principal for Academic Development and Student Experience, Professor Lynn Kilbride, presented the Principal’s Design & Fine Art Awards which are funded by RGU’s Art & Heritage Collection.
Winner of the Principal’s Award for Fine Art is Munroe Ritcher from Painting who comes from Denmark.
Munroe said: “Winning the award was quite nerve racking but really exciting. I’m very grateful for the recognition. I tried to follow my intuition, but I am also obsessed with technique, my project was a balance of being playful whilst staying close to academic principles.
“When making my work, it feels quite individual but when I see it all together in the degree show I can see there’s a theme of working with processes and something dreamlike or mythical with my work. It’s hard to put into words but I feel there’s a cohesiveness to my work and my technical approach shines through.”
Winner of the Principal’s Award for Design is Agnieszka Kubica, from Poland, who studied Three-Dimensional Design and created a jewellery collection focused on relationships.
After receiving the award, Agnieszka said: “Wow! It’s a feeling of being spotted and appreciated. It is an unbelievable feeling. I feel that the message I wanted to send from my project was understood.
“I designed a jewellery collection that looked at the bonds we create with other people. I distinguished family, friends and romantic relationships. I wanted to say how important they are in our lives. They are very crucial, and it is very important to keep them alive and to nourish them on a regular basis. One of my pieces of jewellery from my collection is an envelope and that’s the sign for us to take action, and to send a message, to our close ones, our close relationships.”
Students who received Highly Commended Awards (RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Prize Awards), in Design are Nicola Lyttle, Megan Naysmith, Kira Leese.
Students who received Highly Commended Awards (RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Prize Awards), in Fine Art are Summer Mapplebeck, Fionnlagh (Fionn) Skinner [he/him], Gabriela Proszowska, Shannon Park.
A number of external awards were also presented at the launch including RSA New Contemporaries Award: Scottish Society Artist’s Award, Compass Gallery and Visual Arts Scotland Award.
Dean of Gray’s School of Art, Libby Curtis, said: “I am absolutely thrilled for all our graduating students and to those who have won awards. Our Degree Show is a real celebration and marks a major milestone in our student’s creative journeys. All our students are winners and the talent on show is a testament to their hard work and a credit to the staff who have supported them at Gray’s.
In addition to the Principal’s Awards for Fine Art and Design, there are four additional awards that reflect the importance of Gray’s core graduate attributes. The Four Pillar Awards, presented at Gray’s stakeholder event, mirror Gray’s four pillars which are central to the curriculum and its development.
The awards recognize students who are a: Socially Engaged Creative, Collaborative Creative, Critical Creative, Enterprising Creative. The winning students include-
Kirsty Bell who won the Critical Creative Award; Jessica Reid from Communication Design who won the Collaborative Creative Award; In Contemporary Art Practice, a student under the alias ‘NWL Ltd. Chief Value Officer, Scotland Officer’ has won the Enterprising Creative Award; Weronika Turowska from Three-Dimensional Design who won the Socially and Environmentally Engaged Creative Award; Miriam Foy from Contemporary Art Practice who won a Special Recognition Award
The show is now open to the public until Saturday June 17 and is free to attend, with many works being for sale.
