Graduating fine art students take their work to Chichester's Oxmarket Contemporary

SussexWorld

This year’s graduating fine art students at the University of Chichester are getting the chance to show their degree work at Chichester's Oxmarket Contemporary.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers and now we're

00:06just coming up to one of the most exciting things in the academic calendar at the University

00:10of Chichester is the 2024 Fine Art Degree Show. It's at the Bognor campus from June

00:176th to June 12th and then it moves to the Oxmarket in Chichester from June 25th to July

00:237th. Lovely this morning to speak to two of the participating graduating artists, Debbie

00:29and Belle. Now Debbie tell me what you've gained from your time in Chichester because

00:33you've come to it as a mature student which is a brave thing to do in the first instance

00:38isn't it? What have you gained do you think from your time here? Yeah I do feel very brave

00:44actually but I've just gained so much the last three years. It's been an absolute

00:49pleasure and a privilege to come into higher education at my age but the whole experience

00:56has just been one of constant engagement, brilliant tutors, fantastic cohort of students.

01:04I've just been so exhilarating to see my journey and my own development. I just feel like I'm not

01:09really ready for it to stop, I just want to carry on. So you are considering a master's?

01:15I am considering a master's because I just don't, I feel like I'm on the edge of something exciting

01:21on the start of a new journey and I just want to carry on now. I feel like I'm finally doing what

01:26I was meant to do. You're a different artist now to what you were three years ago do you think?

01:32Oh totally, I was actually more figurative and probably quite traditional in my approach

01:39and now I would say I'm bright, bold, much more abstract. I use a little bit of mixed media so

01:47sometimes there's collage in there, sometimes there's always acrylic oil, an oil stick,

01:53in some way I use charcoal, pastels, as I said bits of collage as well. Anything that sort of

01:59captures the essence or notion of memory, that's what my work is about. Fantastic. So yeah and it's

02:05very different from what it was before. Fantastic and Belle it sounds like you've had a similarly

02:10positive experience of your time in Chichester. Yeah it's really kind of a lot. And it's been

02:15good hasn't it? Yeah it really has. It's a very personal experience to get a lot of one-to-one

02:21support here so I feel like I've grown, my confidence over the last three years has grown

02:27massively. We're talked to as an individual, as an adult and actually as a professional throughout

02:33three years and it's yeah, my confidence has definitely increased since being here and

02:38yeah I've developed as an artist and hope to continue to do so. And the lovely thing Belle

02:44is you were saying that you struggled, didn't feel totally in your right zone at school,

02:48but you absolutely have done in Chichester haven't you? Yeah absolutely, yeah I definitely struggled

02:54at school and didn't find it was the right environment to be engaging, like engaged and

02:59creative in, whereas here it's just I feel like I can be my own person, I can do exactly what I

03:04wanted to do and thrive on it and yeah it's a really incredible experience and it's everyone

03:10that has made that experience, as well as the environment, it's a beautiful place to be in.

03:14So what were you Belle when you arrived and what are you now as an artist, what has been

03:18like that did you think? So coming out from A-level I was very much a portrait painter,

03:25hyper-realism, predominantly in oils and since coming here I've completely changed my approach,

03:30I'm very much process-based, more of an abstract sort of feel, hugely based around colour,

03:37I love my colour and inspired by nature and yeah just enjoy the process rather than getting too

03:44caught up on what something looks like, so yeah and I think that's definitely the confidence

03:49that's caused that, so yeah. And Belle, Tim your tutor is explaining to me the marking system and

03:55there's a lot hanging on your final degree show isn't there, are you nervous about this,

04:00is there pressure? Yeah there's definitely pressure, we're now last week in the studios,

04:05last few days in the studios and yeah it's been a bit of a crazy sort of buzz here in the last

04:10few days, everyone's sort of panicking to get things done and to a good standard, so yeah I'm

04:16nervous, I'm nervous about the grading but I hope that I've done enough to achieve a good grade,

04:23so yeah. I'm sure she has. And Debbie, whether you're nervous or not, it's your husband who

04:30summed it up, he said before you started you needed to find your joy again, he's now come out

04:36that you have found your joy through doing this, that is a lovely thing to say isn't it?

04:40Yeah I have definitely found my joy and to see everyone, friends and family come to the degree

04:46show too, I'm really excited about that, it'd be a chance to show your work off and say look how

04:51far I've come, I do post things on social media and some of the reactions are like you never used

04:58to paint like this or what's happened? But it's the joy, it's this is how I want to paint, I feel

05:05as if I was trying to fit into another mould before, now I feel like I'm being me and I think

05:12if you can say that about yourself. Yeah and Debbie the real thing is this past year has

05:17coincided with your two children being students as well in different subjects. Yes. That must be a

05:25fantastic bonding experience. It is, especially my daughter's on campus so that's been quite

05:30strange because we pass each other at Costa Coffee, hi mum, and her friends say to her I can't believe

05:38your mum's at uni, that's so cool, but it has been a really great experience. Fantastic, well really

05:46lovely to speak to you both, all good wishes for that final year degree show, I hope it goes

05:51brilliantly and good luck with your future careers. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, thank you Phil, thank you.

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