Emerging talent exhibited during MA Showcase

UWE Bristol students studying MA Design, MA Graphic Arts and MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking, will exhibit their work at a special Showcase at the university’s Bower Ashton campus next month.

The six-day MA Showcase is open to the public and free to attend and runs from Thursday 14 September until Wednesday 20 September 2023. It will offer visitors the chance to discover a mix of creative talent and will celebrate the Masters students’ knowledge, their understanding of their craft and their hard work during their course.

One of the students exhibiting is Lee Nutland who is studying MA Multi-disciplinary Printmaking. Originally from Yeovil, Lee has been living in Bristol for the last 11 years.

His work focuses on prehistoric stone monuments. He said: “I highlight the fragility of that which is perceived to be permanent. I consider their place in the landscape and human consciousness and how that relates to current attitudes towards the environment and the human experience. Through the act of walking the landscape I create a connection to those who have gone before and by documenting those experiences with photography and drawing, I consider the passage of time, our place in history and the finite nature of existence.”

Lee has been awarded the Peter Reddick Bursary for 2023 – 2024 to start this autumn. Spike Print Studio awards this each year to a new graduate to support their practice in relief printing. The bursary is for one year and awards membership to the studio with full support in studio and online, with learning opportunities and professional development and an end of bursary award exhibition. 

Lee added: “My time on the MA at UWE Bristol has been invaluable in my development as an artist. I have really been able to develop my contextual understanding and the rationale behind my work and having access to great facilities and the wealth of knowledge from the excellent tutors, lecturers and technicians has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, push ideas and experiment when it comes to making work.”

Also studying MA in Multi-disciplinary Printmaking is Liz Greaves from Congresbury. Liz creatively responds to archives through printmaking and ceramics and started volunteering at Glenside Hospital Museum during her studies.

“I didn’t know beforehand, but my grandfather worked at the hospital,” she said. “He died before I was born, but I’ve learnt so much about him through this research – tracing photographs of him harvesting a crop of wheat with patients before he rose up the ranks becoming the farm foreman and then retiring in 1956.”

Liz is interested in the relationship between people and things after finding lists of objects that patients took into the hospital with them when they were admitted. Her final project for her MA, which forms part of the Showcase next month, features printed ceramic objects including tableware, feeding cups and a bedpan.

She added: “Objects are a means of storytelling, of making responsive connections with both history and the present.

“I create images which are screen printed to make decals to add onto the objects before they’re refired. For instance, the bedpan contains an oral history taken from a Commonwealth Nurse who worked at Glenside Hospital. The feeding cup and hot water bottle also celebrate these nurses. The aim is to add my printed objects into the collection at the Museum; adding the printed narrative provides a more informed and fresher outlook to the museum visitors.”

UWE Bristol Associate Professor Sarah Bodman said: “We are so proud of all our students’ achievements this year. We will have an amazing selection of works on display, inspired by local landscapes and interactions with the city’s museums and open spaces, literature, and the environment. We hope you can come along and experience these artworks for yourselves.” 

The MA Showcase combines an exhibition at Bower Ashton, accompanied by a digital Showcase.

The opening times are:

Thursday 14 September
17:00 – 20:00 (opening evening)

Friday 15 September
9:00 – 18:00

Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September
10:00 – 17:00

Monday 18 to Wednesday 20 September
9:00 – 18:00