Go Team Owain…!
Students in the third year of the graphic design course at CSM displayed a vast selection of work in progress for our beady little eyes to admire last night, in a miniature room filled to the brim with people of all sorts. Busy enough to form an orderly queue outside, it was a shame I couldn’t get a better opportunity to see everyone’s work properly, before another person elbowed me in the head. But a packed out venue usually equals a successful evening, so on their behalf it was most probably a good thing.
If I am to be honest, we initially had the ulterior motive of supporting our fellow team member at Amelia’s, Owain Thomas, but his work was enough to impress us in its own right. A dab hand with the paintbrush, he remains one of the more traditional artists whom paint monochromatically with tones, shadow and light, provoking emotions of an eerie and paranormal nature. Not content with showing off his natural flair for drawing, he also composed the projected film animation show reel, revealing a series of short films by the students to accompany their 2D wall illustrations. Owain’s in particular, an advert for Vigorsol chewing gum, exposed the quirkier side of his persona, in contrast to the more sinister undertones of his black and grey paintings. On the other end of the spectrum, Takasuke Yamanda presented child-like ink sketches of story tale characters, bringing me back to the age of innocence with a sweep of his brush. Foo Chi Ip was more comfortable with the simplicity of pen and white paper, and displayed the most delicate, and almost fragile illustrations of Japanese anime inspired mystical characters. The flight of imagination ran throughout other pieces, with Tara Cloak’s ‘King of the Birds 1′ where woodland birds’ heads replaced those of humans, all arranged in some sort of circular dancing-cult ritual.
If all artists of tomorrow showed such exuberance for illustration as these hard-working students did, critics like us would have an extremely hard time scrutinizing them when we get invited to such private openings. I now only have high hopes for the finished goods, as the work I have already had a taste of is only the start of something en route to excellence I am sure.
Categories ,Art Graphic Design Animation Illustration
Similar Posts:
- Central Saint Martins: Ba Fashion Graduate Show 2011 review. Japanese.
- High Noon: Arts University Bournemouth Illustration Degree Show 2014 Review
- D&AD New Blood 2013 Review: Best Graduate Illustration and Graphic Design
- Two Magpies Find: Fragments Exhibition
- Dan Stanley and Fluffy Thoughts