Curaty’s “One’s to watch” from 2020’s Degree Shows!

It is the Degree Show season, traditionally the graduating class of artists would painstakingly apply for their exhibition spaces, install works around campus, and wait for the opening day to celebrate with family, friends and professional colleagues. With COVID 19 universities have been forced to host completely virtual degree shows. While this means less wine and in-person interaction - it does mean anyone can engage and experience the artwork from anywhere.

 At Curaty we champion artists, so degree shows are much-awaited events - we have seen immense creativity from the batch of 2020 and have shortlisted artists from UCL Slade School of Art, Goldsmiths and  Royal College of Arts degree showcases that have shown exceptional skill, concept and execution. 

Check Slade School of Art "Ones to Watch" on Instagram here

“Your trash is my treasure”

Francisca Sosa López shares her reactions and disappointments to her home country Venezuela. Her artwork reflects her feelings whilst her letters and writings organize her thoughts. She maintains a sustainable practice by using discarded materials

Ip Dip: Sean Synnuck 

“Notions of aspiration, futility and socio-political impotence underpin much of my work.” 

Sean uses the body to talk about the “self, feelings of constraint and control”. He contrasts these distorted images of the body with government posters to draw parallels between vanity and national identity.

Spinning Blossom, Max Blotas

Max Blotas explores the relationship between landscape and communications through his self-sustaining digital and biological networks. Max’s installations are in constant evolution.

Film still, War of Perception 

Boy Choy uses film and performance to navigate through what it means to be living in a technological driven, capitalist urban society.  Her works merge the “every day with the fantastical, the mythological, and sometimes the absurd”.

Check Goldsmiths "Ones to Watch" on Instagram here

Martina Zheng, “Is this Earth? Is this Mars? This is an Emergency!” 

Martina Zheng explores the theme of immigration in an attempt to raise awareness on the current refugee crisis through the lens of Mars colonisation.

Madalena Ferreira, “It Suits Me” 

These suit socks aim to have the audience question and address assumptions they make regarding dress codes and clothing. She has us asking- How do we create these barriers and restrictions for ourselves and others? How do we follow written dress codes and create the unwritten ones? 

Megan Watson, “I am obsessed with Being Relaxed”

Megan Watson uses herbalism, calming visuals, and tranquil music to establish an aura of relaxation.

Isabella Jones, “Rosemary for Remembrance” 

Throughout the year, Isabella videotaped encounters with her grandmother using techniques to mirror her condition of memory loss.

Check Royal College of Art "Ones to Watch" on Instagram here

Rosa Whiteley, “In the Pink” 

Although this image initiates a feeling of joy, this series explores the pink death clouds that command the arctic atmosphere. These death clouds result in dead zones where no life form can flourish except “opportunistic fungi”. Through her project disassembling the concepts of “dead zones”, Whiteley tells the audience that calling these territories dead is an unfair way to treat the victims of capitalist airs and grounds.

Isabel de la Roche, “POCKETS & BODY BELTS: A Deconstructed Garment” 

Isabel defines her outline with the use of pockets. She believes “we have been moving into a utopian world of less objects and more information”. Our daily essentials will integrate into one tiny chip. With this in mind, she leads the viewer to question: will we even need handbags?

Bethany Ellen Walker, ‘The Liminal Space’

Bethany Walker explores the life of glass in the kiln. This piece is a marking of the” inimitable passage of time, emulating a sense of disorientation experienced when in a transition period.” 

Emily Moore, ‘Tabernacle’

A contemporary painter, Emily Moore, created ‘Tabernacle’ during the beginning of COVID 19 lockdown while self-isolating at home. The explosive use of colours differ from her other works and create a sense of vibrancy amid uncertain times.