Banks Mill Studio Exhibition Derby

Whilst attending an open day at Derby University I had to chance to go and see the Banks Mill Open Studios exhibition, which was only a few minutes walk from the university.

The exhibition featured a lot of different artists, some having come from Derby University, it was really good to see a range of professional. working artists displaying and selling their work to the public, alot of them were very friendly to and it was nice to have a chance to talk about what they do, being a fairly small exhibition i think it gave artists a better chance to connect with the public.

A artist that I really liked was Mig Holder, a textile designer graduate from Derby University. Holder creates work using only recycled materials, her work could be described as being abstract, figurative and oftan wearable. Holder's way of working with recycled and found materials interests me, as it is a similar to what I like to do, therefore found her work quite inspiring and influential.

Lindsay Seers 'Monocular' The Quad, Derby

Whilst visiting Derby University on a open day I took the chance to check out what was on at the Quad in the city centre and got to view Lindsey Seers piece 'Monocular' which was being shown for the first time.

Seer's piece features a documentary style film set in an intimate space enclose in a tin hut structure, walking in to the gallery room gave a very isolated eerie sense and the hut felt disconnected from the world in a way.

Narrated by an Norwegian/English man with a rare condition called genetic mosaicism, caused by two fertilized eggs at an early stage of gestation in the womb.

Seer's explores genetic mosaicism in this piece, looking at people it has affected all over the world,
but mainly focusing on the story the narrator has to tell.

As a viewer we were given the chance to develop an emotional connection with the man and hearing about his background and how he feels about his condition and how it has affected his life, we are give an insight into what it was like for him.

Growing up the man did not have a great childhood, he had a hard time at school, his parents divorced and his mother remarried to an English and relocated them from Norway to England, away from his father.

All his life the man felt consumed by his condition, he could feel another side to his personality,  feeling his left eye did not belong to him and was apart of his 'absorbed twin' brother, he would go on long walks just to try escape alittle and feel freer.  he began to experience dark patches distorting his vision in his left eye and was diagnosed with cancer and had his eye removed, removing his twin brother along with it.

Oliver Kugar (2D Design)

Oliver Kugar is a documentary illustrator that works from life or reference from photographs he’s taken of things that scenes and objects that interest him but the majority of his work is landscapes.

He disaplines himself to 2D design as his preferred style and uses a thin pen and light colours to capture his surroundings and interests.

The main things I like about Kugar’s work is the beautiful spontaneity, impulsiveness and freedom that he possessives when it comes to producing art. This provides his art work with a great realism, really bringing the pieces to life, allowing us to feel a little more involved and give an insight into his life through his work. I love the fresh, subtle tones of the colour he uses and the fine lining of pen gives the piece a sense of delicacy.

I really enjoy the fluidity of Kugar’s pencil drawings, their simplistic nature and lack of colour allows you to focus on the piece as an over all form.