Our experience exhibiting our Art and Illustration coursework in Huddersfield
Mason Devita & Evetta Wronska
Contemporary Art and Illustration students
Hi, we're Eve and Mason, second year Art and Illustration students who have just installed and presented our own exhibition, Hudd HeART, as part of our Studio Practice module. We wanted to share our experience with you, and the benefits this experience provides for any aspiring creative!
An opportunity to showcase our work
Second year Contemporary Art and Illustration students at Huddersfield have the opportunity to install and present their own exhibition, Hudd HeART, as part of their Studio Practice module.
This year, the exhibition was held at Peters, in the Packhorse Shopping Centre in Huddersfield town centre, over three days. It showcased a selection of work created by the many artists on the course during this first term of our second year.
We’re here to give you an overview of the process behind our work, the installation of the exhibition as a whole, and the benefits this experience provides for any aspiring creative!
Eve’s Experience
My name is Eve, and I am an Illustration student and social media rep! For this term's project I focused on things I love, which are spooky gothic buildings, fantasy, and vampires - I was definitely feeling the Halloween vibes.
I believe that this was an amazing opportunity to present my work to the public and potentially gain a bigger audience. This was my first ever public exhibition, and I learned so much over this period.
It was challenging at the time, but we eventually got there in the end. Both me and Mason had a great time being a part of the marketing team, where I put my typography skills to work, creating posters to advertise the Hudd HeART exhibition.
As an Illustration student, I explore different styles seen in comics and animated shows such as Castlevania and also interviewing artists for my work.
I love creating complex characters and adding to narrative, taking my audience on a journey through my work by exploring fictional worlds. Art has always been a hobby and a form of escapism for me, but since I've joined this course, this dream has become my reality. Everyone in our art course is supportive and the staff aid us in curating our work.
I used the printing facilities at Barbara Hepworth Building (which is our art building) to print my posters for the exhibition. This process is quite simple once you get a hang of it - there is lots of information on the process and the staff are always ready to help.
Walking into Peters for the first time felt quiet intimidating because of the empty space, but over time, the more work I saw being put up, the more our little exhibition was coming to life. I was always nervous to show my work to the public, but I have gained confidence through feedback on my project as well as talking with other students.
I can definitely say I can’t wait to start next term and continue working on projects I love. The work I have created has pushed me to becoming a better artist and explore more of my style. Due to this exhibition and advertising my work, I have gained more clients who have asked for commissions which I can’t wait to start.
We have all inspired each other to keep going and make our hobbies turn into future careers. Everyone’s process, style and projects are different and wonderful in their own way - this about sums up the people we have on our courses. A big thank you to everyone for helping make our dreams become reality.
Mason’s Experience
My name is Mason, and I'm one of the members of the exhibition’s marketing team - and an unofficial assistant for a few of the curators!
This is the second student exhibition I've been part of in my academic career, so going into this flash showcase I already had a bank of knowledge that I’m glad wasn’t too rusty.
I study on a combined course, Contemporary Art and Illustration, (now Fine Art and Illustration) and so am exposed to a multitude of different influences and styles of work that feeds into my practice as a whole on my course, and it lets me bend the rules a bit on what is considered ‘fine art’ and what is considered ‘illustration’- even though I’d consider my art the latter.
It also means I’ve been able to look across the scope of work installed in the exhibition and aid in curating, helping where I can with whatever I can to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
I think having the opportunity to work as a collective in an exhibition open to the public is an incredible one, since it gives so many different artists the chance to showcase their work and be PROUD of the work that they share.
There’s also a whole list of skills that can be transferred from it: teamwork and communication, problem solving (and sometimes conflict resolution), project management, as well as the consideration of accessibility.
Also, because Eve and I are mostly digital illustrators, it gives us the chance to think about the best way to transfer an image on a screen to a physical piece of artwork, if it’s better to work to a physical medium (which is what I decided to do), or using university resources to get the best quality of print.
My work for this term has played a lot into themes of escapism, convergences of fantasy and reality, and the experience of going through your teenage years with grief and neurodivergences right there on your shoulders.
I wanted the work I exhibited to be bright and colourful with a distinctly graphic style, wrapped up and presented like a poster you’d find on a teenager’s wall.
Finding ways to organise and install my work compared to the others me was a challenge, but working with the curation team to group things together under similar themes, motifs and styles was a really beneficial experience that gave my work the space it needed without taking away from anyone else's.
Even with the past experience I had, I’ve learned a lot more about working with the space you’re given and the people you’re given it with. All things I’ll carry through into next term, then into final year!
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