A WORMERY, a 1960s burger van, a mobile social club and a reproduction of the house from Psycho - just a few of the weird and wonderful designs on view at the Glasgow School of Art degree show.
A WORMERY, a 1960s burger van, a mobile social club and a reproduction of the house from Psycho - just a few of the weird and wonderful designs on view at the Glasgow School of Art degree show.
With a worldwide reputation for producing cutting-edge artists, the art school's latest graduates are showcasing their innovative creations as the annual degree show gets under way.
Around 20,000 visitors are expected to pour through the doors of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's landmark building to check out around 450 of Scotland's budding artists.
Five buildings around the historic Renfrew Street campus will house new work in disciplines ranging from fine art and photography, through textiles and jewellery to product design engineering and architecture.
Work is housed in corridors, on floors, in gallery spaces and studios in one of the largest degree shows staged in the UK.
International galleries and collectors will descend on the school to spot future stars set to follow in the footsteps of award-winning artists Simon Starling, Douglas Gordon, Roddy Buchanan, fashion guru Jonathan Saunders and Jaguar's design director Ian Callum.
Work to look out for includes Steve Helm's live wormery sculpture, Keith Allan's mobile social club, Angharad Davies' 1960s-influenced burger van, and Hannah Hewett's climbing wall.
Further afield, work from the Master of Fine Art course will be exhibited at Tramway in Pollokshields until Sunday.
The two-year course has produced eye-catching work by Iceland-born Ragnar Jonasson and Sang Bin Kang from Korea, plus a recreation of the house of horror from the film Psycho by Mark Briggs.
STUART T. McKIRDY
JAPANESE manga comics, discarded toys and the carpets of the Mitchell Library are just a few of the influences which inspire Stuart McKirdy's bold and colourful digitally-printed fabrics.
"I'm a terrible collector - I hoard everything," admits the 36-year-old design student.
"I tend to find things on the streets and keep them."
Born in the Lake District but raised in Rhu, Stuart has concentrated on the nostalgia of childhood for his degree show.
His digital and hand-drawn designs are rendered on to jersey cotton, with some of his textiles already transformed into wearable fashion items such as T-shirt dresses, skirts and trousers.
In addition, Stuart also prints on to found items from charity shops.
"I like the individuality of old garments and you can then rework them into whatever you want," he says.
After graduation, he plans on selling his clothing online, branching out from his textile design business into furniture and upholstery.
"It's not about money," he says, " I want success and I want people to be wearing this stuff."
OLIVER MURRAY
OLIVER MURRAY is an artist who is very much in demand. Having worked with Scion Films on the post-production of two James McAvoy films - Becoming Jane, starring Anne Hathaway, and Atonement, with Keira Knightley, the 21-year-old has just had a call from one of Britain's hippest indie bands to create their new video.
And that video will utilise the same technology he's showcasing in his degree show.
At first glance, his video installation looks like a flyover of a polar landscape. But, moving next door, you realise the ladscape' is nothing more than a series of bin bags placed on a rotating drum - with the filmed image inverted into negative.
"A high budget movie would do this on a computer," Oliver says. "I'm interested in how you can use cheap means of creating that same sort of image."
Since moving to Glasgow from London, Oliver has moved on from traditional sculpture to incorporate video and digital elements in his work.
His short film, A Rose For A Smile, won the Audience Award for best student film at the PCFE Prague Film School.
"The good thing about going to an art school rather than a film school is that I've been able to learn it myself," he says.
"It might be a slower process, but I think I've come out the other side with a much clearer idea of the films that I want to make."
LUCY MacDONALD
STILL lifes and serene seascapes aren't for painter Lucy MacDonald. Instead, the 23-year-old has interests in subjects far more macabre and grotesque, involving zombies, 1970s B-movies and cult secret societies.
The series of five canvases that make-up her degree show feature sinister portraits of zombie-like women and skulls.
"The image changes while I'm painting," says Lucy, who originally hails from Hexham in Northumberland.
"It started as a reference to an image in a Vidal Sassoon advert, or Kenneth Anger's films of the 60s and 70s, but I used that as a kind of catalyst for the painting to come into its own.
"They're not completely imagined, but they are this imagined group or cult of people."
Lucy's work is heavily influenced by psychedelic and baroque styles, using jewel-like colours, layering and over-painting. It was only in her fourth year at art school that she began concentrating on figurative work, with a heavy emphasis on the exaggerated eyelids typical of 1960s models and actresses.
"I was interested in what it would be like to have a portrait with a closed eyelid - how that creates a sense of intimacy. It's like these people don't really know that they're having a portrait taken."
Lucy plans to spend a year working in Glasgow after graduation while researching Master of Fine Art courses across Europe.
KATIE WARREN
THE Art School and high street fashion chain Primark aren't necessarily the most obvious of bedfellows, but that's exactly where jewellery designer Katie Warren looked to for inspiration for her degree show.
The 21-year-old from Inverness has created a range of silver jewellery cast from the clips, sliders, bows and cups of bras.
"I was going to Primark quite a lot for bargain bras," smiles Katie.
"I got a few funny looks when I was buying a 32A and 36DDs!"
Her brooches, necklaces, earrings and bracelets feature a range of semi-precious gems, resin and even inter-changable, coloured bra straps to match your mood.
She's recreated the hook and eye-clasp of back fasteners to make stunning links for her jewellery.
Katie's designs range from £120 for a pair of earrings to a gold ring costing £630.
The ornate gold ring was the result of a £200 bursary from the Goldsmiths' Company to create an unusual design.
After graduation, Katie plans to work in the retail jewellery sector to save enough to open a workshop and launch her own brand.
- The GSA Degree show runs until Saturday June 21 at 167 Renfrew Street, Tel: 0141 353 4500. The show is open today-Thursday 10am-9pm, Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday 10am-5pm. Last entry to each building is 30 minutes before closing. The MFA Show is at Tramway on Albert Drive in Pollokshields until Sunday. Tel: 0141 276 0950. It is closed Mondays, open 10am-5pm weekdays, and noon-5pm at weekends.
