This year’s graduating fine art students at the University of Chichester are getting the chance to show their degree work at Chichester's Oxmarket Contemporary.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers and now we're
00:06just coming up to one of the most exciting things in the academic calendar at the University
00:10of Chichester is the 2024 Fine Art Degree Show. It's at the Bognor campus from June
00:176th to June 12th and then it moves to the Oxmarket in Chichester from June 25th to July
00:237th. Lovely this morning to speak to two of the participating graduating artists, Debbie
00:29and Belle. Now Debbie tell me what you've gained from your time in Chichester because
00:33you've come to it as a mature student which is a brave thing to do in the first instance
00:38isn't it? What have you gained do you think from your time here? Yeah I do feel very brave
00:44actually but I've just gained so much the last three years. It's been an absolute
00:49pleasure and a privilege to come into higher education at my age but the whole experience
00:56has just been one of constant engagement, brilliant tutors, fantastic cohort of students.
01:04I've just been so exhilarating to see my journey and my own development. I just feel like I'm not
01:09really ready for it to stop, I just want to carry on. So you are considering a master's?
01:15I am considering a master's because I just don't, I feel like I'm on the edge of something exciting
01:21on the start of a new journey and I just want to carry on now. I feel like I'm finally doing what
01:26I was meant to do. You're a different artist now to what you were three years ago do you think?
01:32Oh totally, I was actually more figurative and probably quite traditional in my approach
01:39and now I would say I'm bright, bold, much more abstract. I use a little bit of mixed media so
01:47sometimes there's collage in there, sometimes there's always acrylic oil, an oil stick,
01:53in some way I use charcoal, pastels, as I said bits of collage as well. Anything that sort of
01:59captures the essence or notion of memory, that's what my work is about. Fantastic. So yeah and it's
02:05very different from what it was before. Fantastic and Belle it sounds like you've had a similarly
02:10positive experience of your time in Chichester. Yeah it's really kind of a lot. And it's been
02:15good hasn't it? Yeah it really has. It's a very personal experience to get a lot of one-to-one
02:21support here so I feel like I've grown, my confidence over the last three years has grown
02:27massively. We're talked to as an individual, as an adult and actually as a professional throughout
02:33three years and it's yeah, my confidence has definitely increased since being here and
02:38yeah I've developed as an artist and hope to continue to do so. And the lovely thing Belle
02:44is you were saying that you struggled, didn't feel totally in your right zone at school,
02:48but you absolutely have done in Chichester haven't you? Yeah absolutely, yeah I definitely struggled
02:54at school and didn't find it was the right environment to be engaging, like engaged and
02:59creative in, whereas here it's just I feel like I can be my own person, I can do exactly what I
03:04wanted to do and thrive on it and yeah it's a really incredible experience and it's everyone
03:10that has made that experience, as well as the environment, it's a beautiful place to be in.
03:14So what were you Belle when you arrived and what are you now as an artist, what has been
03:18like that did you think? So coming out from A-level I was very much a portrait painter,
03:25hyper-realism, predominantly in oils and since coming here I've completely changed my approach,
03:30I'm very much process-based, more of an abstract sort of feel, hugely based around colour,
03:37I love my colour and inspired by nature and yeah just enjoy the process rather than getting too
03:44caught up on what something looks like, so yeah and I think that's definitely the confidence
03:49that's caused that, so yeah. And Belle, Tim your tutor is explaining to me the marking system and
03:55there's a lot hanging on your final degree show isn't there, are you nervous about this,
04:00is there pressure? Yeah there's definitely pressure, we're now last week in the studios,
04:05last few days in the studios and yeah it's been a bit of a crazy sort of buzz here in the last
04:10few days, everyone's sort of panicking to get things done and to a good standard, so yeah I'm
04:16nervous, I'm nervous about the grading but I hope that I've done enough to achieve a good grade,
04:23so yeah. I'm sure she has. And Debbie, whether you're nervous or not, it's your husband who
04:30summed it up, he said before you started you needed to find your joy again, he's now come out
04:36that you have found your joy through doing this, that is a lovely thing to say isn't it?
04:40Yeah I have definitely found my joy and to see everyone, friends and family come to the degree
04:46show too, I'm really excited about that, it'd be a chance to show your work off and say look how
04:51far I've come, I do post things on social media and some of the reactions are like you never used
04:58to paint like this or what's happened? But it's the joy, it's this is how I want to paint, I feel
05:05as if I was trying to fit into another mould before, now I feel like I'm being me and I think
05:12if you can say that about yourself. Yeah and Debbie the real thing is this past year has
05:17coincided with your two children being students as well in different subjects. Yes. That must be a
05:25fantastic bonding experience. It is, especially my daughter's on campus so that's been quite
05:30strange because we pass each other at Costa Coffee, hi mum, and her friends say to her I can't believe
05:38your mum's at uni, that's so cool, but it has been a really great experience. Fantastic, well really
05:46lovely to speak to you both, all good wishes for that final year degree show, I hope it goes
05:51brilliantly and good luck with your future careers. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, thank you Phil, thank you.