Masters Degree in Fine Art - Module 2

I’m just heading into week 4 of the 2nd term of my Masters Degree in Fine Art at Cambridge School of Art, and thought it was time to check in with you guys and share what I’ve been up to.

New year

After a much needed break over Christmas I started the year feeling quite nervous about going back to college. I guess it’s quite normal feeling daunted at the start of a 2nd term, when the adrenalin and newness of being a beginner gets replaced with an awareness of the work and challenges that lie ahead - I’m much happier when I’m busy ‘doing’, rather than contemplating something from a distance.

New medium

I have decided to fully embrace milking this opportunity for all it’s worth, and for me that means I’m seeking to make full use of the facilities and expertise, rather than sticking with what I know. Of course this makes things more scary and is a risky strategy when at the end of each 12 week block I have to hand in a ‘final piece’ at postgrad level, when working in a medium I’ve never tried, but it means I’m learning a lot! I spent my 1st term printmaking for the 1st time, this term I’m diving into sculpture, ceramics and maybe textiles!

New module

Module 2 is called ‘Acts and discourses’ - I have to admit I have no idea what that means! But the brief I've been given is to “develop a body of work intended for a place/site in particular of your own choosing.” Basically to create any work for a specific space, anywhere (as long as it’s not a gallery) - so extremely open ended again! Site-specific is the buzz word - work that relates to a space by theme and also physically to it’s locality.

New proposal & body of work

I’ve just completed my written proposal - here’s a link (3rd one down) if you fancy a read, including my reading list, for those who like that sort of thing!

Let me try to summarise - my work will be a celebration of what makes us who we are (the physical & psychological etc that makes up each unique individual). I've called it 'More than the sum of our parts - you matter'. I’m going to focus on body matter for inspiration for the pattern element of my work and contrast that with an expressive gestural part representing our personality. I’ve decided to choose a site for display, where people need their sense of worth and identity boosting, and am hoping to link with ‘Women in Prison’ charity and particularly their women’s centre in Lambeth, London, to share my work.

New research

My bibliography is centred on things like human genetics, art & science, rehabilitation, site-specific art, sculpture, ceramics and textiles. For someone with dyslexia, who hates books and reading, I’m actually quite excited about the reading list I’ve created for myself!

New plan

I plan to create 3D versions of body cells in clay (on the potters wheel and by hand), in screen printed fabric and in plastic, to explore which materials work best. I then intend to represent fingerprints and DNA with stripes on one side of the piece and splash the other half with something (?) to provide the pattern and gestural elements.
It feels like quite a bit of this project is beyond my control. The kiln is only fired when there is enough work to fill it, and  each piece needs 2 firings. Also I can contact places I'm interested in as sites for displaying my work, but how they respond and how soon they respond is out of my hands.

New challenge

Another part of this module is that we are given the task of organising our own group exhibition, and altering our work to fit with the group and this alternative site! I'm actually really looking forward to this as it will give more chance for overlap with others on my course.


So there you have it. My hand in day is 7th May, although there is no timetabled lectures, we’re expected to work through Easter). My plan is to continue a monthly update for you, so you can follow my MA journey with me. Click here to see my past blogs about it, or on the 3 images below.

1st Month

2nd Month

3rd Month

By the way, I got my results for my last module, a couple of weeks ago, and got 65% (equivalent to 2:1, with ‘good’ written in each box) - not bad for a medium I’ve not tried before, and to hear that my research and writing were matching up to post grad level, despite my dyslexia, was a real encouragement!
Thank you for your interest and support!