Graduating Chichester fine art students present their work
Sadly it’s a course that is being phased out, which makes it all the more poignant that Charlie Kenyon Vaughan describes his years at the University of Chichester as the best thing that has ever happened to him.
This year’s fine art degree show previews on June 4 from 6-9pm and is then open to the public from June 5-10, weekdays 11am-6pm, weekends 11am-4pm at St Michaels, Bognor Regis Campus, car park entrance off Felpham Way, PO21 1HR.
Charlie, aged 21 and originally from Folkestone, has loved the course from the beginning: “Everything was very small and manageable. It was not in a big city and it was close to the sea. It was similar to home. I just found it comfortable. And it has been fantastic. Genuinely it is the best thing that has ever happened to me, the best thing that I could have done. It has allowed me to grow tremendously while providing like a safety net. And we have been so close knit. Everybody is very friendly with each other. There are only about 20 of us in total on the whole course.”
The course is disappearing. Charlie and his cohort are the second to last year to go through. There is currently no first year.
“It is really sad, and it has given us a different of experience to what anybody might have had. I think it has brought us closer together. We took measures to make sure that the course stayed worth staying for. We got the university to give us trips to studios and galleries, and we've got alumni students working in our studios so that there is still a feeling of collaboration. You need to talk as artists. It's about the feedback and we wanted to make sure that we were getting that so we managed to up our numbers by bringing in older students to come back and work alongside us. It has meant having conversations with the vice chancellor himself. We've got to speak to people at the top in the university, and he was brilliant to work with. The university is struggling financially, and sorting things out is not easy. Our course is on the chopping block but the university has still been really good to us.”
As far as his own work, Charlie explains: “I am a tapestry maker and a painter. I make relief wall hangings, made out of scrap fabric. They range from two metres to six metres, and they are very painterly. They end up looking a bit like paintings. I do paint on the textiles sometimes. I'm interested in the relationship between the two.”
After the degree show Charlie will be going back to Folkestone: “I will be moving back home. I'm trying to make some money by working part time but also trying to do my art. I want to see if I can start growing my art business but who knows what the degree show might bring. I'm feeling confident. I think I have produced some of the best work I have ever produced at university for the show. It's on a scale where I think I can say I have really taken advantage of the space. The studios are amazing. We get more space than a lot of students who are based in London.”
For the exhibition, car parking is pay by phone. Mon-Fri 8am-6pm £2.10 per hrs. All other times £1.50 set fee. Free entry.
Tim Sandys-Renton, senior lecturer in fine art and programme coordinator, said: “Twelve talented fine art students are graduating this year having steadily built up a considerable level of artistic skill and theoretical underpinning over the last three years. They demonstrate real integrity, have all developed unusual styles, imagery and ideas, and are now ready to present their artistic visions to the wider community. This is an exhibition of contemporary art that builds on traditional skills and ideas as well as introducing highly individual perspectives on the world.”