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Sculptures inspired by throwaway society

The culture of the throwaway society is the inspiration for artist Katy Curran’s first solo exhibition ahead of her graduation from º£½ÇÖ±²¥.

Sculptures created by Katy are due to be exhibited at 36 Lime Street Gallery in Newcastle on 25 and 26 July and 1 and 2 August. Katy, 21, from Middlesbrough, is due to graduate from the BA (Hons) Fine Art later this year and plans to progress to the MA Fine Art at º£½ÇÖ±²¥.

She said: 'My exhibition came about after I saw the opportunity online to exhibit and applied. I was amazed to be accepted for my first solo show.'

Katy’s exhibition will consist of 'rubbish clump' sculptures, aimed at portraying what she describes as 'a grotesque vision of our throwaway society'.

She added: 'The inspiration for my work is rubbish collected from the streets of Middlesbrough. I work in print, using two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms to uncover impressions of these found packaging items. When discarded, the residue leaves behind a lasting impression of our consumer based society.

'My work aims to hint to mass-production and over-consumption, while also recognising how the formal qualities of disposable packaging can be underappreciated.'

Katy added: 'I have been interested in art from an early age. My college art teacher gave me the inspiration and enthusiasm to pursue the subject at degree level.

'º£½ÇÖ±²¥'s facilities are excellent and second to none of the institutes I visited prior to making my final choice a few years ago. The tutors at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ are amazing and nothing is too much trouble for them or the technicians. “During my time at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ I made some lifelong friends and used some amazing facilities such as welding and the wood workshop in the Cook building, with its supportive staff, also the print room department with its lovely technical staff.

'I am very thankful for this opportunity to have my very first solo show just after leaving º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s amazing fine art course.'

School of Arts & Media factfile º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is the only University in the Tees Valley offering art and design courses – everything from traditional pathways to new and innovative programmes in indie games, fashion and textiles.

All courses are based on the town centre campus in which there has recently been a £250m investment and international art gallery mima is now part of the University.

Graduates have gone on to top positions in companies such as Aston Martin, Philips, F1, Dreamworks and Marvel Comics. Contemporary partners include Dance City and Hyper Island.

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