#BathSpaStillMakes

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University's art and design students show that #BathSpaStillMakes

Exchanging campus studios for pop-up home working spaces was not how anyone had imagined their academic year ending, but in true Bath Spa University fashion, there is ample proof that its art and design students have not let lockdown life stifle their determination and passion to create.

Using the hashtag #BathSpaStillMakes, students from across the University’s School of Art and its School of Design have come together to share their work on Instagram - and what a success it has been in spreading the Bath Spa community spirit online, with 2,500 posts and counting.

While this was not the way students had envisaged their creations being showcased pre-lockdown, using their ingenuity, they welcomed the chance to flex their creative flair in today’s new virtual world.

Kerry Curtis, Head of the School of Design, said: “Thinking back to last September, we looked forward to the new year with excitement, while being realistic about potential challenges that would inevitably come with the opening of our brand new state of the art Locksbrook Campus. We created a presentation for newcomers which incorporated words like creative, supportive, resilient, resourceful, connected, collaborative. Who would have guessed how relevant this would become?”

Now, through Instagram and the power of #BathSpaStillMakes, students and staff remain united with a gallery of incredible work and an everlasting documentation of how they continue to navigate through their new environment.  

Making a seamless transition

BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduate Esme Silk, who finished her final collection at home, said that it was difficult at first trying to find the space to work. A typical pre-lockdown day found her in a studio at the University’s Sion Hill campus from morning until night, using the space to cut out and draw up patterns.

“For a lot of my peers it’s been hard, but I know we are good at adapting!” she said. “The fashion industry loves to adapt and change and I think after this it will evolve.”

While she and the other students on her course kept in touch and supported each other remotely, Esme managed to use her time in lockdown to really focus on finishing her portfolio and adding the finishing touches to her collection, which she photographed in her garden and posted to Instagram. The centrepiece of her collection is a bright pink suit jacket, emblazoned with rhinestones.

Talking about the collection, Esme said, “I love my finished outcomes. I started making the jacket before lockdown and finished it at home, which is so strange to think about! Now I’ve also got a really good job that should give me a great career going forward.”

Establishing a work-life balance

Second year BA (Hons) Digital Animation student Gheanielle Gordula had an extra challenge in addition to adjusting to lockdown, as she found out she was pregnant just beforehand.

“At that point it was my number one priority to keep the baby and myself safe,” she said. She decided to move back to her hometown with her partner to stay with family. 

Gheanielle connected with her course mates through video chat, which helped to keep them all motivated. Posting her work on Instagram became a way to cope through all of the changes that were happening, both around the world and within her own body.

“I started to illustrate some of the feelings I was going through as images and also sequences of images,” she explained. “I often meditate, and I noticed that drawing and illustration became another form of meditation for myself and it was a very therapeutic process which I continue to use now.”

Gheanielle’s drawings became a collection she called “The Life Inside of Me”.

Head of School Kerry Curtis added: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to experience students’ work evolving through lockdown and to see our final years progress to graduates. I am so proud of what they have all achieved during this time and I encourage everyone to take a look”.

You can see the talented students’ creations via #BathSpaStillMakes on Instagram.

Image credit: jacket and photo by Esme Silk, @esmesilkfashiondesign