9 May 2007

Mother follows in son's footsteps

A mother who followed her son to art school will be just one of the exhibitors at the 2007 Duncan of Jordanstone Degree Show.

Ericka Kinnear’s son Andrew graduated from the college in 2002 but his experience as a student had seemed so appealing to his mother that she then applied and was accepted to the same course her son had completed, Fine Art, in 2003.

Andrew is currently working for Pangolin Foundry in Stroud, Gloucester making bronze casts for artists, including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Tracy Emin. He thouroghly enjoys the work even though he graduated as a painter.

It is now Ericka’s turn to graduate and her work will be on display at the degree show next week. Her paintings focus on her allotment shed. The portraits of the shed, which she sees in some way as also a portrait of herself, are placed in unexpected backdrops, of Scottish mountainous landscapes in Sutherland, crops in farm fields and empty barren places. The colours are combined in a surreal way, for instance in one painting the shed is painted in olive greens and dark shades, much like a shed you would see in winter, set against a bright pale blue sky. This adds to the slight uneasiness you feel when looking at the paintings. The sheds become something other than just a shed and take on a more ghostly surreal feel to them.

Ericka says, "I have always wanted to go to Art School, but other practical issues got in the way. However I took the plunge in 2002 and left my job at Dundee City Council where I was working as a Computer Engineer."

"I have loved every minute of the course, even though parts of it were quite difficult. It's a process of pushing yourself in order to achieve on canvas something that's in your head, while mastering the technique of painting. Being a mature student was never a problem, all the other students were great and the whole four years were an exciting and stimulating time. I'd thoroughly recommend it - and would do it all over again!"

Ericka won the Royal Scottish Academy's Scottish Further Education Award this year, and hopes to continue her studies in Dundee by applying to the Masters of Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, starting in September this year.

Dundee Degree Show
19 - 26 May 2007
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, 13 Perth Road
T 01382 345330 E exhibitions@dundee.ac.uk
www.exhibitions.dundee.ac.uk

EXHIBITION PREVIEW: Friday 18 May 6.30pm-9.30pm
Exhibition open:
Saturday 19 May 9.30am-4.30pm
Sunday 20 May 9.30am-4.30pm
Monday-Friday 9.30am-8.30pm
Saturday 26 May 9.30am-2.00pm

For media enquiries contact:
Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk