Ava Hayes from Ballyvolane with her work ‘I See Her In My Dreams’ at the MTU CCAD Degree Show titled Subject To Change. Photos: Darragh Kane

Students show art to the public

The MTU Crawford College of Art and Design has launched its 2021 Degree Exhibitions marking the end of a difficult year for final year students.

The two exhibitions, ‘Subject To Change’ and ‘Is Mise’, are now available to view online following an official launch last Friday which featured the premiere of a short film by acclaimed Irish film maker, Ken Wardrop.

Exhibiting the work of final year students in the Department of Fine Art and Applied Art, ‘Subject To Change’ features an extraordinary range of visual art practices ranging from drawing and painting through textiles, glass, sculpture, photography and film to multimedia installation.

Students from the department said their exhibition had been produced and undeniably influenced by a period of global crisis and change.

However, they said it’s been an exciting time for the production of artwork as new challenges and circumstances have, for many of them, caused the work to take unforetold directions.

“This has, for some of us, manifested as a change in subject, for some a change in medium or practice. During a time of flux, we are excited to present work which feels new and ground-breaking, and to emerge into a world in which unpredicted challenges and surprising opportunities have become par for the course,” said the students.

Trish Brennan, Head of the Department of Fine Art and Applied Art, added: “The Crawford College Degree Exhibitions are one of the highlights of Cork’s cultural calendar, and the final year students of 2021 have overcome considerable challenges to present their exhibitions exploring a broad range of research areas.”

The second exhibition, ‘Is Mise’, was created by students from the Department of Media Communications, across two honours degree courses – one in Visual Communications and one in Creative Digital Media.

The works showcase skills and ingenuity in graphic design, illustration, animation, interactive media design, gaming, VR/AR, photography, film and video.

Viewers of the degree shows can expect to see exciting, and engaging, work such as Cillian Mitchell’s video game, Rebel Rouser, set in Cork city.

“I created a colourful cast of Corkonians and re-imagined well-known Cork locations in this game,” said Cillian.

Head of the Department of Media Communications, Rose McGrath, said she was excited by the range and diversity of the projects on show.

Both exhibitions can be viewed at crawford.cit.ie/online-degree-shows.