RCA2024 School of Arts & Humanities postgraduate exhibitions and events

Highlights of student work include:

Tina Jane Hatton-Gore’s (MA Painting) large-scale oil paintings and etchings explore the interface between life and non-life evident in artefacts made by humans, depicting humans, that carry an aura: Scarecrows, Toby Jugs, Nautical Figureheads, Garden Gnomes, Mechanical Clowns, Marionettes, Ventriloquist Dummies and Dolls.

Ceramic works by Beth Greenleaf (MA Ceramics & Glass) explore the human experience, grief and chronic illness, through the use of hybridism, folkloric life, and the deification of human instincts. Each piece has a tale, inviting audiences to engage with the cycle of death, birth and rebirth.

A composite art installation by Chang Meng (MFA Arts & Humanities), comprising an interactive device and an AI-generated film, explores communication within intimate relationships, examining non-verbal cues, such as emotional expression decoding and eye contact duration, to analyse power dynamics and emotional engagement.

Danilo Zocatelli Cesco (MA Photography) presents his series ‘Dear Father’, which explores the theme of acceptance through role reversal, subverting father-son love. Misunderstanding and stereotyping are highlighted through the creation of an imaginative mirror in which Cesco reflects his queerness onto his father's face using drag makeup.

Casper Dillen (MA Contemporary Art Practice) presents a series of short live performances as a study of the body's ability to imitate and perform for survival. Using a mélange of sports and dance references, philosophical and political, Casper creates situations that straddle humour and discomfort.

Through her practice, Isadora Marriott (MA Print) creates a visual language about human emotion, the unspoken language of feeling and response. In ‘Wish You Were Here Pt. 2’ colour, print and collage are used to piece back together memories tainted by loss.

Tyrone Vera (MA Sculpture) has created a series of works that blur the boundaries between sculpture and design, stimulating playfulness and inviting viewers to consider the socio-political implications of tactile interaction.

Sau Lun Yeung (MA Jewellery & Metal) presents an experimental project using crystallisation, mycelium and slime mould growth to transform found objects into innovative new works, in an exploration of of colonialism, parasitism, global migrant mobility, and political and human history.

Ahwa Habeeb, Clara Lai, David Tomlinson, Hannah Dowling, Qinle Jin, Sylvia Tan, and Yu Ying Chan (all MA Curating Contemporary Art) have collaborated on a curatorial project featuring artist commissions from Joshua Woolford, Rieko Whitfield and Duong Thuy Nguyen alongside a workshop. Named after V.S. Naipaul’s novel, ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ their project explores the intersections of time, identity and diaspora through audio-visual, sculptural and collaborative media.

The MA Writing programme will present 'Writing Reading / Reading Writing', on Saturday 22 June, 3 - 5.30pm at the Gorvy theatre, an event which allows the public to hear work with each student reading a short extract from their major project, giving an insight not only into their subjects, which range from Heavy Metal images to the history of Mayfair, but also a sense of the approach they have taken, and the tone of the writing itself.

Students from the V&A/RCA MA History of Design programme will showcase their projects in a Symposium hosted at the Victoria & Albert Museum on 16 July.

A selection of works from RCA2024 graduating students will be available for purchase through RCA Sales, a special sales platform, which will be open from 5pm on Wednesday 19 June until 10am on Monday 5 August.

Highlight events include:

CAP LIVE: a night of performance featuring 16 MA Contemporary Art Practice performers captivating with evocative speech, interactive installations, experimental sound, music, and choreography. Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Friday 21 June 6 – 7.30pm

Dialogue III: a panel talk exploring the evolving role of museums between MA Sculpture student Katie Poon and Frances Wood, the former curator of the Chinese collection at the British Library, alongside artists who creatively engage with museums, archives, and institutions shaped by colonial history, as well as an educational tour company. Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Thursday 20 June 12 – 1pm

MFA Arts & Humanities 2024 Film Showcase: a screening of film works that are varied in mode and thematically explore generationality, evolution, nonhuman entity, heritage, and memory. Each of the pieces examines a facet of humanity, or in some cases, a lack thereof. Gorvy Lecture Theatre, 20, 21 & 23 June, 1 – 2pm

Circle–Cycle: a participatory music & dance workshop by Ina Leah (MFA Arts & Humanities). Rooted in the cultural heritage of Lamaholot, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, it draws inspiration from the practices of ‘Dolo’ and ‘Sole Oha’ dance and improvisational oral tradition. MFA Studio, 2nd Floor, Studio Building, 20, 22 & 23 June, 5pm

To Play or Not to Pay: a coffee shop where you pay with an absurd action, by student Van Nguyen (MA Contemporary Art Practice). Contemporary Art Practice Studios, 2nd Floor Studio Building, 20 – 23 June, 12 – 6pm

Badminton Club x Dora Grabkowska: a friendly game of badminton with student Dora Grabkowska (MFA Arts & Humanities). Albion Riverside Square, 21 – 22 June, 12 – 3pm

The schedule of exhibitions, events and activities from the RCA’s School of Arts & Humanities can be found here.