Open Studio — Portfolio Preparation Course,
Creative Practices 2020–2021

We Lost You For A Moment There

It gives us great pleasure to share the work of this year’s students who have studied with us on our Portfolio Preparation Course – Creative Practices. All have shown a prodigious amount of dedication to their studies during very challenging times and have embraced working online with us, establishing remote working spaces, with continued enthusiasm and commitment. They have all been remarkably abundant in their making and created portfolios of work that are diverse and engrossing; whilst supporting each other in their learning, being extraordinarily good natured and kind throughout.

Our primary focus is the creation of a unique and distinctive fine art, design or architecture portfolios of work, for both ‘Digital ‘and ‘Full’ Portfolio submissions for Further and Higher Education Courses and other directions. Students studying on the Portfolio Preparation Course work in a Studio Environment this year online, within which every student is supported in developing their creative skills, through the application of a wide-range of imaginative, technical and practical processes. The diverse online studio-based learning and teaching activities, have been and are designed to assist students in simultaneously developing experimental and innovative work as well as acquiring a strong work ethic.

This year being online has given the students this opportunity to showcase their work via the GSA Website at the end of their studies, self-selecting and curating their own work and promotional material, providing a professional experience where the emphasis is on learning and thinking through doing, and the site will be available for the public to view for a year.

The majority of our students go on to study Undergraduate Degrees, plus some Postgraduate Degrees in either Fine Art, Design or Architecture, at institutions across Scotland, the UK and Europe. Other trajectories include being self-employed, running their own creative businesses and undertaking internships.

This year’s students are all currently being invited for interviews and receiving offers, considering other and all their options and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for choosing to study with us and we wish them all the very best for their futures.

Deborah Holland + Joanie Jack

Joint Course Leaders

Portfolio Preparation Course – Creative Practices
Open Studio

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Inaya Berger

The Wabi Sabi tower

It was photographed in my student accommodation at night, placed on my computer with a background video sourced from YouTube. Inspired by the Nuru Karim design process, I would see this building as a “rainwater catcher” to address the global impact of climate change by advocating the need for water conservation.

Wabi Sabi

Wabi-sabi is the view or thought of finding beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature. It is about the aesthetic of things in existence, that are “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”.

Process

Drawings and process of the tower, I see it as a building with bodily shapes, it looks like two people dancing which corresponds to my personal project, accentuating the human form and architecture.

Untitled

Part of my deconstruct reconstruct project, using 3D foam adhesives in large quantities I manipulated and built three dimensional structures that formed the idea for towers and dwellings.

Bench/ramp in a skate park

Bench made of clay, exploration of the material and it would suit in a skate park setting because of the structure/functionality.

Untitled

Developing my own structures thinking about details, such as sun orientation, perspective, functionality and thinking and planning for a future where climate change and resources are crucial.

Map of friends house

I’ve been working on a few of my father’s landscaping projects. Looking at materials and perspective gave me a deeper understanding of small details in architecture, enhancing my observational skills and critical thinking when I get into a new space.

Untitled

Surroundings

I try to pay attention to my surroundings, first week into Glasgow I went to walk around my neighborhood, I came back and drew it from memory.

Ingrained

Creating three dimensional structures limited within a tonal palate, was challenging until I embraced the process and experimented with texture, line, shape and form.

Enshroud

Use of repeated geometric lines to emphasise the difficulty to change.These developed into abstract forms that grew naturally when I extensively explored the materials.

Untitled

Drawings of the three dimensional structure.

The effect of of masculine & feminine principles in architecture

I am interested in surveying the contemporary human body, in particular, the breast. I am exploring how we can relate women’s breasts to curvilinear architecture such as domes, cupolas, coliseums, etc.

The effect of of masculine & feminine principles in architecture

Testing how men’s breasts could be associated with brutalist architecture, the project is still in progress.

The effect of of masculine & feminine principles in architecture

Exploration of the anatomic side, drawing of a mammography. How the shape of the inside could be connected to vernacular architecture.

Charcoal life drawings

Fine art drawings in an attempt to deepen my exploration of formalist aspects, such as texture, colour, line and shape. Also I thought it was fun to play around with charcoal.

Bauhaus Houses

I received a game from Bauhaus University which consists of building lots of colorful houses from colorful papers. Quite simply and almost in the Bauhaus style.

Bauhaus Houses

I decided to cut some windows into them and make some drawings to explore the inside of the houses and pretend people are living in them.