This collaborative work-in-progress exhibition showcases a creative investigation into the university campus.
Wren Foster spends long periods of time documenting particular locations through photography and drawing, paying attention to the traces people have left on walls, floors, and doors. As they look, they wonder: how long has it been like this? how many people have walked past these marks? would the space feel different without them? Wren’s work comes from a desire to understand the spaces they occupy in the university.
Foster is an artist currently studying MFA Fine Art. They are also Hallam Student Union’s Lead Representative in the Sheffield Creative Industries Institute and a Community Organiser. These roles involve speaking directly to other students to understand how spaces can support learning, make people feel comfortable and foster a sense of belonging and community.
Joanne Lee photographs university classrooms, lecture theatres, studios, workshops, libraries, atria and corridors. Her work notices repeated forms and patterns, from which she collages and sequences examples into visual typologies that reveal the strangeness of these familiar spaces. Recognising that things inevitably break, get dirty and fail, she considers the messy reality of the institution and the importance of care and repair.
Lee is an artist who has worked as a lecturer and researcher in creative higher education for over thirty years. Her current role as Course Leader for BA Fine Art involves curriculum development, academic planning and module leading as well as cleaning sinks, moving furniture and working with Wren and others to create a garden.
Wednesday 22 January 2025
Two creative, discursive workshops will take place in the Post Hall Gallery during the exhibition.
With approaches developed from Wren and Joanne’s practice, the workshops will use simple drawing techniques to reflect together on the spaces we collectively occupy and what more we might want from them.
No need to book. All materials provided.
11.30-1.00
All STUDENTS are welcome to join.
4.00-5.00
All STAFF are welcome to join.