Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery: Cornwall College Summer Show

This exhibition finishes on the 12th September 2026

This exhibition features work created as part of each students final project and there was a really wide range of work.  Each student had a different approach with often different materials and techniques used.  

Some students work was just beautiful.  I would happily live with their work in my house.  They are obviously producing commercially saleable work that would happily sit in any gallery in Cornwall.  Hannah Hudson's beautiful plates were colourful and graphic and she had beautifully captured familiar places around Cornwall.  Rachel Carter has a lovely appreciation of pattern and form with a love of botanics and her hung piece laying out pressed leaves and flowers in a circular pattern was very striking.

Others were however working on the uncomfortable cutting edge of art, where you need a little help understanding their perspective perhaps in order to appreciate their work.  These works challenge and make you think.  Tegan Jull produced a work that described how her epilepsy makes her feel just before and after a seizure.  This is an experience that many of will never have and would find it difficult to understand.  Julie Ann Richards multi media pieces explored textures and materials.  Her skill is undeniable but I didn't find her pieces comfortable.  They held darker, forgotten memories and stories!

Some students were a little more process based, exploring repetition and experimentation.  I think these types of project are vital for an artists development.  They are not always exciting for the viewer though, but there can be a comforting aspect.  Val Grainger's knitted ceramics were lovely and it is an interesting process she is exploring for sure.  For me, I would like to see this pieces, this technique included with other things, I would love to see a contrast in textures for instance, maybe with some of the original wool, or items made from the wool.  I would also really love to see flat pieces made with this technique included in hung pieces that include other colours and textures.  I would find that very exciting.  There is so much potential to explore with this!

My favourite artists though were the ones who were experimenting and exploring in such a way that they were still creating beautiful pieces I would enjoy owning.  Whimsical and quirky...  Zoe Lawer produced amazing pieces that explored archetypes in a delightfully whimsical way.  Her depiction of anxiety was relatable and obviously acknowledged the darker side but it didn't get bogged down in darkness.  This was a lovely display I would take home.  I would love to see her finished cabinet of curiosities.  I would also love to see her learn about automata, that would be incredible.  Diana Simoes ceramics really appealed to me, she took traditional forms and cut and distorted them to make new and exciting shapes.  I loved the combinations of pieces to create a large collection which then explored the interactions between the individual pieces.  

I think I would also like to mention Destiny Jordan's lovely piece which used mirrors.  Ceramic hands held the first mirror while also holding a pot.  A second mirror sat behind and there were botanical elements as well, within the pot and framing the front mirror.  I would love to see Destiny do interior design or stage design, larger immersive installations perhaps.  

My biggest disappointment in the show was that not every student had taken the time to complete some information about their work.  I understand that some might want their works to stand or fail on their own merit, but I really wanted to know about their materials, their techniques.  Their works were interesting.  Thank you to every student who opened up and wrote about their work.  

A huge well done to every student that took part!  (sorry I have not mentioned you all!)

It was a fascinating exhibition!

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