Hannah Baker makes installations, paintings and creatures that often explore the dark humour to be found at the boundaries between human and animal, love and hate. She was born in Chichester, graduated in 2001 with an MA in Fine Art (Dist) from the University of Portsmouth and has since worked as a freelance illustrator, textile designer and scenic artist when not exhibiting in and curating shows in London, Ilfracombe and Portsmouth.
Maria Demas draws and paints predominantly figurative work that investigates human relationships with sensitivity and humour. She was born in Voula, Greece and came to Portsmouth to study,first Illustration and then Fine Art, graduating in 2001 with an MA from the University of Portsmouth. She has since returned to Greece where she combines her Fine Art practice with storyboarding for films, teaching art to all ages and singing in her band Singapore Strings.
Louisa Dunn uses embroidery and mixed media to explore the fragility of human interactions and relationships. She graduated with a BA in Visual Studies from the University of Portsmouth in 2000. She was the artist in residence at Cyprus School of Art in 2003 and was part of The Art Collective Gallery in Guernsey from 2006-2009. She has worked at Guernsey College of Further Education from 2006 to the present day.
Mark Freemantle works around and within the traditional formats of art, challenging the constraints of the picture plane by focusing on a single element and extrapolating from it using mixed media such as masking tape and canvas. He graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 1999 with an MA in Art and has worked as a stone mason and exhibiting artist since.
Chris Giorgi paints using oils and a rich palette to show with humour and pathos how people relate to each other and to the world in which they live. He was born in Maidenhead and graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2001 with an MA in Fine Art.
Frances Grant uses photography, mixed media, assemblage and installations to create darkly humorous work, often using contradiction and thwarting our expectations of the everyday. She was born in Chesterfield and graduated in 2002 from the University of Portsmouth with an MA in Fine Art. She runs the Foundation Diploma in Art &a Design at Sheffield College and maintains her fine art practice, exhibiting regularly in shows in London and Sheffield.
Lee Hazeldine makes kinetic sculptures that interact with the audience in emotionally affecting ways as well as collages and assemblages. He has extensive experience teaching multimedia, design and Art History and has a particular interest in how digital technology can be combined with traditional art forms. He has a PhD in Philosophy and is currently a Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has previously worked at Vision West Nottinghamshire College and Nottingham Trent University. He teaches Art at the University of Canterbury while making and exhibiting his work regularly.
Vikki Hill works in mixed media, predominantly collage and drawing. She is driven by the transformative power of art and her current work combines personal experiences with a wider political landscape, utilising a loose kind of narrative structure using repetition, text and story telling. She was born in Glasgow and received her BA from the University of Portsmouth in 1998 and her MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths College in 2006. She is an education developer and is currently working on an attainment project at the University of the Arts, London. She has exhibited in London, Singapore and Ho Minh City.
Cat James works using sculptural casts and prints from collages of vintage comics and annuals to investigate childhood and nostalgia as it relates to the body. She graduated with a MA in Fine Art from the University of Portsmouth in 2001. She takes part in the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park , London with the Red Gallery annually and regularly exhibits work at Ice Gallery, Windsor and The Cactus Gallery, Brighton. She is a full time artist.
Wendy Kirwood uses mixed media and embroidery to create delicate and moving works of art that mark the moments caught on the brink between one state or action and another. She graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2002 with an MA in Fine Art and, after some years spent in art education, has been a full time artist and maker.
Elle Lever studied Fine Art at Bath Spa University and then Human Nutrition at King's College London which led to a PhD in Nutritional Sciences in 2015. She is now a freelance artist producing meticulously detailed scientific illustrations as well as personal and commissioned work that is inspired by the intricate workings of the human body, environmental issues, and the detail and strangeness in the everyday.
Denise Leworthy paints large, dramatically emotional canvases. Born on the island of Guernsey, she has always had a fascination with the sea, beaches and the tiny detail of the rock pools'. She works primarily in the abstract style, and has a preference for oil and acrylic. She studied fine art painting at Brighton and Portsmouth Universities, graduating from the latter in 2002. When not painting, Denise works as a freelance graphic designer.
Brian Lunn is predominantly a painter though he also makes assemblages and sculptures. He formerly taught in the Fine Art department of the University of Portsmouth, has an MA in Art History from Birmingham Polytechnic, an MA in Music from Oxford Brookes, an MA in Musicology from the National University of Ireland, Cork and is now a full time and regularly exhibiting artist.
Victoria Maltby creates assemblages, photography and sculptures investigating the fine line between life and death, horror and beauty and impact of mythology and fairy tales on the subconscious. She was born in London, graduated in 2000 from the University of Portsmouth with a BA in Fine Art and an MPhil in Art and Philosophy and has since taught and continued her Fine Art practice with freelance illustration work and in exhibitions in Portsmouth and London.
Richard Martin creates large, witty paintings and installations. He was born in Emsworth, graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2002 with an MA in Fine Art, completed an MA in Scenic Construction at RADA in 2004 and has since run his own scenic construction company producing sets for theatres such as the Royal Court and National while continuing his Fine Art practice and exhibiting regularly in London, Portsmouth and Ilfracombe.
Danielle Penhaligan creates tiny carved sculptures, installations, paintings and posters that challenge the viewers perceptions with edgy wit and charm. She was born in Cambridge and graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2002 with an MA in Fine Art. She is now a full time Artist.
Mark Shaw makes kinetic, interactive sculptures that seriously critique society while remaining very much tongue in cheek. He graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2001 with an MA(Dist) in Fine Art and has worked there in various roles since, while still maintaining his Fine Art practice and exhibiting regularly in London and Portsmouth.
Andrew Smith (under the name Smithsonian Rosterino or ROST) uses mixed media collage, painting, assemblage, sound installation and digital media to bring together disparate elements to tell a story. He graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2001 with a BA in Communication Design and has since worked as freelance Graphic Designer and Artist whilst also curating and exhibiting in shows in London, Bristol, Guernsey, New York and Australia.
Lee Shearman makes exquisite works of miniature art, in particular a Micro Library of books. He works in the arts, regularly running workshops and putting on gallery shows. He worked at Permanent Gallery in Brighton for eight years 2003-2011 as the gallery bookshop manager (artists books), exhibition co-ordinator, and was on the gallery steering committee. The gallery was regularly funded by The Arts Council, and had 70 exhibitions- and the bookshop even toured around including to Portsmouth during the Re:Exhibition there. He is also a freelance illustrator/designer/animator and has an arts education company, Borbonesa. He studied Fine Art at the University of Portsmouth, graduating in 1999 with an MA in Fine Art.
Aron Spall is currently exploring drawing in combination with film and makes multimedia installations and moving image work that investigates the tension and release of every day emotional experiences. He was born in London, graduated in 2002 with an MA in Fine Art from the University of Portsmouth and worked as a filmmaker for 9 years, collaborating with the National Theatre and Old Vic Theatre. He now combines tutoring in art with his Fine Art practice and exhibits regularly.
Jenny Walden was born in London and studied Art History at University. She is a 'forever student' and professor of ‘the word’ at the University of Portsmouth, always teaching in the context of fine art practice. She has developed as a text artist and at times ‘performative philosopher of art' giving talks as dramatic forms.
Chris Williams uses paint to explore the working space specifically 'edge' within a temporal context reflecting on feeling and the reliability of sharing. Chris graduated from the University of Portsmouth in1998 with an MA(Dist). He continues to paint and exhibit while running a small picture framing business catering for many local artists.