Graduates 2022: Kate Birss: 3D Design and Craft

“I feel hugely lucky that in fact, Brighton is the best possible place to study 3D Design and Craft in terms of course content, tutors, technicians, workshops and peers.”

Please tell us a bit about your work and your influences

This body of work titled Landscape and Memory, has been informed by the landscape of my home here on the South Coast of England and in the memories of landscape in New Zealand, my childhood home. Retaining an engagement with place, even if though memory alone, is of importance. Landscapes we carry with us in absence, those we are physically remote from become so amplified, so deeply a part of us and it is this understanding of place I aim to capture and communicate.

My research and explorations were centred around photography, location and studio-based sketching, contextual research and physical investigations, to develop ideas towards 3D resolutions in wood.

How have you found your course and time at Brighton?

Living in Brighton it was one of only two choices for a degree course near me as I have children at school here. I feel hugely lucky that in fact, it is the best possible place to study 3D Design and Craft in terms of course content, tutors, technicians, workshops and peers. Brighton is of course a wonderfully inclusive and creative city, and this mindset and approach continues throughout the university.

The course itself not only focusses on material experimentation and technical advancement but also has a heavy focus on research and critical analysis which was of importance to me.

 

How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study 3D?

I was doing a foundation at the MET Brighton when I was introduced to the wood and metal workshop, something about it really resonated with me. I felt intrinsically that this was the environment I wanted to be in. My wonderful 3D tutor at the time, John Miekle encouraged me to enrol on the 3D Design and Craft course at Brighton University. It was fairly soon into the first year where I knew that wood was my material and soon after I began hand carving which is now a big part of my practice.

 

What are your plans after graduation?

I aim to do my Masters in 3D Design and Craft here in Brighton, but first I will be setting up my own practice and continue to work with wood. Part of the third year Professional Practice module is to put together a business (or employment) plan delving deep into the research, support, costs, planning and application. This provides a very thorough path ahead which I am excited to implement.

Instagram: katebirss

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