In the lead up to our 2025 Graduate Shows, we’re celebrating the creativity and talent of our graduating students by sharing their stories and showcasing their incredible work. We spoke with Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) student Catherine Glass about the course, their influences and advice to their younger self.

Please tell us a bit about your work and your influences

Linking the past to the present, my paintings are abstract meditations on once-familiar objects. Drawing back from the figurative, they are visual fantasias that reinvent the personal, cultural and historical significance of everyday things, investing them with new energy.

Roughly copying patterns and shapes from the objects I make large stencils using laser printing on acetate sheets to put repeated patterns on the canvas, with mixed up the media, using graphite, acrylic, watercolour paints, oil pigments and pastels.

‘Imperfect Pair’ by Catherine Glass (2025)

My current work is sourced in belongings inherited from my mother. I forge their texture, colour, shape or pattern into a new context. In the Camilla paintings, a Victorian dinner service transmutes into a disconcerting kaleidoscope of mandalas that transcend the dichotomy of past and present. In the Doily paintings, paper doilies travel beyond their ordinary place into a shadowy new world.

‘After Camilla’ by Catherine Glass (2025)

What made you choose your course?

Being in lively Brighton, this is an art school of long standing with a great reputation, it was an easy choice. It stood out to me as one of the few courses that focuses solely on painting, that was a key factor to me.

If you got your place through clearing, can you tell us a bit about that experience?

It couldn’t have been easier. After a telephone call I was quickly given the paperwork to complete and was told I had a place almost immediately.

Can you tell us about your favourite part of your studies and how it helped the development of you and your practice.

Having our own studios at Grand Parade makes a world of difference. It makes for a stimulating and friendly artists community, where you are surrounded by others and it’s interesting to see what everyone is up to, great to have company. The input from other students is so helpful too. The studio spaces are really generous, so you can do big paintings if you want to, and they are open into the evening, so you can come in when it suits you.

Also, we have a fabulous technical demonstrator in James, he is always around to ask for advice and help with anything and he know so much. And there are a lot of different technical support people around, for example I have had great help from the Tech Hub guys making the stencils too.

Having regular individual tutorials that take place in our studios works very well too, as the tutor is talking to you about the work you have in front of you, it is very real practical feedback and guidance.

Can you tell us about any staff who particularly inspired you?

That fact that all of the the tutors are all active artists themselves is so important – seeing what they do, hearing about their own work and how it developed and going to their own exhibitions has been inspiring. To be able to see how they have made careers as painters is inspiring.

They are incredibly generous in sharing ideas and even their contacts with us, they bring us into the artists community. I couldn’t single one of them out, they are so varied and each offer a unique perspective from which to learn. What stands out to me is the depth of individual attention they each give to each student over the whole three years.

Can you tell us your plans after graduation?

Each tutor shares so much of their own practice and they introduce to the world of painting and painters – the excursion to artist studios in London arranged by Alex in second year (some of them were previous Brighton students) was fascinating, and a behind the scenes visit arranged by Joseph to Towner in Eastbourne when it hosted the Turner Prize. In this way they encourage us in our careers are artists, not just our current studies.

To continue with developing my practice, I have been offered a place on the Master of Fine Art at West Dean College in Sussex.

Finally if you could give your younger self any advice about going to university what would it be?

I did this course in my 60’s – I would say the welcome and the support available to students, regardless of who they are and where they come from, is extensive, it makes sense to use it all. So I would say don’t hold back, use the facilities, ask for help, jump right in.

Find out more about our 2025 Summer Shows where large parts of the university turn into a huge free exhibition space.