Well done to Ventnor based artist/photographer, Abi MacRobert for recently passing her fine art degree with first class honours.
We were invited over to Portsmouth Uni last month to Abi’s end of year show and were really impressed with her work.
She’s been a member of the VentnorBlog Flickr group for some time, so we are aware of her talents, but it really did them justice to see her prints on large scale hanging in a great exhibition space.
Abi clearly had lots of fun creating her final project. She appears in all the images, montaging and manipulating afterwards to create the excellent study of animals in the home. In her own words ….
The habitual nature of humans is reflected in the anthropomorphism that ensues when an animal is brought into the home. The camera becomes the cold stare of the detached observer, adding its own ability to strip objects of their natural value and further encase the subjects. As if in a zoo, these living objects are observed as if they were museum mannequins or stuffed animals.
I can’t decide whether I prefer the black and white shots (captured on a large format camera) or the colour montages. Either way, they are all excellent, and I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before Abi gets approached by galleries on and off the Island to exhibit.
Her face pops up on the Blog quite often in the Flickr thumbnails on the right, so next time you see her in town, give Abi a thumbs up on achieving a first class honors degree.
If you like the look of these images, pop over to the Final Show website to check out Abi’s other pieces.
