Conversation and closeness

These are strange times we’re living in. Experiencing our world online, everything can feel disconnected, like we are projecting all the time without truly letting anyone in.

When I’m curating, I tend to throw caution to the wind and just go for things I like, that speak to me. But there is a uniting thread to the students in this collection – each invited me in, made me ask questions, and through their work, shared a piece of who they are.

Each project took me to a unique place, time or perspective. With Nour Al Ahmad’s Memory Encoding, I felt like I was simultaneously in Damascus and London, looking in on a snapshot of Syrian life. I was fascinated by Wilza Silva Mendes’ radical positioning of whiteness as a ‘pollutant’ through the lens of architecture, an approach I’d never considered possible. I loved John Christopher’s humour and imagination in his texts to the boogeyman, and Rika Kim’s assured approach to defining her own femininity, subverting what is ugly and what is pretty in her womenswear.

It’s incredible to be able to facilitate conversation and closeness online, which all the works in this collection do. It feels really rare and should be celebrated. I hope you enjoy exploring the works in this collection and, like me, learn a lot from these hugely talented graduating students.