Isabel Owen

BA Art and Design Graduate at Birmingham City University.

 

Education

  Halesowen College, 2016-18

Art   - B        Photography   - B

  Birmingham City University, 2019-2023

Foundation Art   - First

1st Year   - First        

2nd Year   - 2:1

3rd Year   - First

 

Exhibitions

   BA Art and Design Night School

On the last Tuesday of the month, the School of Art hosts exhibitions for the public to view the work. I have participated in almost every Night School and have developed my curatorial skills from this and feel confident organising my art to work with a space. It has also helped develop connections with other artists, and I can talk about my work with clear and concise points being made.

 

   Market Values with Eastside Projects (2022)

As part of a brief, I worked with the Birmingham Rag Market cleaners. I wanted to create something that would highlight the work that they do to make the market a functional, running place, which I think many overlook. My piece - a collection of rubbish bins with cleaner’s stories on them - was shown in the market for a week. It had positive feedback, with the official Birmingham Rag Market posting my art on their Instagram, and the cleaners expressed their appreciation for my work. It was eye-opening to see the behind-the-scenes aspect to the building, and hearing about the treatment they receive from the public and other staff. It was a project that I was uncertain about when I first pitched the idea, but I am glad to have done it and met the people that I did, hopefully prompting people to think twice before chastising a respectable job.

 

  Artefact (2022)

For the end of our second year, we held an exhibition at Artefact gallery in Stirchley. It was the first public exhibition I had helped organise, and I worked on the marketing and social team, as well as the curatorial team. It was a successful event, even though plans were changed the morning of and I was told to move may work to a different part of the gallery for safety reasons. I ended up exhibiting in the corridor and toilet, as my artwork was centred around what makes a piece valuable; I turned an unfortunate situation around to benefit my work, and it payed off in the end. 

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  People Making with Birmingham School of Art (2023)

The exhibition for the graduation show was held at Margaret Street in Birmingham, showcasing the work that had been in development for the year. I displayed ten pieces, including clay vulvas hidden throughout the school, a cast of my vagina, and a canvas that consisted of over 200 individually made vulvas, all various shapes and sizes. This can be found on the 'Did You Cum?' section of the Work page. This was my most successful exhibition, and gained a lot of attraction from the public. I was one of three people from the course to be awarded a First Class for the project.

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Awards

Research in Practice Award (2023) for my dissertation.

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Skills and Workshops

  Adobe: InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, Lightroom

  Printmaking: Screen printing, lino printing, dry-point, fabric

  Photography.                                    

  Casting and plaster

  Laser cutting                 

  Textiles

  Curating exhibitions    

  Video mapping

 

Dissertations

  ‘Why are women still being under-represented in the art world?’ (2021)

  ‘How have artists challenged taboos around the female anatomy, masturbation, and pleasure?’ (2023)