STUDENTS PARADE THEIR WORK

An exhibition of contemporary sculpture, featuring work by two third year Fine Art students at the University of Gloucestershire, is being held in Beechwood Shopping Centre in Cheltenham from this weekend.

The exhibititon of work by Lydia Shirreff, 22, and Rebecca Hooper, 21, entitled System of the World, opens on Saturday (January 30) and runs through to February 14. Admission is free.

System of The World is contemporary sculpture and installation by the two students who have been influenced by structures around the world, gaining their inspirations on their trips mainly to New York and Iceland.

Lydia said: “Becky fell in love with the buildings and skyscrapers of New York and has since started working with industrial materials including concrete.

“I visited Iceland and became fascinated by the natural form of the landscape and work with the shapes and geometric forms found in rock.

“Both our works take on sculptural form. Becky’s main exhibits are her concrete towers,  the tallest of which is 5ft, which mimic skyscrapers. She also has smaller pieces made of plaster, including a cluster of 31 small cuboids.

“We both work in a very geometric style, but whereas Becky’s work is very square and regimented, mine is more playful and irregular. One of my featured pieces is made up of 400 small translucent plastic octahedrons that are displayed hanging from the ceiling. Another is a group of plastic geometric icebergs.”

Lydia said the Beechwood exhibition would not be static.

“We are in the centre, next to Rise, for 16 days and as the weeks progress, we will be adding to and moving around the pieces on show.
“We will also use the space as a studio and the exhibition will keep growing as we create new pieces.

“I am looking forward to being able to interact with the public and get feedback from them as we work.”