The Imaginarium

Roshahni Bowerman

Have you ever heard of an animal called the Homiariegris?
With antlers and tiger skin it stands on two feet!

Enter the world of the Imaginarium where the possibilities are endless and the creatures are brought to life.

The Imaginarium is a book filled with wonder and amazement. The book features six collaged creatures that you wouldn’t have seen anywhere else, placing them into the natural world and adding elements that are akin to animals in and around the world. Positioned sequentially in a 24 page ‘bestiary’, each fully illustrated page takes the reader on a journey through the six backstories, highlighting how they live, breathe and eat. Pointing out the differences and similarities of not only the animals which we already know about but also the ones that are hidden in plain sight.

(Click on images to view larger)

I became interested in beasts and animals when I read descriptions of H.P Lovecraft’s creations and began to explore how I would translate descriptions into fully fledged illustrations, enjoying drawing these beasts/animals and began to want to create my own. I was inspired by the work of Hannah Hoch and Lauren Child who use collage within their work to create narratives.

I began creating my own collage creatures by using imagery found within newspapers and magazines, then breathing them to life. I knew that collage was the perfect medium to represent the journey of the creation process because it was unexpected how the final piece would come out. I also wanted to exploit my own artistic ability and see where it would take me. By not only using collage, but also both traditional and digital mediums within my final book, I feel that it allowed me to fulfil the creation of the book with the sole purpose of entertaining the audience, and letting them imagine how the animals could live among them.

Koi fish - Sergi Traverso

For research methodology I chose koi fish due their vibrant colours and patterns and my fascination with the waterfall legend.

Mechanical Animal workshop work - Koi fish

Lost and Found with MyDogSighs

Upcycler, recycling artist, street artist and can-man MyDogSighs worked with us today to help clear the streets around Winston Churchill Avenue and encouraged the students to create artwork from discarded items. Intrinsic to the workshop is the idea that the item is found - transformed and then left in-situ for anyone who wants to keep it.

In the spirit of Free Art Friday the students explored the techniques and concepts MyDogSighs employs and responded individually to the item they had found. These might be worth looking out for around the Eldon Building over the next day of two.

Red Fox

I decided to focus on the fox for my research methodology project. I have always been fascinated by foxes, considering I had seen one bareley a handful of times in real life as they are such timid creatures. I began looking at lots of different species of fox, but quickly settled on the Red Fox. Having grown up in a fairly country-based town, I would frequently wake in the night startled by the sound of a Foxes shrill cry. However it would be near impossible to catch a sight of the sly creatures as they would lurk in the shadows in my then overgrown childhood garden.

I think the fact that I knew Foxes were difficult to catch a glimpse of created an interest within me for the creatures, and as a child I would constantly be fascinated if I caught sight of a Fox skulking into a bush in the day, or scuttling across a land at night. This Idea of a child so fascinated by a particular animal, yet not being able to see it with their own eyes, gave me quite a distinct idea. I knew I wanted to act on my love for children's illustration within this project, so that was the path I decided to go down, and I created Ella and Fox. A story based around a girl who finds all of the clues to a living creature in the forest, but cannot see this creature, so she goes searching for him, and learns all about foxes along the way. It seemed to me that as the character was discovering this information about the animal, the child reading the story would too, so it became a sort of mini fact file as well as a children's story. I had a lot of fun on this project!

The Big Horned Sheep

I chose to look at the big horned sheep because I was interested by the horns of the animal. I once heard that when the big horned sheep has become a skeleton the weight of the horns outweigh the bones of the whole animal put together. This fact was the first thing that sprung to mind when being asked to choose an animal.

I think when people originally think of sheep with big horns they automatically think of them bashing their heads together, from great run ups. So on first thought the words stupid and aggressive came to mind when picking this animal. But soon I realised how nimble on their feet they are when climbing up very steep mountains. And also how strong and military they are when it comes to protecting the herd against predators.

After looking at the big horned sheep for a while, I started to focus far more in on the scull. I think the way the scull looks with the horns is quite sinister. It didn’t take long before I started to look at more satanic imagery, as the big horned sheep/ ram are well known for sacrifice. Also there are connotations and links of the horns of the devil and the horns or a big honed sheep/ ram.

These are some of the images gathered from my Research Methodology project.

Becca Henderson

Pigeon

These images are from my Research Methodology project,  where I explored the pigeon as my chosen animal. By using pencil, ink and water colour, I have attempted to communicate aspects of the pigeon which interest me such as colour, form and movement. I tried to put a positive and humorous spin on my work to change people preconception of the pigeon, which is often negative.
Alice Carter