New exhibition showcases Cumbria’s arts students

Artists from the University of Cumbria are staging a new showcase this month that challenges today’s world of algorithm-driven narratives and ‘AI slop’. 

Unseen is an exhibition which seeks to highlight how so much of what is truly important is missed. 

Following a successful preview evening, Unseen is now open in the university’s Vallum Gallery at the Brampton Road campus to visitors for a month. 

Six students who are completing their MA Creative Practice programme at the university’s Brampton Road campus in Carlisle are showcasing their work.  

They are: 

Ailsa Brock, painter - her portraits explore differing perceptions, memory, and conflicting identities.  

Sarah Maxwell, printmaker - her images explore the psychology of space alongside identity within the contemporary experience.  

Kirsty McSkeane, graphic novelist - her narrative explores late diagnosis and the pain of misunderstandings.  

Bill Mumford, wildlife filmmaker and sound recordist - his work explores how to let nature tell its own story.  

William Niven, analogue photographer - his photographs explore place - past and present.  

Molly Tinsley, concept artist - her game design explores symbolism and transactional behaviour.  

On behalf of the artists, MA Creative Practice student Ailsa Brock said: "It is amazing to see everyone's work displayed in the gallery after so many months of hard work.  

"It was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I'm so impressed by the other members of this year's master's cohort for the incredible dedication they have brought to their artworks." 

Above: Visitors viewing the Unseen exhibition at the University of Cumbria Vallum Gallery, Carlisle

For the cohort, the Unseen exhibition comes at the end of a year of intense study leading to the completion of their final MA project.  

The showcase in the Vallum Gallery, is an opportunity to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the students’ work, to meet the practitioners and engage with the artworks in the context in which they were intended to be viewed and experienced. 

The students are due to graduate from their MA Creative Practice programme in November.  

Unseen will be open in the Vallum Gallery, Brampton Road, Carlisle, weekdays 10am-4pm until Wednesday 7 October.  

ENDS