BA (Hons) Fine Art

Sarah King is a practicing artist, educator and researcher. She employs a range of artistic research methods and material processes in her practice including digital recording and projection; object gathering and making; stitching; drawing; and embodied actions. Her work and research are focussed around notions of memory; exploring the uncanny, and the abject in relation to objects, materiality, memory, and trace. Recent soft sculptural works and sound drawings are deeply concerned with the passing of time, forgetfulness, the absent subject and mending the impossible in an attempt to confront and reconcile the strangeness of loss. She exhibits nationally and internationally and has work held in private collections in the UK and US. Sarah is Subject Leader for the Fine Art degree programme at Arts University Plymouth, she teaches across all years and leads level 6 studio, professional practice and contextual modules. Sarah is passionate about the dialogue of practice and the richness of sharing, debating and questioning to bring dynamic and live making and thinking to the studio. She is currently External Examiner for University of Gloucestershire.

Dr Helen Billinghurst is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, researcher and writer. Her doctoral thesis at the University of Plymouth explored the intersection between painting, drawing and aesthetic walking, and her research interests include the performance of making, site-specificity and embodied process. Helen is an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an alumni associate fellow of the University of Plymouth. She is a member of research groups Performance. Experience. Presence. (University of Plymouth), Land2, and the Walking Artists’ Network. Helen teaches painting and drawing on BA (Hons) Fine Art, as well as being an MA module leader.

Louise Fago-Ruskin is an artist, writer and lecturer living and working in the South West. She holds an MA in Photography from the University of Brighton, a BA from Plymouth University and a PGCE. Her work examines notions of the unconscious, utilising the camera as a contemporary confessional space. She aims to tackle such themes as ideological manipulation, familial notions of separation and reformation, and performance as reparative action. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in group shows such as The Hyeres Festival of Fashion and Photography (Hyeres, France), Arles Photography Open Salon (Installation, Arles), and Parallax (La Galleria, London). She is currently represented by La Galerie Sakura in Paris. Louise's works have also been nominated for a variety of awards including 'Foam What's Next: A Search into the Future of Photography'. Louise has recently been selected from over 500 artists, writers and historians to take part in the Arquetopia International Mentorship Programme - a highly respected not-for-profit organisation in Puebla, Mexico and has recently published a photographic essay in The Image Journal (edition 103), a literary and arts quarterly edited by Aaron Rosen (" Art and Religion in the 21st Century") and is looking forward to a guest essay in the pending publication The Liminal Loop from The Lutterworth Press.

Joanne Dorothea-Smith is a conceptual artist with a unique blend of autism and synesthesia, enriching her work in photography, sound, moving image, writing, and printmaking. Her art serves as an interpretation of place and person, capturing different connecting points in time. Joanne's work delves into perceptions of space and time in relation to the human body. She primarily focuses on landscapes, using photography, historical data, and scientific research to explore these spaces. Her work also incorporates embodied practices of writing and exploration. Joanne is a co-director of CAMP and part of the Frequencies photographic collective. Her art has been showcased in various exhibitions, including at the University of Plymouth, Bath Artists' Studios, Redruth's Back Lane West, Peninsula Arts, and in Berlin for the Climate Art Collection. She has received honourable mentions from the International Photography Awards (IPA) in 2014 and 2016 and has been represented by Millennium Images since 2014. Her work "Reality Thins" won the 2018 art film category in Cinewomen, and her prints are available at the Saatchi Gallery. Her practice is an amalgamation of experience and memory, reflecting on societal issues, family dynamics, politics, and the environment. Joanne uses these narratives to reshape her descriptions and experiences of reality, making her work a compelling blend of the real and the imagined. She currently lectures on BA (Hons) Fine Art.

Paul works closely with staff and students to deliver a range of workshops that support the Fine Art curriculum. He offers support and assistance to students with the practical application of their subject and contributes to a positive overall student experience by ensuring that a safe working environment is achieved within the Fine Art department. Since graduating from BA (Hons) Fine Art at Arts University Plymouth in 2014, Paul has worked as a freelance gallery technician in Plymouth and across the South West. While working as a technician he studied for a Masters qualification in Fine Art, graduating in October 2018. Paul has held a studio at KARST in Plymouth for three years, working to develop his practice which focuses on the design and production of sculptural forms, exploring the interaction between viewer, spatial dimensions and fortified structures. Scale and connectivity are key considerations, with current research exploring principles and technologies that unify sculpture, with space to produce immersive works that provide potential for increased accessibility and audience participation.