Ieuan Holt: Exploring memory, place and creative identity through painting and poetry

<p dir="ltr">For artist and poet <a href="https://www.instagram.com/painting_from_the_loam/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Ieuan Holt</strong></a>, studying <strong><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-fine-art">MA Fine Art</a></strong> at Arts University Plymouth has been a journey of self-discovery, deepening his understanding of how memory and place shape perception and creative identity.</p> <p dir="ltr">Originally from <strong>Shropshire</strong>, Ieuan spent years working in the <strong>Merchant Navy</strong> before transitioning into creative writing and later, painting.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have always been drawn to Plymouth,” Ieuan explains. “After I went to school here it became the place I would always return to after being at sea. After leaving the Merchant Navy, Plymouth was where I completed my undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing. And once I started painting, growing my artistic practice, and exhibiting my work in galleries, it was only natural that I would undertake my MA in Plymouth.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">As part of his MA journey, Ieuan exhibited work in Arts University Plymouth’s <strong>Midstream exhibition</strong>, a postgraduate showcase at Royal William Yard’s Melville Building. The experience offered a unique opportunity to test his ideas beyond the studio.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Midstream exhibition provided a valuable test space to explore how my work functioned in a public space and how audiences engaged with it,” Ieuan says. “When your work becomes public, it behaves differently than when it’s in the studio, allowing you to fully see how it functions outside the private, often insular, space of creation.”</p> <p dir="ltr">For Ieuan, the exhibition reinforced his understanding that his <strong>paintings act as experiential landscapes</strong>, inviting viewers to bring their own interpretations. A conversation during the show also made him reconsider how his poetry and painting interact. <br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Studying at Arts University Plymouth has provided Ieuan with the <strong>space</strong>, <strong>critical framework</strong>, and <strong>academic support</strong> to refine his artistic voice.</p> <p dir="ltr">“One of the biggest challenges I encountered was condensing and really honing in on what my creative practice was about,” he says. “At the start, your ideas seem too big to handle. That sense of having too many ideas and not knowing how to distill them into a clear, focused direction was definitely overwhelming.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Through tutorials, critiques, and studio practice, Ieuan has been able to <strong>focus his creative process</strong>. <br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Ieuan’s paintings are deeply <strong>rooted in personal memory</strong>, responding intuitively to landscapes of his past. He describes his work as capturing the <strong>emotional and psychological resonance</strong> of place rather than aiming for direct representation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My current work explores the interplay between memory, place, and the landscapes we carry within us. I am particularly interested in how past experiences shape our perception of the world and how returning to physical locations can evoke differing emotional and psychological responses.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Instead of depicting literal landscapes, Ieuan’s paintings <strong>embody the emotions and memories</strong> tied to them, exploring how perceptions shift over time. <strong>Poetry</strong> also plays a key role in his practice, helping to articulate these experiences. “Both mediums allow me to explore the tension between the familiar and the unfamiliar, and how our perceptions shape the way we encounter places we once thought we knew so well.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">With his MA nearing completion, Ieuan is focused on <strong>future exhibition opportunities</strong>, as well as developing his poetry collection ‘Gone Outside’ for potential publication.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am also excited to explore possible PhD opportunities so that I am able to continue my current research to the next level.”</p> <p dir="ltr">As he continues to develop his interdisciplinary practice, <strong>his work invites audiences to reflect on their own connections to place, memory, and transformation</strong>.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Graduating Masters students from Arts University Plymouth will showcase a variety of exciting and dynamic postgraduate projects at the MA Graduate Show 2025. <strong>This showcase of postgraduate outcomes runs from Monday 21 July to Thursday 31 July 2025.</strong> </p> <p dir="ltr">Come along to see work by graduating MA students, some of whom will be available to discuss their research and experience of the MA programmes. This is an ideal opportunity to explore a community of makers and thinkers, ask questions and visualise what it’s like to study at Arts University Plymouth.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">At Arts University Plymouth, MA students become part of a <strong>cross-disciplinary, practice-led</strong> postgraduate community. With dedicated <strong>studio spaces, expert academic support, and access to world-class workshops</strong>, our MA programmes empower students to refine their practice and engage in <strong>critical contemporary debates</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Find out more about <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-fine-art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MA Fine Art</a> or explore our full range of <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/postgraduate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">postgraduate degrees</a>.<br /></p>