<p>It was the result of work that I’d been doing to put myself out there and the networks that I’d been building. When I was a student I was really proactive about sharing my work online to get people interested in what I was doing, alongside submitting to a lot of online exhibitions. After graduating I put in a successful application to Arts Council England for a Developing your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant, which I then worked on from 2021 to 2022. As part of the DYCP programme there were chances to be mentored by various artists and curators, which is how I met Joey Holder, an artist who is a big inspiration to me.<br /></p>

<p>Joey was in an exhibition as part of the Zabludowicz Collection just as my DYCP year was wrapping up. I mentioned that I’d be heading to London to see the exhibition and she put me in touch with Julia Greenway, the Curator of the Zabludowicz programme, with the idea that I could get a tour of the gallery. I met Julia for coffee and she already knew my work from following me on Instagram. A week later she invited me by email to create a show for their ‘Invites’ series. The whole opportunity is really a testament to platforming yourself and networking to keep yourself visible after graduation.</p>

<p>Interestingly, because of the online strand of my practice when I was a student, I’m known primarily as a digital artist. With that in mind, I wanted to use this opportunity to showcase the breadth of my skill set. The show takes inspiration from mythology and history and the landscape of Cornwall, specifically the Forgotten Corner of Cornwall, an area in the south east of Cornwall where I grew up, which includes the Rame Peninsula and Torpoint. From that starting point, I wanted to create something that was very multimedia, covering an ambiguous narrative told across an interactive virtual space, sculpture and installation. And to make some of the physical elements of the exhibition, I needed access to equipment and technology at Arts University Plymouth.</p>

<p dir="ltr">To create some of the physical elements of the exhibition, I worked a lot in Fab Lab Plymouth, which was something that I’d done a little during my BA (Hons) Fine Art degree but I needed to work in a lot greater depth. That was where I 3D printed the miniature landmarks, which became integral to the exhibition. I really wanted to show the interplay between physical and digital spaces. It became like ouroboros, one element feeding on another, with no obvious beginning or end.</p> <p dir="ltr">I worked with the team in the Fab Lab to produce the work that I envisioned, but also they taught me a lot about technical designing for 3D printing and model making. I took inspiration from air-fix models, model railways and landscape design for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures. Initially I thought it would be easy, that I’d send them the files from Blender to 3D print, but it became an intense process of me relearning CAD software. I also had help to do some laser cutting, creating pieces that we then took to the wood workshops. All of the shrines that appear in the exhibition were made by taking my hand-drawn designs, putting them in CAD, splitting them into layers to be laser cut, then physically sticking them together with dowel and glue before covering them using processes from model-making.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Owen Groombridge, a Technical Demonstrator in the Fab Lab, helped me on a technical level by giving me the confidence to use equipment like the laser cutter independently, but he also kept me mentally grounded during a period when I had a lot to create for a very tight deadline. I think he saw how flustered I became when one of the 3D prints failed, so he guided me through the process and really was my saving grace. Harrison Newman, the Wood and Plastics Workshop Coordinator, was also integral to the success of the exhibition. He recognised how ambitious my deadlines were and stepped in to help me glueing pieces together, sanding and carving them. The sculptural work would not have been ready on time without him.</p> <p dir="ltr">Honestly, the Fab Lab and the wood workshops are the departments in Arts University Plymouth where I did the most work, but if I’d had time there were a lot of other facilities I’d have made use of. The experience reminded me how much I enjoy being on campus and makes me want to find a way to return for postgraduate study.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">MIRROR (Arts University Plymouth’s public gallery and events programme) runs a Give &amp; Takeover commission series that I participated in through late 2021 to early 2022. It’s a great scheme that provides opportunities for artists in the South West and is funded by Arts Council England with the support of National Lottery players. I <a href="https://mirrorplymouth.com/shorts/molly-erin-mccarthy-before-the-linyow-came-give-takeover-commission">created a series of augmented reality (AR) filters</a> responding to Huhtamaki Wab’s ‘Yonaoshi’ exhibition. Throughout the process of working on that commission, I got to know MIRROR Curator Hannah Rose very well, so when the Zabludowicz Collection opportunity came up, I reached out to Hannah for advice about what pathways were in place to access the facilities at Arts University Plymouth.</p> <p dir="ltr">MIRROR runs a <a href="https://mirrorplymouth.com/projects/make-work-with-us">Make Work With Us </a>programme that can enable artists to work with new techniques and materials in the university, taking advantage of the support of the technicians and the expertise available, in return for reciprocal learning that benefits the other students working in those spaces. Unfortunately, because my deadline for the Zabludowicz Collection was going to be so tight, I knew that there wouldn’t be enough leeway for mentoring, so Hannah helped me to directly contact the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) for permission to use the facilities in a residency.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">All of my skills in interactive game design are self taught. It's certainly hard work. The biggest thing that I’ve learned from tackling new software is to temper your expectations of what you’ll be able to achieve at first. I’m influenced heavily by RPGs and games with interactive narratives, so in my head I’ll often imagine something complicated and dense then need to take a step back and think about what I can actually achieve in the time available. Break the idea down into what I’d love to do and what I’ll actually do. It’s important to manage your ambitions and be responsive when things aren’t working.</p> <p dir="ltr">I made an interactive game using Unity for Plymouth Contemporary 2021, creating a simple interactive space that you can explore. For the Zabludowicz Collection I transitioned to using Unreal Engine, because the coding is easier to get into and you can take shortcuts with blueprint packs of prewritten code that give you a lot of functionality to get started with. I was also really grateful to have the support of a local developer, Sam Grotzke, who’s currently working on an MA at Arts University Plymouth but is well known for his work in the South West on creative digital projects, including helping to create work for the launch of Market Hall with the first <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/what-is-the-studiolab-for-embodied-media">StudioLab for Embodied Media</a> Artist Fellow. Sam advised me when I got into situations when I was breaking code and couldn’t figure out why. Working with Sam was brilliant and I hope we’ll find further ways to collaborate in future.</p> <p dir="ltr">The way that I approach game design in my work is that I’m not an AAA game developer. I don’t have a team or a studio at my disposal to realise lavish, complicated designs. Instead, digital technology offers tools or processes that I can use in my practice. I’ll pick my favourite aspects from gaming and use them as breadcrumbs to leave cryptic hints in my work that reflect much bigger ideas. That’s a reflection of my perspective as a fine artist. I’m not here to answer questions, I’m here to promote curiosity.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">I grew up in Torpoint, which is on the edge of Cornwall and just across the River Tamar from Plymouth. It’s important to recognise that when I talk about Cornwall, there are a lot of wider political and geographical contexts to the region that need to be talked about, but I have a very specific and subjective experience of life here. Cornwall in my creative practice is really an allegorical landscape that I use to ask bigger philosophical questions.</p> <p dir="ltr">I started making art about Cornwall after I took up a residency at Maker Heights through Rame Projects CIC. I used to go to Maker Heights as a teenager to watch live music and going back to it I didn’t know what to expect. It feels like there’s a war taking place on a small scale there between members of the local community, who used the area for decades as wild but welcoming hub for creativity and community activities, and developers from outside the region who’ve bought up the land and are developing it into a space for glamping and yurts for outsiders. The idea of Cornwall as a place for aspirational cafe culture and luxury camping feels like such a surface level understanding of a place that’s beautiful and amazing but can also be complicated, dark and dangerous. There’s something mesmerising but also disturbing about Cornwall that you won’t appreciate if your only exposure is staying in a yurt in the summer holidays.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">I would happily live here forever. When I was 18 I did go to live in London for three years, but I came back to start a Foundation Diploma in Art &amp; Design at Arts University Plymouth before progressing onto my degree. I do intend to travel. Hopefully my art practice will enable me to go to new spaces and share my stories, particularly in communities with similar contexts to Cornwall, but I’ll always come back. There’s something about the quality of life here that’s amazing. I can cross the river to Plymouth and have a metropolitan experience when I need it, then I can go down to the sea and swim, or head to the moors and get lost in ancient beauty. There’s so much inspiration for me here. I don’t hide my love of playing video games or consuming fictional media, but when I wake and look out the window I see so much beauty that I remember I need to get outside.</p> <p dir="ltr">If anybody reading this is struggling to make their mind up, I’d tell them to go to Arts University Plymouth. Not only does it have insanely good facilities when you stack it up against other universities, the community here and the contact time is great. There are a lot of opportunities for a creative person to get involved in, here in Plymouth. If you’re proactive, there’s a huge community of creative people who will welcome you with open arms. This is a city where the cost of living is lower than a lot of other big cities. Living here, you’ll find ways to make and achieve the kind of work life balance that you need to generate a good creative practice.</p> <p dir="ltr">I wouldn’t change any of the decisions that led me here. I’m so glad that I quit my job in London and came back to the South West to study Fine Art at Arts University Plymouth. That was the best decision I’ve ever made.<br /></p>

<p>Now that I’ve learned how Unreal Engine works and how I can use it in my practice, I’m most excited for the next things I’m going to make. Taking all of the knowledge and reflecting on my experience making for the Zabludowicz Collection, I want to use the framework of RPG mechanics to progress the narrative that I’ve started and move on to the next piece in the series.</p>