3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
ECA Graduate Show 2025 opens on Friday
Edinburgh College of Art will be transformed on Friday into the city's biggest gallery space celebrating the work of more than 550 graduating students.
The ECA Graduate Show 2025 offers students the opportunity to display their work to the public, often exploring a range of thought-provoking ideas and cutting-edge techniques.
This will be an inspiring and varied showcase with a range of disciplines on show..
The work includes painting and drawing, sculpture and installation, architectural planning and modelling, animation and digital visualisation, musical composition and performance, film, photography, textiles, jewellery and interior design.
A screening of Animation and Film & TV students' work and a gig from graduates in Music will feature throughout the run of the Show, which will run from Friday 30 May until Friday 6 June.
Kristen Bodensiek – Sculpture PHOTO © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
Professor Juan Cruz, Principal of Edinburgh College of Art, said: 'Our Graduate Show celebrates the incredible creative talent and ingenuity of our graduating students. Visitors can expect to encounter work that is not only visually striking but also intellectually stimulating and innovative. We have a strong history of helping to shape some of the most notable creative talents in the UK and internationally, and this year is no exception.'
Fine Art – artist Libby Entwistle has created An Aftermath, A Crime Scene – featuring a fire-breathing dragon sculpture in a multi-part installation that reinterprets the legend of Saint Margaret, a piece that interrogates ideas of 'monstrosity' and the tension between victimhood and agency.
Graphic Design – Katie Marsden has used LEGO to create a tool to help people with Down's Syndrome navigate consent. Working with academics who improve sex education for people with learning difficulties, the colourful bricks are used to encourage positive, independent decision-making.
Fine Art – Elena Gadd explores the concept of using masks within ceremony, in this instance a funeral, an occasion where mourner's characteristics or emotions might need concealment. Her large sculptural heads can be 'worn' by visitors, who will also experience a specially created soundscape within them.
Sculpture – student Kristel Bodensiek was inspired by the effects that rain and waterfalls have on the human psyche and used glass and steel to create a calming curtain using 300 pieces of glass tied together by hand with steel rings.
Painting – traditional tattoos and 19th century photography provide some of the inspiration for student Amy Mclean's final showcase. Five delicate oil paintings with subtle brushstrokes reflect on shrinking attention spans and how we construct meaning in a world of constant visual input.
Sculpture – student Maria McStay has created large, spindly, other-worldly ceramics, inspired by artist Louise Bourgeois' spiders and the coastal landscapes she grew up in.
Intermedia – the lesser-seen, unclean side of life is exposed in student Marni Saunders' uncanny wall-mounted work, featuring dirty dishes in basins and washing machine drums overflowing with sheets.
Jewellery and Silversmithing – Rosina Percorelli has created sculptural pieces inspired by brutalist buildings and decaying pylons.
Architecture – MA student Ellie Wilkes' design focuses on data centres, reimagining the thermal and mechanical systems used in response to rapidly growing AI technologies.
Music – student Laura Hamilton's work was also inspired by AI, exploring the ethical implications of its use in music therapy. Inspired by leading Edinburgh academic Professor Shannon Vallor, Laura wants to ensure technology enhances, rather than compromises, the human-centred therapy.
The ECA Graduate Show 2025 will be open Friday 30 May – Friday 6 June, 10.00am – 5.00pm, with late opening until 8.00pm on Thursday 5 June. It is open to all and free to attend.
Booking via Eventbrite is encouraged, though not essential: ECA Graduate Show 2025 Tickets.
Kristen Bodensiek – Sculpture
PHOTO © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
Elena Gadd – Fine Art MA (Hons)
PHOTO © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
Katie Marsden – Graphic Design BA (Hons)
PHOTO © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
Libby Entwistle PHOTO © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
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