Mary-Joyce Davis

Background

Based in Ireland and inspired by her home in Mauritius, Mary-Joyce’s work encompasses the bold beauty of African masks and represents the ability to adapt within a variety of cultural environments.

Tutor recommendation

“Mary-Joyce was always been quite active in the OCA community, engaging with other students on discussion forums, supporting other students with ideas, recommending upcoming shows and galleries. Not only that, she would get involved with hashtagging #WeAreOCA across Instagram and Facebook Social Media sites so that students can take a look at other artists for inspiration. She made an impact on many people.

Mary-Joyce’s Story

OCA was hosting a fantastic sponsorship opportunity for all OCA students to have their work showcased at New Designers in London – one of the UK’s most important design shows for Textiles, Fashion & Accessories, Contemporary Applied Arts students – and she was lucky enough to be picked.

“I was excited and proud that I had been presented with such an opportunity to showcase my work amongst so many professionals in the industry. I had the opportunity to meet a few members of the OCA staff such as my tutors, in which throughout the whole process, I hadn’t met in person. It was lovely to put faces to the names that have been helping me along the way.

Without a doubt, the displaying of my work at such an event, and mingling with like-minded people was definitely a highlight in my journey! The displays from the numerous universities were so varied, rich in colours, textures, skills and the narration of their work was so unique to each participate.

My favourite part was being able to talk to people about my work face to face, which is not an opportunity we often get as OCA students living outside of the UK. An instant response was quite gratifying. Of course, some participants got more attention or awards than others, but it is a wonderful learning curve that I embraced and it only fuelled the possibilities out there.

Paired with this incredible event, I was one of a few OCA students who made the journey to London for graduation. To receive my diploma in-hand at the gorgeous venue of the Royal Festival Hall was a must-do for me. I got the experience and the buzz of everyone collectively celebrating the end of a stressful yet rewarding journey but the beginning of a new one. The journey which took me out of my comfort zone was an eye-opener, as well as a fitting and memorable celebration of the completion of my first in BA (Hons) Textiles with OCA. It has been an honour to be a part of OCA and I am glad that I had chosen to go forward with OCA all those years ago.”