Student Story: OCA Painting, Chantelle Wilson

Congratulations to Chantelle Wilson

As Programme Leader for the Painting pathway,  I am very pleased to introduce the work of painting student Chantelle Wilson who will be leaving us with a 2:1 BA (Hons) Painting after completing her final assessment event recently. I first met Chantelle when I taught her on her very first course with us at OCA in November 2015. Chantelle was the youngest student I had taught at OCA at that time. I had previously worked on the campus based Foundation Art and Design course at Brighton, and have since done some teaching at Chelsea School of Art (UAL) where I am also affiliated, so I was familiar with working with younger students, but teaching online requires different forms of encounter than campus based teaching and so it was a journey for both of us to understand how to progress together. 

“This course has allowed me to live my dream and create a personal art installation and exhibition, while also building my confidence and allowing me to overcome my challenges in different ways”

Chantelle Wilson OCA Painting

Chantelle lives with autism, which for her can make interactions like video tutorials harder going. We found ways to make it work for us both and it was lovely to see her again at stage 3 when she selected me for her stage 3 tutor. Chantelle has always been strongly independent and creative in her approach and so the open nature of stage 3 worked well for her in terms of pursuing her own agenda. Whilst autism presents pretty much uniquely for people, some students with autism are very conscientious and prefer to know any expectations so that they can be very sure they have been met. I have been continually impressed by the courage and perseverance Chantelle displayed in navigating the ambiguities and speculative nature of art training at this level. Below is one of my favourite images of Chantelle’s stage 3 development work as she explored her theme of affect and conflict in that curious and speculative way.

During her final stage of study Chantelle became interested in narrative. At first, she explored this through thinking about stories from within her community, but then moved towards fictional and dramatic narratives as metaphor for human experience. A master of the dramatization of human experience is William Shakespeare and his play Romeo and Juliet features perhaps one of the most famous young women in fiction. It was towards this play and its exploration of contested family loyalties and, as Chantelle puts it, ‘the pull between the head and the heart’ that Chantelle’s work gravitated. 

The work became more personal but fragments of text from the play were retained. For me the final installation Chantelle produced had aspects of young women in fiction from Jane Eyre to Cathy Earnshaw that enriched her deeply personal narrative. 

Using video and mixed media, Chantelle’s final work was an installation at Queen’s Hall Arts Centre. She brought elements of the Northumberland landscape directly into the space through video but also created intricate paper flowers to build a bower for her protagonist.

“ As I began making more, I found that I really enjoyed the process, because I could combine different, yet exciting mediums and techniques I have always loved, such as paper crafting (to create paper flowers), painting and drawing. I have loved being able to create unique, satisfying compositions, which could be used to enhance the intended themes and meaning of my creative project. Researching artists, exhibitions and experimentation has enriched my creativity and taught me new methods and techniques to present my art; for example, using the river, branches and staining book pages.”

Chantelle Wilson OCA Painting

The show was a success, and it was brilliant to see her work alongside gallery professionals for the first time as she developed her proposal. Doing this for the first time is the case for so many painting and drawing students I watch graduate, but it does mean that when they leave us to make their way in the world, they have already achieved genuine enterprise outcomes. 

Chantelle didn’t leave it there though and continued to think about her professional practice and how she would sustain a practice post-graduation. This led to the production of smaller works on paper with imagery of small animals. These were a lovely conclusion to her studies. For me, they say something profound about the light and dark of being a young woman today and hold onto the thread of Chantelle’s practice that reaches back through all her development at OCA. 

“I want to help others improve, discover themselves and develop their own artistic journey. I hope to aid people, like myself, in expressing their joys, fears and feelings through art when they can’t be spoken.”

Chantelle Wilson OCA painting

I am sure you will join me in wishing her well for the future and congratulating her on her degree!

If you would like to know more about Chantelle’s practice, you can head over to her YouTube Channel.