Arts University Plymouth graduates featured in Contemporary Glass Society Graduate Review 2023

Graduate Zeynep Korun was awarded Runner Up with Lucy Richards and Donna Brown commended for their work

Arts University Plymouth graduates Zeynep Korun, Lucy Richards and Donna Brown have been featured in Contemporary Glass Society’s (CGS) Graduate Review 2023. Selected by an esteemed judging panel for awards in the 2023 Glass Sellers’ and Contemporary Glass Society’s Graduate Glass Prize, Zeynep Korun came Runner Up with Lucy Richards and Donna Brown both commended for their glass work. 

As students emerge from their education, CGS and the Glass Sellers’ aim is to support graduates at the beginning of their journey towards a long career in glass making. The Graduate Review offers graduates the chance to promote their work to a worldwide audience and many previous winners have gone on to establish themselves as professional makers.

Zeynep Korun’s work

Zeynep Korun

Zeynep Korun

, originally from Turkey, won Runner Up with her vessel and collar piece, made from hot blown glass. Having studied BA (Hons) Craft and Material Practices, Zeynep helped with Arts University Plymouth’s ‘Melting Pot: Hot Glass Gathering’ event, where beginners and professionals, as well as members of the public, were invited onto campus to experience the drama and beauty of hot glass, blown in real time by some of the world’s leading glass artists, such as Netflix’s Blown Away winner Elliot Walker.

Zeynep said: “Melting Pot was a wonderful event where I was able to meet some very talented glass artists and have a glimpse at how they work up close. I haven’t attended anything like it before, so it was quite exciting for me. Melting Pot offered an exceptional opportunity for me to introduce myself to top names in the glass community and since this is a community where many glass makers know each other, this event was a great start for me to become a part of it.”

Lucy Richards, who also studied BA (Hons) Craft and Material Practices, has received multiple awards since graduating including 45 Southside Galleries’ Graduate Showcase Award. Lucy’s degree project ‘Navigate: A Series of Markers’ is a series of mixed media sculptures inspired by the variety of coastal and oceanic navigation markers that Lucy encountered around Plymouth Sound and Mount Batten. Lucy recently completed a placement with Eden Project and her work will soon be part of acclaimed exhibition space MAKE South West.

Lucy Richards

Donna Brown specialises in stained glass, which featured at Mount Edgcumbe as part of the annual Art at Edgcumbe exhibition featuring students from BA (Hons) Craft and Material Practices. Her stained glass panels were inspired by the birds and beasts from the Cornish and Mount Edgcumbe Coat of Arms. She also recently completed a commission to produce the Building of the Year Award for Plymouth 2023.

The judging panel consisted of artist Tracy Nicholls, glass collector and CGS trustee Professor Michael Barnes, glass artist and CGS trustee Sarah L Brown and Leigh Baildham from the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London Charity Fund. CGS and the judges recognised that many of this year’s graduates had to navigate through COVID-19 restrictions and all the barriers that followed, so the number of submissions and standards of work were especially impressive. 

In order to support emerging graduates at the beginning of their careers in glass making, CGS offers the annual Graduate Prize and produces the accompanying New Graduate Review magazine, featuring the work of some of the best of the UK’s glass art graduates emerging from British and Irish universities and colleges. 

Judge Leigh Baildham commented, “There was an excellent standard of work submitted once again this year. It seems the judges have a harder task each time we meet to agree on the submissions that merit note. So good to see, as the work was being reviewed, that all of the universities and colleges that offer glass education were represented. Congratulations to the students who submitted pieces, and particularly to those who received prizes and special recognition.”

Lucy Richards’ ‘Double bubble Marker’

Senior Lecturer and Subject Leader for BA (Hons) Craft and Material Practices Gayle Matthias said, “The Craft team are really proud of the achievements of this group of recent graduates. Arts University Plymouth is committed to the promotion and teaching of hot and kiln-formed glass and it’s fantastic to see our graduates’ innovative approach to glass making being rewarded by CGS. Our graduates are making careers out of their passion for making.”

To find out more about BA (Hons) Craft & Material Practices at Arts University Plymouth, the next Open Day will be held on Saturday 13 January 2024, with opportunities to meet expert academics, speak to current students and get a taste for life at the UK’s newest independent arts university.