Arts Scholarship Winners 2023-24

The art forms of this year's scholarship winners include ceramics, creative writing dance, music and photography.

Aziz began writing from as early as secondary school, beginning with forms that he enjoyed the most like comic books. And so, he wrote amateur comics and awfully formatted scripts to get away from the embarrassing realities of adolescence.

During his time at Loughborough, he discovered the power of poetry through open mic nights and even began performing some of his own work. He dreams of writing a published collection of poetry that comforts those living embarrassing realities.

When does being a writer begin? Or end?

Alizée’s writing journey started as a maelstrom of creation – poetry, songs, and stories – all leading nowhere. Writing in itself is fun but making it meaningful for others is a quest of its own. Still, she continued practicing and created half-finished or finished-but-broken stories that no one would understand. Once, her tale titled “the Three Feathers” was selected and published in a French magazine, but she failed to replicate her first success ever since.

Why? What was she doing wrong? Alizée started her PhD in Economics at Loughborough still looking for answers. She attended characters and plotting workshops and made a game changing discovery. Creative writing could be taught. It could be learned. Alizée found the tools she was missing to finally create stories that others could understand. Her ambition skyrocketed.

But now her journey continues in a new country, writing not in her mother tongue. Alizée is unsure about the path ahead. Where to send sci-fi stories? Are publishing contracts different than in France? Should she look for an agent? Being awarded this year’s art scholarship shows her stories have become both clear and worth reading, but most importantly worth pushing further. With this support, she is looking forward to refining her writer’s tools and techniques, growing her network, and being better equipped to live up to her ambitions.

Woods, floras, soil, and poetry – these elements drive Yun's fine-art photography expressions. His artistic work primarily centres on nature and civilisations, with conceptual connections from the Sino-Japanese philosophy of 'zen,' sombreness, the surge of vitality 'Yayoi,' and contemplation of time and motion. 

Born and raised in a big city, it’s been quite a journey for Yun since he started undergraduate study at Loughborough University. He spent much time exploring the woods and fields - with a mental map of every natural spot in and around Loughborough and the University. His involvement with the Gardening Society (LAGS) throughout university life provided him opportunities to meet like-minded people, observe the changing seasons, enjoy bonfires, cheer harvest, and foster a
deeper connection with nature. These experiences have motivated and inspired him to create related artworks of nature. 

For him, photography, or the creation of images, is not merely a set of still and pixelised factual representations of reality. It serves as a realisation medium - for everyone- for daydreaming imagination, their awe and lament, and their anchoring memories of the past that carry the feeling of time, enjoyment, and regret.

Always a self-starter – perhaps with a touch of procrastination – he's passionate about crafting his own artistic works while exploring the creations of historical and contemporary photographers and visual artists. He is fond of playing with colours, lights, shadows of photography, as well as drawing inspirations from poems. He also loves digging deep in the university library looking for photography, painting, and other art books. The feeling of bridging imagination, visual heritage and reality brings him joy. His creative footmarks can be found on his website at YunVisual.Art.

He feels more than honoured to receive this scholarship, which recognises his self-endeavour in exploring fine-art photography. With this scholarship, he looks forward to experimenting with more alternative methods, building a stronger technical capacity, and developing the conceptual underpinnings of his approaches during his final year at Loughborough University.

I began piano lessons at seven and developed a love for the Romantic Era. I achieved a distinction at grade 8 and now teach beginners. I hope to instil passion and help my students discover their own reasons to love music. 

I started singing in my school chamber choir. At Loughborough University, I joined LSU Sing and in my second year, held the position of Musical Director. Arranging music for a choir was a new challenge for me. I was inspired by traditional techniques such as polyphony and loved the puzzle of how each part would fit together so that it works both independently and as a part of the harmony, and tried to write so that the talent of each section of the choir would be highlighted.  

I pushed myself to audition as a singer for Tuxedo Swing and discovered a new passion for jazz singing. I later became Tuxedo Swing’s Musical Director. I wanted to further the sound of the band, ensure everyone had fair opportunity to perform, and to make everyone feel valued and welcome. I introduced a new rehearsal and subsection of Tuxedo Swing, with the function of rehearsing jazz lead sheets and practising improvisation in a judgement-free and fun environment. 

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I started a band with my friends from Tuxedo Swing, called Crushed Velvet, and formed a piano-singer duo called Ginger Wine. We rehearse regularly and perform at private functions and weddings. I have learnt to write arrangements for the band which consider how to uniquely cover songs in our own style. I love sharing the joy I feel from performing with my friends with audiences.  

I am looking forward to using the scholarship to develop my knowledge and skills this year.

We usually forget most part of our childhood, but the most special memories stick with us. For me, all of my moments performing, whether it was on stage or at random family functions are bright, vivid memories that make up for the best bits of my life.

Dance is a core part of my personality; it is my identity. I genuinely feel the peace within when I dance.

I’ve trained in Jazz, Ballet, Hip-hop and Contemporary from The Danceworx Performing Arts Academy in Mumbai. I worked as an instructor and lead choreographer in the same company for about four years. After leaving the company, I freelanced as a dancer and found my way into Bollywood. For the past three years I have been working in Bollywood as a dancer and an assistant choreographer.

With this scholarship, I aspire to seek training from industry professionals in London and all around the UK, which has been a long-standing dream.

Ever since I was introduced to clay as a medium, I have been fascinated by it. There is something so wonderful about the way it’s constantly in flux, and you are forced to embrace the current moment and phase of the clay to make something out of it. I feel like it has taught me a lot about patience. I really enjoy making in response to abstract feelings or ideas but can also see a real value in tracing over known things and forms to understand them in a new way. Clay to me is a certain way of seeing. I’m very excited to discover where this medium takes me next, and am especially looking forward to learning new techniques and getting back into a routine of making things out of clay on a regular basis.

My first pottery lessons were at school at which point I never seemed to finish anything and was mystified by how radically different my pieces would be when I returned to them the next week. Since then, I have tried to keep up with the practice as I started to understand the material more but have struggled to find workshop space and sufficient materials to continue exploring in a free way. I will be using my scholarship to continue learning more about ceramics as an art form but also hope to understand more about how it can be used as a language. I would love to draw connections, for example between my interest in architecture and spatial experiences, as well as the hidden language these very real built manifestations impose on us; is there a possibility to reveal this subconscious landscapes through clay?

Singing is my passion. Singing has also been my refuge since my earliest memories of childhood. I started singing at 5 years old in school and later while studying in Peru, I joined the Centre for Music and Dance of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. At a very young age and for about 10 years, I learnt and performed traditional music from Peru, particularly from the Coast, Creole and AfroPeruvian music. I had the privilege to learn from the masters of tradition, including Adolfo Zelada Arteaga, who was involved in the foundation of Peru Negro, the very first AfroPeruvian company for music, dance and theatre in Peru, in 1970s. This experience has marked my artistic journey and after moving to London for my master’s degree and travelling around the world, I have grown much fonder of the traditional music of Peru as a way of keeping my cultural bond to my country, more specifically, to my roots, while also grounded in London.

London has widened my musical interests to Latin American music and world music, in combination with other contemporary genres. I found the magical connection between those traditional Afro Peruvian rhythms and the African beats from different countries in London, as well, as the incredible tight connections to other Latin American, and Afro Latin-America genres. I have collaborated with musicians from around the world (England, Chile, Peru, Kenya) to create the first original and traditional AfroPeruvian song with a London twist called Moving on. This a song and dance of celebration of freedom, a reminder to myself to keep Moving on, that I will be happy to release thanks to the support from the LU Arts scholarship.

Ever since picking up the Oboe at age 11 I have been captivated with its wide range of expressive tones and the emotions it can produce. From the melancholy to the jubilant the Oboist’s repertoire spans from the Baroque era to the contemporary providing a versatile choice for any mood. The artistry of performers like Albrecht Mayer and Olivier Stankiewicz has been a profound source of inspiration for me, showcasing how they effortlessly render performances that are both seamless and beautiful. I have always enjoyed the dual nature of the Oboe as a solo and ensemble instrument. My fondest memories of secondary education were playing in the school’s Orchestra and wind band as well as the student run wind quintet. The joy of performing extends to solo recitals, providing a platform for intimate and personal musical expression, exemplified in pieces like Benjamin Britten’s 'Niobe,' as well as collaborative experiences with orchestras such as LSUClassical’s LSSO. More recently, with the help of the small ensembles initiative I have been running a wind quintet inside the university and we hope to showcase our talent in the coming year. I am using the LU Arts Scholarship this year to improve my technical ability and evolve as a performer.

Throughout the years Serene has been inspired by a wide variety of artists, animators and photographers whose artwork she would see online. The beauty and skill in their works make her strive to improve her own art in terms of anatomy, composition, perspective and a plethora of other aspects. Animation and the use of 3D software are subjects she admires and is keen to learn about.

Having been making studies on the go using her iPad, filling up sketchbooks and using her 2000s digital camera; She is excited to experiment with various media, step out of her comfort zone and enjoy creating.

A mechanical engineering student who is part of Loughborough’s urban sketchers, hiking and gardening societies. Serene seeks to record her ideas, interests and memories of her time at Loughborough while developing skills in illustration and animation with the support of the LU Arts Scholarship.