Alumni exhibit at Winter Sculpture Park 2023

Two Loughborough Fine Art graduates, Sara Osman and Danny Young, are exhibiting at Gallery No.32’s annual Winter Sculpture Park in Bexley, London.

The Winter Sculpture Park is an exhibition of contemporary sculpture and public art and showcases the work of over 40 UK and international artists.  

Alumni Sara and Danny, who both graduated in 2021, are exhibiting Looking but Not Seeing and WHOOPEE, respectively. 

Sara is a British Artist, of Turkish-Cypriot heritage, born and based in London. 

In her exhibited piece, Sara noted: 

“'Looking but Not Seeing' contradicts the traditional materiality of ruins and instead appears "shiny" and "brand new”, which mocks the socially constructed standards of beauty and worthiness expected by the Western eye.” 

Following a successful degree show exhibition in the summer of 2021, the alumna received the Edward Sharp Prize for her oil painting Syria, which is now held in the University’s politics department.  

She has seen much success in the couple of years since her graduation. One of her installations, Far from Home III, was shortlisted for the Royal Academy summer exhibition and nominated for the Artsthread Graduate Design Awards. She is now furthering her education in Fine Art, as she has been awarded The Phaedra Makridou Scholarship to support her Masters in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. She has also exhibited at The Factory Project and Leicester Museum & Art Gallery and been featured in The Art Newspaper and Art Rabbit. 

Sara Osman, ‘Looking but Not Seeing’, 2022, Mirrored Steel, 130 x 7.5 x 7.5cm

She spoke about her art practice: 

“My practice depicts post-war cities in the Middle East that are in danger of being neglected or forgotten, due to the lack of media coverage. I discuss controversial subjects such as the abandoned town Maraş in Northern Cyprus, the hidden clay city Shibam in Yemen, and the chaotic social and architectural structure of the Syrian city Homs, with the aim of informing society and provoking discussion. The architectural installations are not a direct documentation of war and do not assert one single intrinsic meaning, but rather many, and often these overlap and/or can be conflicting.” 

Sara Osman, ‘Looking but Not Seeing’, 2022, Mirrored Steel, 130 x 7.5 x 7.5cm

Fellow Loughborough graduate Danny is a multi-media fine artist who specialises in sculpture and installation work. The alumnus highlights the importance of his intelligence, adaptability and knowledge of contemporary art.  

Danny’s artwork WHOOPEE consists of four large scale whoopee cushions ranging from between 1.5-2m in diameter using reinforced pvc, nylon and bonded polyester and filled with reclaimed and repurposed duvets sourced from local hotels. 

Danny Young, 'WHOOPEE', 1.5-2m, reinforced pvc, nylon and bonded polyester and filled with reclaimed and repurposed duvets

The artwork exhibited is a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ sculptural practice. Danny’s playfulness and humour deny the seriousness of traditional sculpture. Exploring his experience of mental illness, heartbreak and failure, Danny’s work documents his attempt to navigate the absurdity of the lives we live and the obstacles we face, challenging seriousness with emotivity, honesty and laughter. 

He explored similar themes during his degree show exhibition at Loughborough, utilising materials including ceramic, metal, plastic, concrete and more. Danny exhibited The Comic, which followed an autobiographic narrative on a fictional character through the exploration of humour, tragedy and the subconscious. 

‌Danny Young, 'WHOOPEE', 1.5-2m, reinforced pvc, nylon and bonded polyester and filled with reclaimed and repurposed duvets

The sculpture park takes place across four acres of disused farmland to create the largest free sculpture park in London.  

The exhibition was formed in the early pandemic days of 2020 and aimed to create a free space for artists to exhibit their work without the restrictions of walls. The outdoor sculpture park invites the public to engage with artwork in a new way and wander freely to explore the work of exhibiting artists. 

Winter Sculpture Park 2023 is exhibiting from 18 February 2023 until 29 April at Gallery No. 32, Manor Way, Bexley, DA5 3QG. 

For more information visit the art gallery website.