An award winning former Forth Valley College art student has just hosted her first solo exhibition.
The event entitled ‘Funeral for a F***boy’, is Chandelle Waugh’s first solo show since she graduated from the college with a HND Contemporary Art in 2018, to begin a degree at the Glasgow School of Art. The exhibition which took place at the Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh opened on Friday 24 January - and ran until Sunday 26 January – forms part of her degree.
Chandelle (22) from Cowie, won the Most Promising Student in the Department of Creative Industries at the College’s 2018 Stirling Graduation ceremony and also won the Scottish Artists’ Benevolent Association Award at the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture (RSA OPEN) Exhibition the same year. She specialises in thought provoking art which champions the strength of women.
The Edinburgh show contained, two steel canvases, nine diary entry ink drawings and a coffin sculpture containing a steel welded insert with a welded drawing of a spindly man on it.
Chandelle, who now lives in North Ayrshire, said: “The title ‘Funeral for a F***boy’ comes from one of my diary entries, which were automatic drawings created with no direction or thought, just spilling emotion onto a page with a pen. The theme surrounds heartbreak, loss, empty promises and regret.
“I was initially inspired by a box of memories after leaving my last long term relationship. It was full of poems, ticket stubs, trinkets and letters full of empty promises and lies. Having suffered mentally with that breakup from a toxic relationship, I have found some therapy in sharing this. It’s a very relatable feeling of losing someone you had in your life, it’s grief. Having a ‘funeral’ puts this part of my life behind me, allowing myself to grieve so I can feel something else.”
Chandelle also spoke of how University has differed from studying at college.
She added: “University has been really challenging since leaving the college. However, Forth Valley College set me up so well for art school and I am creating a lot of opportunities for myself and I am proving a lot of myself by completing university.
“Next for me is a collaboration with Craig Hindmarsh also a former Forth Valley College student from Goldsmiths University of London, on a two person exhibition in the UK capital. Then onto Glasgow School of Art Degree show, something I’m very excited about. Having collected the feedback from my first solo show, I really feel I am capturing exactly what I wanted in terms of how my work is being received and I only hope to improve this between now and the Degree show! I hope once I’ve graduated, to apply for a Masters in Fine Art at GSA!”
