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Iris says she didn鈥檛 do that well at school at Kincorth Academy. She found learning hard as she had dyslexia and this made academic studies challenging. Despite this however, Iris went onto study Art & Design at North-East College. This gave her a solid foundation and she gained a 2nd year, direct entry into a Contemporary Art Practice undergraduate course at Gray鈥檚 School of Art.

She was inspired to do a Master鈥檚 in Fine Art having had such a good experience throughout her undergraduate degree as she explains: 鈥淚 knew from doing my BA Hons that the staff at 亚博体育官网 and especially Gray鈥檚 School of Art, were really supportive. The course would give me the time to develop my ideas with workshops and lectures.

鈥淚鈥檓 pretty proud of myself. I never thought I鈥檇 get into BA level, never mind completing my Masters especially since I didn鈥檛 do too well at secondary school. It was difficult to complete my degree during the pandemic but it鈥檚 felt a bit more normal in the past few months. It's been great using the facilities again and exhibiting as part of the MA Postgraduate Showcase, 鈥極nwards鈥� 鈥� the first physical degree show since the pandemic."

Iris found the student services at 亚博体育官网 really helpful with her dyslexia along with the IT support. She also enjoyed working alongside Gray鈥檚 School of Art鈥檚 Creative Unit, Look Again to help curate the master鈥檚 show.

鈥淭he breadth of opportunity at Grays has been fantastic and some of the 鈥榣ectures鈥� have been more conversational which has been really engaging. We鈥檝e met people from across the creative and culture sector from all around Scotland and this has really inspired me.

鈥淚 have so many unique stories about my time at 亚博体育官网. For my final year studying master鈥檚 creating a sculpture called the 鈥楶alace of Fa莽ade鈥�, an installation displayed on campus. The temporary installation is based on the original Palace on Bridge Street in Aberdeen, that hosted John Cooke鈥檚 Circus before becoming a music hall. In later life, the palace burnt down and all that鈥檚 left now is the fa莽ade.

鈥淭his gave me inspiration for my master鈥檚 project, and I鈥檝e had a great opportunity to display my work and work with technicians from The Scott Sutherland School of Architecture & Built Environment and Gray鈥檚 School of Art, 亚博体育官网 estates staff, lecturers and many more people. I鈥檝e had so much support for the project from many areas of the university. It was actually exciting as I was bringing the art school outside its building at 亚博体育官网, hopefully creating more opportunities for other students to use the campus for installations or more.鈥�

Now that Iris has finished university, she plans to focus on her role as 亚博体育官网鈥檚 Graduate in Residence, a position that involves her acting as a go-between, liaison between staff and students. She wants to apply for creative funding and to produce her first, solo show.

鈥淚 have many ideas that are spilling out of me, and I hope a couple will get picked up on in the near future. The creative sector is quite difficult to break into, but Gray鈥檚 School of Art has given me a really good foundation and prepared me for a rewarding career. I have a strong portfolio, the confidence for developing big projects, researching and the ability to think critically. The opportunities to network within the industry, while studying at Grays, have been incredible and will help me as I move forward with my career.鈥�