A STUDENT from Reading College has been given a highly-commended award for her submissions to an art competition.
Aish Kheti-Heer, and 18-years-old photography student from Caversham made two submissions to Southampton Solent University’s Fine Art and Photography competition, launched last year.
Her entry was shortlisted from 300 submissions from college students across the south of England.
Her submission of a photograph featured two models surrounded by her sculptures that she had created as part an Art as Activism project, titled Exposing the Gaze.
To choose the winning entries, Southampton Solent University collaborated with ‘a space’ arts, an Arts Council England National Portfolio organisation who have been supporting and inspiring artists in Southampton for 25 years.
The winning entries represented five different colleges and featured media ranging from painting to photography.
They have now gone on to be featured in an exhibition house in shipping containers in Guildhall Square, Southampton.
Aish was among those who attended a special showing in Guild Square which welcomed winners and commended entries, where the winning entries were announced.
Aish is studying an Art and Design Level 3 Foundation at Reading College and University Centre, In September, Aish will go to Falmouth University to study a BA (hons) degree in Fine Art.
Ms Kheti-Heer said: “It was about the male gaze, so I looked at a lot of feminism and hyper sexualisation of women’s bodies and from that I made sculptures and then I used those sculptures and the models who interacted with them in the photography that I made. I took lots of photos, but the main one was the one that was submitted.”
“I’ve always liked using feminism in my art and tackling challenging subjects and being a woman myself it’s easier to relate those themes into my art. I think it’s an important subject that people play around with, but they don’t really tackle it head on and I hope that with my art I tackled it head on in a way was really exposing.”
Of the win, she said: ” “It feels a bit surreal–I’ve never had my art in a public exhibition other than in the Reading College End of Year show in the summer.
“Going down and seeing that I got highly commended was a very surreal experience but also nice because I worked so hard on that project so it’s nice that it gets that recognition.
“I spoke to one of the judges, Nina Sverdvik, Course Leader Photography, at Southampton Solent University, who was very interested in my work and impressed with my photography and asked if I was going to pursue it in the future–she said that she found it very captivating.”
“It’s given me more confidence in my work; I applied on a whim and then I got the email that I had been shortlisted which gave me a much-needed confidence boost.”
Celia Green, Visual Arts Teacher at Activate Learning, said: “She’s done so well, and I think the piece of work that she submitted was very thought-provoking and it was a really good push within her practice at that time.
“I’m so proud of her and I think it’s a really good starting point for her artistic journey and her career, and it will be amazing to put on her CV and in the future that she’s had that experience of an exhibition and that other people in the art world also recognised her talent.”
