Alina Surnaite's Blog: February 2016

Last weekend, I had a chance to see the awe-inspiring graduation exhibition of the new MA Children’s Book Illustration graduates. Here is just a small selection of the lovely art that was on display for six days at Candid Art Trusts gallery in Islington, London.

It was a rather overwhelming experience to be surrounded by so many gorgeous books and fascinating characters, all asking for attention. The gallery quickly filled up with visitors. There was a nice balance between a very graphic and dynamic art like that of Helen Merrin or Katie Sheppard and a more lyrical and subtle approach to illustration by Miyako Koganesawa or Ssu-Yu Huang.

Jane McGuiness, the winner of Sebastian Walker Prize, stood out with her delicately painted non-fiction work featuring animals. Helen Merrin from Norway displayed large format prints and books in vibrant colours and patterns and very stylish characters. In contrast, Mat Cross had a slightly dark and eerie feeling in his surreal stories as did Katie Sheppard’s intriguing adventures exploring social and ethical issues. The tales of Sowoon Kwak from South Korea dealt with fears in a playful and imaginative way. There were some examples of illustrated fiction too, such as Katyuli Lloyd's beautiful lithographs for Virginia Woolf's Flush.

To see all the exhibitors of this show, please visit the specially dedicated website. A smaller exhibition will be up at Ruskin Gallery in Cambridge from 25th of February to 5th of March.

I feel very happy and proud to be part of this growing family of talented graduates from this amazing course. It's been an incredible and life-changing journey for me and many others who had this fantastic opportunity to develop their art and find their unique voice with the help of brilliant tutors and fellow students coming from various cultures and backgrounds.