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On the road to recovery

Aberdeen design students tackle emotional issues in final projects for Gray's School of Art Degree Show 2011.

Talented design students across a number of disciplines including Visual Communication, Design for Digital Media and 3D, Product and Graphic Design, at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen are putting the finishing touches to their final-year projects ahead of the School's annual Degree Show - which rounds off a four year journey of learning and hard work.

For no-one has this journey been more challenging than for 3D Design student Helane Davidson (25), from Bridge of Don, who has been recovering, both physically and emotionally, after breaking her neck in a near-fatal road accident.

Helane was on her way to a ceramic show in May 2008 when she was involved in a head-on collision on the A90 beside Bridge of Muchalls, resulting in a 'hangman's fracture', breaking the top bone of her neck.

As part of her final-year project, the talented artist has been tracing her journey to recovery by creating a series of objects in glass, porcelain and metal in the shape of her neck brace.

Although originally creating pieces on happy memories, such as childhood days spent at the beach, Helane's work soon shifted to a raw and repressed memory of her own.

She explains: "I had never really dealt emotionally with my accident. Despite receiving treatment to heal the physical wounds, I had not come to terms with the mental scars. During the initial stages of my project, the memories just came flooding back and I found an outlet to express my feelings - creating my own version of art therapy."

Helane's series of three neck brace pieces are cast in glass, smoke-fired porcelain and aluminium to represent the stages of both her emotional and physical recovery - from fragile glass complete with cracks, to semi-sturdy ceramics and stronger metal materials, she has aimed to reflect the healing process of her bones.

The neck brace pieces are also intertwined with fabric or 'bandages', printed with images of newspaper coverage of the accident, the car wreckage, as well as of bones, and also text highlighting her feelings including denial, anger and acceptance.

Helane continues: "I hated wearing my neck brace and felt so limited and confined by it, paranoid that people were staring at me. Now, through creating pieces cast from it and addressing my own issues relating to the accident, I feel that I have been freed from some of the emotional constraints and can try to move on with my life."

Although her hospital treatments have ended, the physical pain still remains and affects Helane's everyday life:

"Working with glass and other materials is a long and tiring process. Standing hunched over at a table in the studio, carving moulds from wax, does put a strain on my body but confronting my injuries has made me even more determined to succeed and find the strength to complete my work."

Product Design student, Niall Crossen (24) from Legart Terrace in Aberdeen, has also dealt with a difficult emotional subject by creating an innovative anti- abuse detection system for women, cleverly disguised as jewellery.

Niall's jewellery, designed in a contemporary style, has a secret panic button hidden within the design. The pieces have a 'dimple' which when pressed would link to the user's mobile phone via Bluetooth technology, which would in turn connect to a crisis call centre.

As part of his research, Niall met with victims of abuse, social workers and a psychotherapist to gain an understanding of the challenges faced when tackling domestic abuse, and also worked with experts in the School of Engineering on the feasibility of the technology itself.

Niall comments: "My concept works in a similar way to alarms used in sheltered accommodation for the elderly. I wanted to explore how through design I could offer a lifeline to victims of domestic abuse - particularly women."

An individual user could be linked with each piece of jewellery through a code, which on connecting to a call centre would upload information on the victim including their history of abuse and current address.

Niall continues: "The collection comprises bracelets, necklaces and brooches in a simple design which would hopefully appeal to a wide demographic of women and look natural on the wearer.

"Throughout my course, I've always been interested in how design can deal with social issues and how I can use the power of design to positively impact or even save someone's life."

Niall's prototype designs are made from highly polished plastic materials in anthracite black and bone white. The materials and colours were chosen to suit the widest range of clothing.

He continues: "The next stage in the project is to look for funding to create fully working models and conduct pilot testing with feedback from potential users. It is my hope that it could be distributed free to victims of abuse by support organisations."

Gray's School of Art Degree Show 2011, sponsored by BP, will be launched on Friday 17 June. The show will then be open to the public from 18 to 25 June. For more information, visit: www.rgu.ac.uk/degreeshow <http://www.rgu.ac.uk/degreeshow>.

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