ECA Students glass act At Widows

Top ECA graduates showcase collections of the future Widows continues award winning Arts@Work commitment

In a glittering glass extravaganza, four of the most promising fourth year under-graduate students and two Masters of Design students from Edinburgh College of Art are showcasing a range of their most accomplished sculptures and architectural pieces as part of a two week exhibition within Scottish Widows open air Atrium.

Edinburgh College of Art remains at the forefront of contemporary glass art and the pieces on show challenge the traditional boundaries in art, craft and design and the display sees amazing, large scale pieces of work taking over the Scottish Widows Port Hamilton building.

In a private viewing held last night (16 July 2008), the exhibition forms part of Scottish Widows award winning Arts@Work programme and is a coup for staff as the visiting artists are already being snapped up by established galleries such as the Compass Gallery in Glasgow.

Pieces include: a collection of glass emoticons which mirror human emotion in contemporary society, large tubular lattices interlaced with coloured orbs representing the fragility of the mind and three-dimensional faces etched on glass slabs as a representation of people losing their individuality through plastic surgery.

Sylvia Dow, Arts in Business Co-ordinator at Scottish Widows has been the driving force behind the Arts@Work commented: "We are committed to supporting Scotland's talent and the exhibition gives the artists a platform to showcase their creativity in a "living" corporate environment which really is out-with the norm.

Situated in the heart of the building it allows staff from every department to come together and experience the work of a need breed of artists as part of their daily work routine." Professor Ian Howard, Principal of Edinburgh College of Art said: "This is a great opportunity for our fourth-year undergraduates in Glass to present their work to a wider audience, and we're particularly proud of their achievements so far." Julia Malle, one of the six artists on display, is delighted to have Scottish Widows backing: "These opportunities are so important for new, young artists to show off their work and it is only through the commitment of companies such as Scottish Widows, that we can increase our exposure to corporate culture and to such a wide and diverse audience who may well never visit a gallery in their own time.".

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