This digital diptych uses coloured pencils and charcoal to give a glimpse into the past of an iconic part of Carlisle. The University of Cumbria, Fusehill Street campus. "During the First World War, the buildings were turned into a hospital for wounded personnel (panel 1), which started a long history of Fusehill Street as a source of medical knowledge. From 1968 to 2000 it hosted the City Maternity Hospital" (UoC 2023), And that brings us to the present day, (panel 2) with medical students studying in simulated theatres.
Bitts Park Past & Present
Bits Park Description
My project is based on Bitts Park, the juxtaposition piece is based on two pictures both taken nearly 50 years apart. Bitts Park is a place that is relaxing and has nature surrounding it whilst still being close to the city centre, with many people walking through each day. The artwork is meant to show how times can change a place and the people within but seem so familiar. I wanted to focus on the people walking down the path to show that all walks of life can be similar as the places that we live and walk make us who we are.
Carlisle United Past & Present
Description on Carlisle United piece - I chose to focus my artwork on Carlisle United football club, as I feel that they are a very underappreciated team with a rich history. Their position in a comparatively insignificant league means that no one outside of Carlisle - and certainly not enough people within - really pay much attention to the team. Though the ground's position quite far from the city centre may be a factor to this, Carlisle never feels especially busy ahead of games, at least by the usual standards of a Saturday afternoon in what is (despite its small population) technically a city. The fact that - if only for a week - Carlisle United were once the top team in England, above all the others you can think of, is fascinating to me and I don't want that to be forgotten. I chose to produce this piece in a retro video game art style to reflect my university course, with 8-bit and 16-bit graphics to represent the different eras of Carlisle United's past. I would of course say that I am overall proud of this piece, although I definitely prefer the first part with the retro style, as I wasn't really able to do anything game-related for the modern day and the future of the team. I was also plagued by some image resolution issues, which I was unfortunately not really able to fix, but again overall I do think I have done Carlisle United justice and brought back some forgotten glory into the spotlight.
