I secured my role as 3D asset modeler in the group project which collaborated with London artist Marta Klara Sadowska. Marta is an artist in residence at the Sarabande Foundation, established by Lee Alexander McQueen.

The project was first introduced to us for our group project unit in early 2022 as a presentation delivered by Marta herself. I must admit I was intrigued by the abstract and peculiar project, knowing immediately it was one of the more interesting client briefs. The overall idea was to create a virtual funeral space being very psychedelic in style. At first the project seemed to move quite slow, the ideas were complex, and the group had a very different understanding to the client’s intentions. I am glad to say this confusion didn’t last long as we started to develop and create this fantastical world.

My role was to produce one of the main artefacts in the environment, a human-like tree that would eventually be programmed so an individual could carve into the bark. As well as this, I also worked on creating some other objects in the environment. The whole experience was new but highly beneficial to each of us. There were instances where members of the group wouldn’t completely agree, eventually such differences could be handled in a professional manner, these collaborative experiences certainly helped develop our soft skills that can’t necessarily be taught.

The process was very demanding. I learnt not to be attached to my work as it almost always needed some aspect changing. At first this was difficult but understanding that through this development and the different iterations, your final art piece comes out so much better than ever anticipated.

There were plenty of moments I had to teach myself new software and techniques, it was amazing being able to get constant feedback from Marta on whether our work was up to standard. We knew from the beginning our work may end up in an exhibition, this only drove us to complete the highest quality we could from the start and that is evident by the results of the final project. I am so proud of what I managed to produce within the timeframe, such work has even helped me with internship applications.

A piece of advice for any prospective students; keep working on your showreel and experiment with as many software as possible, this will only better prepare you for future in the industry!

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BA (Hons) Computer Animation Art & Design