How my Fine Art practice has transformed through postgraduate online study
14 March 2024
In this article, Fine Art MA (Online) student Andela Tucakovic discusses how studying Fine Art online with Falmouth has helped her practice and creative journey evolve.
My name is Andela, and I’m an artist from Croatia.
My creative journey began before high school, where I started drawing hyper-realistic portraits. I then enrolled on a visual arts and culture course at the University of Split, where I covered everything from painting, sculpture and printmaking to art theory, art history, iconography and architecture. I was awarded the Dean’s Award for Excellence in my final year and was keen to continue my creative journey, and to go beyond what I had already learned.
I looked at courses across Europe, and when I stumbled upon Falmouth's online master’s in Fine Art, it seemed ideal because I had a limited financial budget, so studying online was a good option for me, and it also posed the opportunity to enrol with people from around the world, which was an exciting prospect.
My practice has drastically evolved since joining the course, as has everyone's in my cohort; we have all received the care and guidance needed to excel in our respective niches
At first, I was slightly anxious about studying online because you spend less time with your peers and tutors than on a traditional on-campus course. However, my doubts were quickly dispelled; the course is so well structured and facilitates meaningful engagement and relationship building, and so I can really say we have learned a lot about each other in a short period of time because of the structure.
We see each other on weekly webinars and have great conversations and discussions which are a great way to start our days, after which we go into our own spaces to work and research. We also have discussion panels on the Canvas platform and that's great because you can engage with them anytime of the day, which is practical as everybody's around at different times.
My practice has drastically evolved since joining the course, as has everyone's in my cohort; we have all received the care and guidance needed to excel in our respective niches. My work has developed so much through engaging with real world concepts; among many other areas, I've been focused on researching Balkan history and all its connotations, and the cultural politics of emotion, and that has really influenced the direction of my work.
My practice has become much more interdisciplinary, and that’s something I was encouraged to explore by the tutors from day one. I have progressed from painting to installation art and am now deeply engaged with how audiences interact with my work.
I’m really excited about my future after the course, although I also feel a little bit sad that my time on the course is almost over
My ability to research has also developed since being on the course; I am now considering and critically reflecting on philosophy, psychology and politics when developing my research questions, and am using my practice to navigate these complex areas.
I’m currently working on my Final Major Project, which is called ‘the Balkanization of the soul’, an installation consisting of three sculptural paintings and other objects. It will be shown in an alternative industrial space and will address the issues of the body and trauma related to Balkan Baroque, portrayed through the depiction of three women.
I’m planning to show the installation in other spaces in the future and hope to extend the research underpinning it into my first book. I’m really excited about my future after the course, although I also feel a little bit sad that my time on the course is almost over, and I envy those newcomers who have an awesome journey ahead of them! Art is interpreted differently around the globe, and I really appreciate the international peer networks I have developed on the course, which continuously enhances what it has to offer by expanding the tutoring community around the world. I didn't expect I would develop such an attachment to this course, as it is run online and I doubted I would form emotional bonds, but I was so wrong.
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