Master's students push artistic boundaries with final projects in Brighton summer shows

The week-long MA Show, which opens at City campus this Saturday, 5 July, is the final instalment of this year’s University of Brighton Summer Shows series and presents work by a new generation of diverse artists and media makers from four courses within the School of Art and Media.

Among this year’s exhibiting artists is Amanda Thomspon, a 49-year-old Fine Art student, whose personal journey with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) has led her to create a series of hand-painted and sewn dolls that embody the difficult emotions she has lived with since her diagnosis in 2018.

PMDD is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) that significantly affects a woman's mood and mental health, disrupting their ability to do daily activities. The condition is worsened by alcohol intake and so, a year after her diagnosis, Amanda – a self-confessed problem drinker – gave up drinking. She turned to art as a way of dealing with the shame she felt about her alcohol problem, and the fear of what being sober would be like.

Amanda, whose work was also selected for an exhibition during the 2025 Brighton Fringe Festival, said: “My work is an honest and expressive part of my healing and understanding of myself."

Amanda Thompson

She adds that: "By sharing my journey, I may help someone to learn about PMDD and have a lightbulb moment, as I did, or they may see that there is a life beyond alcohol. I knew that I needed to find my footing as a sober artist and the University of Brighton gave me just the right environment essential for my growth.

“Returning to school for this MA after almost two decades since my degree has been extremely rewarding and I feel very proud of the work I have done. After graduating, I aim to create a dedicated space for sober artists to connect, collaborate, and exhibit their work.”

Also exhibiting at the MA Show is Graphic Design student Jasmine MacLeod, whose project, ‘The Flexible Classroom’, reimagines primary school design through the lens of architecture, neurodiversity and visual storytelling. Presented as an illustrated guidebook for architects, the project playfully challenges the status quo of rigid classrooms by offering vibrant, adaptable alternatives that are as inclusive as they are imaginative.

Drawing on personal experiences of being autistic and a former architecture student, the work blends research, humour and heartfelt advocacy to inspire more joyful, flexible learning spaces for every child.

Jasmine said: “I wanted to create something practical but never boring, something that makes people smile and rethink what a classroom could be. Graphic design gave me a new language to shout about ideas that matter, and this course let me mash together everything I love into something that finally feels like mine.”

Professor Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Dean of the University of Brighton’s School of Art and Media, said: 

Jasmine MacLeod

“What we see in this show is not only artistic talent but deep courage. These artists invite us into their lives with honesty, care and vision. Their work reminds us that art is not a luxury, it is essential to how we witness, heal and imagine better futures. And we are proud to provide these students with the support they need to do just that.”

The MA Show features projects from students studying for Master of Arts degrees in Fine Art, Graphic Design, Photography and Sequential Design/Illustration. The show runs at the University of Brighton City campus from Saturday 5 July until 12 July.