From a cardboard kitchen to jewellery inspired by blood cells - DJCAD's Masters Show 2025

A recycled cardboard kitchen, a medieval bronze caldron, jewellery inspired by the shapes of blood cells, and watercolour paintings depicting 30 days of nature on a Perthshire hill.

These are just some of the artistic gems featured at Masters Show 2025, held at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, part of the University of Dundee.

In total, 84 students from 10 Masters programmes are exhibiting work, including fine art, product design, curatorial practice, medical art, forensic art and facial imaging.

Below, some students share their inspiration and processes behind their work.

Visual interpretation of when home no longer feels safe to victims of violence

Palestinian-Scottish artist, Lana Al Khateeb, tackles the issue of when a home no longer feels safe to victims of violence through her exhibit.

The 22-year-old MFA Fine Art student has built a large cardboard kitchen from recycled materials to represent packing up and leaving home as a result of domestic or state violence, such as countries at war.

And she has created a poignant sound work to accompany the instillation, using the piano, violin and singing in both Arabic and English.

Lana was raised in Qatar and relocated to Dundee at the age of 18.

Her own life experiences and those of her father, who is from Palestine, are incorporated into her work through lyrics in the sound work.

She said, “I heard many stories from my Palestinian father growing up – about his family, the history and biases in media coverage.

“Initially, it was difficult for me to incorporate the topic of Palestine within the work.

“I had this fear that I wasn't allowed to speak about these kinds of topics. Even growing up in the middle east, I would occasionally run into backlash with simply introducing myself as half Palestinian.

“My fear only increased when I moved to the UK. I feared people may become confrontational and potentially violent due to ingrained problematic media coverage.”

Lana’s intention was to highlight parallels between experiences of victims of domestic and political violence through her immersive exhibit.

She added, “My main aim was to consider the victims, in both state violence and domestic violence circumstances, who have instability and fear in a place that should be safe and should be their home.

“They are forced to make a decision between fighting or fleeing.

“I want to portray how these victims experience the world through a different light and are forced to adjust their mindset and behaviour in favour of doing anything possible to survive.”

Medieval items on display in Perth Museum inspired stunning recreations

MFA Fine Art student Thomas Dracup has a passion for all things medieval.

Using a multitude of different skills, he has recreated a stunning medieval trestle table from locally sourced ash and elm wood, a pair of candle holders, a ceramic jug and a bronze cauldron traditional methods and materials.

Thomas, 24, was inspired by items discovered in Scotland and on display at Perth Museum, where he spent a great deal of time researching the objects, alongside studying the British Museum database. 

The jug and the caldron, both from the 13th-14th centuries, were discovered in archaeological digs and were found incomplete. 

Thomas, from St Andrews, said, “I’ve loved bringing these objects back to life. As soon as I saw the caldron, I knew I wanted to make it.

“It was completely different to what I expected, with its handles posed on its side, like a superhero posing with hands on hips.

“I didn’t expect it to have legs, but I found out that was so that it could stand on top of coals, and I didn’t know they were bronze. I initially thought they would be iron but from my research I learned that iron cauldrons weren’t common in that time period.”

Thomas spent months perfecting the lost wax casting method to create the caldron and forged the removable handle by hand in DJCAD’s metal workshops.

He also learned traditional joinery techniques to build the table and smoothed its surface by hand using his great grandpa’s 100-year-old hand plane, then created traditional mortise and tenon joins using hand tools.

Background in immunology led to jewellery created in the shape of blood cells

With a 35-year career as a doctor and consultant in immunology behind her, MFA Fine Art student Sara Marshall has now turned her attention to creating contemporary jewellery.

However her background in medicine and science continues to influence Sara, who has used goldsmithing techniques to make tactile jewellery and sculpture work inspired by the shapes of blood cells and skin conditions. 

Sara, 62, from Newport, said, “I have always been inspired by the functional beauty of biologic forms such as red blood cells, and how we take these things for granted – until they go wrong.

“It is important to me that my work can be enjoyed and appreciated by anyone, not just those with a scientific background, because the biological forms are so beautiful.

“But I also hope that those with a scientific background can recognise the inspiration behind it.”

30 days of nature on Abernethy hill depicted through watercolours

MFA Fine Art student Liz Harvey dedicated the whole of June to visiting Castlelaw Hill, in Abernethy, and observing and responding to the nature there.

Liz, 61, who lives near to the Perthshire hill, took her watercolours with her and painted her surroundings there every day for 30 days in a row – irrespective of the weather.

During that time she observed nine different types of butterflies, 20 types of moths and many slugs – which also feature in her exhibit.

Liz said, “The natural world has always been my main interest and source of inspiration.

“Working with an acute awareness of the climate crisis and catastrophic decline in biodiversity, I aim to raise awareness of the joy and wonder of what we have left, as well as the need to treasure and protect fragile habitats.

“The experience of spending so much time outdoors, responding to whatever conditions the location presented, was an immensely satisfying and enjoyable one.”

History of British colonisation and complex relationship with art explored

Through her exhibit, MFA Fine Art student Heather Russell tackles the controversy of items in our museums which were seized from colonies at a time of British Empire rule.

Heather, 37, who lives in Dundee, took inspiration from the Benin Bronzes – a group of sculptures on plaques from Nigeria which are currently held in Britain, and at the centre of a debate as to where they should be displayed.

She was particularly interested in the ‘Bird of Prophecy’ – a mythical bird which features heavily in Benin art. It was believed to make one sound to indicate danger or disaster and another sound to show luck or happiness. 

As a result, birds feature heavily in Heather’s exhibit, alongside sculpture work including a bronze teacup, saucer and custard cream biscuit.

She said, “My work challenges the British Empire’s dark colonial past, with a focus on the controversy of the Benin Bronzes.

“I want the public to realise the impact that colonisation has had, the absurdity of our obsession with collections and the importance in returning them.

“It’s so important that countries are given back their cultural heritage for the education of future generations. It’s a topic which is currently gaining a lot of traction and I hope that my work can also help raise awareness.”

View DJCAD Masters Show 2025 online

Programmes represented in this year’s show are MSc Animation & VFX, MFA Curatorial Practice, MSc Design for Business, MRes Design, MFA Fine Art, MRes Fine Art, MSc Forensic Art & Facial Imaging, MSc Medical Art, MSc Product Design and MSc Spatial Planning with Sustainable Urban Design.

For more information see the Masters Show 2025 webpage, where viewers can also access more information about the exhibiting student online.

DJCAD’s Masters Show 2025 is open daily until 31 August between 10am-4pm, with a late opening to 8pm on Thursday 28 August.