From pscychedelia to urban realism, student art is first class

This annual showcase of some of the nation’s emerging artistic talents has become increasingly polished. As well as the actual artwork, it is now possible to find professionally produced books, cards, postcards and prints — all for sale, at real prices. The title of the 300-page catalogue says it all: Ones to Watch 2015.

The show has been divided into 11 categories following the college’s various disciplines and while there’s a certain fluidity between them, by and large they remain intact.

There are a number of eye-catching pieces here. Alexzandra Frances Moncrieff, for example, has made a psychedelic environment populated by beguiling but vaguely menacing mannequins. There’s also a fair deal of heavy, engineered, muscular pieces, created from wood. One — an ironic take on contemporary masculinity — is a geodesic dome, which contains an oversize pair of testicles. David Evan Mackay’s Standing Reserve is a sculptural environment, with the sound of a collapsed power pylon.

Anna Olafsson is a fiddle player and artist. The shapes of her bow-strokes are given visual form resulting in tonally delicate, arcing, semi-abstracted internal landscapes.

Janie Stewart has embraced the tradition of Scottish urban realism espoused by the likes of Peter Howson and Ken Currie. Her studies of figures and faces, based on the harbour and boatbuilding yard in her home town of Arbroath, are powerful and remarkably accomplished.

One of the great successes of the annual show are the graduates of Interior and Environmental Design. There is a clear focus here on social awareness and how designers can greatly influence our quality of life. Marc Johnston has created a complex structure powered by an electric tricycle that encourages the user to engage critically in the way in which energy is used, and can be conserved.

Tracy Smith’s work addresses the power, and empowerment, of women. She has designed a six chambered “temple” inspired by ancient and modern buildings that engage with the Earth’s tidal and solar rhythms.

A scrap of paper taped to a studio door entitled 10 Rules for Students and Teachers From John Cage reads, under Rule 6: “Nothing is a mistake. There is no win and no fail. There is only make.” It is a fitting credo, which seems to encapsulate the optimistic and youthful energy of the exhibition.

Until May 31