Materials Research Project at the Slade

Onya McCausland is Honorary Research Assistant in Graduate Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art where she supports the Materials Research Project in Graduate painting run by Lisa Milroy with Gary Woodley and Jo Volley and Estelle Thompson. The project foregrounds the role of materials within the creative process, so the ‘what’ of a student work is always explored in relation to the ‘how’ of its making.

The Methods Room is a permanent site where students and staff experiment with materials extending their research by shared discovery, discussion and display. Although the Materials Research Project is based in Graduate Painting it is open to all Slade staff and students across the school.

Onya McCausland’s practice focuses on how physical materials and their histories effect the production and meaning of the art object. She specialises in knowledge of materials and their sources in the British landscape. Onya’s painting practice extends into video, performance and installation. She is currently engaged in research flowing from the preparation of pigments with Jo Volley and scientist Spike Bucklow, HKI Cambridge University.

http://ucl.ac.uk/slade/know/category/painting