CCA Graduate Award: Amber McLaughlin

Amber McLaughlin is the BA recipient of the CCA Graduate Award for students graduating in 2024 from the University of Ulster's Fine Art courses. The Award consists of the opportunity to use CCA's Project Space, stipend and mentoring with CCA Director Catherine Hemelryk.

Amber's work revolves around subculture - particularly the skinhead subculture - through a women’s lens and how women are often forgotten when speaking about male-dominated subcultures. Amber works in thin layers of oil paint mixed with liquid on canvas, linen and wood mostly, on a smaller scale. She has worked with collage and collecting media from books and magazines, the physical images spread across her studio walls like a mind map helps, which helps to clear her and visualise the paintings she wants to create. Amber's next work will focus on Derry and the people of the Bogside, Brandywell and Creggan. Using found images and bringing them back to life, as with the skinhead theme. Amber wants to be able to make herself as an artist in Derry, a small city with a strong sense of community who support each other.