Threads of Thought: WSA PhD Exhibition 2025

Join us this month for a new exhibition of PhD work! The Winchester School of Art PhD research group are very pleased to present ‘Threads of Thought’. These works use practice or creative methods as a model of exploration, whether in fine art, design, or related fields. The selected works highlight the production process as a form of thinking, questioning, and unfolding.

Private View:

6 June (Friday 16:30 – 18:00)

Public Opening:

6 – 26 June
Mon-Sat 10am – 5:30pm
Sun – Closed

Location:  

Gallery 37 / Community Hub | Unit 37 The Brooks, Winchester, SO23 8QY

Thought is not a fixed point but a thread—unfolding, tangling, looping through forms, materials, and methods. When research takes shape through practice, knowledge is not simply demonstrated but made, tested, and reconfigured.

‘Threads of Thought’ invites a critical engagement with how knowledge is produced, questioned, and transformed through creative practice. Through iterative methodologies, material enquiry, and interdisciplinary engagement, the exhibition explores the embodied thinking and experimental processes that shape doctoral research beyond traditional academic forms.

Through language, visual impact, spatial extension, and human interaction, the works presented here demonstrate how practice emerges as a mode of enquiry—threading together ideas, materials, and methods across disciplines.

Curators:

Yimeng Li
Elissa Wang
Jingnan Bian

Medical Technology UK 2025: A Report by Hongrui Zhang, Post-graduate Researcher in E-Textile Innovation


We are pleased to share an exciting update from Hongrui Zhang, a first-year Ph.D. researcher at Winchester School of Art. Hongrui attended the prestigious Medical Technology UK 2025 exhibition in Coventry, where Hongrui explored cutting-edge developments in medical device innovation and sustainability. 

Hi, this is Hongrui Zhang, a first-year Ph.D. student in Design (E-textile Innovation Lab). With the support of the Winchester School of Art and my supervisor Professor Kai Yang. I had the opportunity to attend the Medical Technology UK 2025 exhibition, held on March 12-13 at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry, England. This premier event presented the latest advancements in medical device design, development, and manufacturing. The event featured over 130 specialist suppliers, and a series of comprehensive learning programs such as the Women in MedTech Forum and Plastics & Sustainability in Healthcare, providing valuable insights into emerging trends in healthcare technology. During the exhibition, I actively engaged in learning about the latest industry developments and establishing connections with potential collaborators in both academia and industry. The networking opportunities provided interactions with key specialists in medical technology, fostering potential collaborations and knowledge exchange to enhance the development of sustainable e-textile electrodes as my project focuses on.

One of the key highlights of this event was the advancement in materials for medical applications, particularly in the realm of wearable technology and e-textiles. As my project, “Development of Sustainable and Wearable E-Textiles for Electrotherapy,” focuses on fabricating skin-friendly, sustainable, and high-performance electrodes, the exhibition provided a unique opportunity to explore relevant innovations in material science, electrode design, and manufacturing techniques. During the event, I had engaging discussions with multiple medical representatives such as Polymer Systems Technology UK Ltd, where they showed me their latest products for developing advanced medical silicone materials. This interaction inspired my research, particularly in enhancing the design and fabrication of silicone-based electrodes.

The exhibition also showcased cutting-edge solutions for medical device sustainability, a critical aspect of my research. With a focus on recyclable materials, eco-friendly fabrication processes, and long-term usability, discussions with industry experts provided insights into reducing environmental impact in healthcare applications. A particularly insightful part of the learning program, Plastics & Sustainability in Healthcare: Focus on Design & Development Options, discussed the adoption of biodegradable materials, energy-efficient manufacturing processes, and circular economy approaches in medical device production. However, I also realized that sustainability in healthcare still has a long way to go, as medical materials account for only a small fraction of overall material usage, and much of the effort has yet to become a reality. This awareness reinforced the significance of my research, giving me greater motivation to contribute to this field.

From left to right are: Customized pot for silicone rubber inks, Speed mixer for ink preparation, and Extruder for 3D-printable inks
Slides from the learning program Plastics & Sustainability in Healthcare: Focus on Design & Development Options

Overall, Medical Technology UK 2025 was highly beneficial to my research, offering exposure to state-of-the-art advancements and reinforcing the importance of sustainable and innovative solutions in healthcare applications. The event not only broadened my knowledge of material innovations and industry trends but also provided an excellent platform to reflect on the broader implications of my work in the real-world healthcare landscape.

Navigating Academic and Professional Pathways — Insights from Diverse Career Journeys

Editorial note from Megen de Bruin-Molé (Director of Doctoral Programmes, WSA): The following report, by WSA PhD Representative Jingnan (Bianca) Bian, looks back on an event coordinated by and for the WSA PhD community and Early Career Colleague (ECC) community. The path of a researcher after their PhD can be very different from person to person. This meeting was an opportunity for Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and ECCs to share their lived experiences, along with support and advice. 

ECC & PGR Joint Event Report

Navigating Academic and Professional Pathways — Insights from Diverse Career Journeys

Date: 7th March

Location: Room 7 South Building, WSA

Organised by: ECC & PGR Reps (Jingnan Bian, Michael Kurniawan, Yimeng Li, Elissa Wang, Dimitra Gkitsa, Mazed Islam, Shan Wang)

 

Speakers

Dimitra Gkitsa

Mazed Islam

Ravi Dixit (Alumni)

Aybala Cakmakcioglu

Angelina Pan

Overview

This insightful event brought together a diverse panel of speakers who shared their personal journeys through academia and beyond. The session focused on navigating the PhD journey, transitioning to academic or industry roles, and the importance of resilience, adaptability, and proactive career planning. Each speaker provided a unique perspective, offering practical advice for early-career researchers and PhD students contemplating their next steps.

Speaker 1. Dimitra Gkitsa 

Dr. Gkitsa provided an honest reflection on her PhD journey and the transition into an academic career. She discussed the challenges of balancing work commitments with doctoral studies, gaining valuable teaching experience, and the process of applying for jobs and research fellowships. Her story underscored the importance of perseverance and seizing opportunities to grow both academically and professionally.

Speaker 2. Mazed Islam

Dr. Mazed emphasized the importance of a balanced approach to academic careers, integrating teaching, research, leadership, and management. Drawing from his experience in both industry and academia, he highlighted the need to remain adaptable in the face of career challenges. His final advice centered on self-awareness, building supportive networks, and staying open to opportunities to ensure a resilient and fulfilling career path.

Speaker 3. Ravi Dixit

Sharing his unique transition from industry to academia and back to the corporate sector, Dr. Dixit illuminated the transferable skills gained during a PhD — including research, communication, and project management. He encouraged attendees to explore varied career pathways, build professional networks, and utilize university resources. His message: remain adaptable, understand your strengths, and stay open to hybrid career models.

Speaker 4. Aybala Cakmakcioglu

Aybala, speaking from her experiences as an international student navigating academia and industry, emphasized the importance of resilience, adaptability, and proactive learning. She discussed institutional expectations, teaching experiences, and the role of reflection in career development. Attendees were reminded to seek mentorship, leverage career services, and continuously reflect on their professional growth.

Speaker 5. Angelina Pan 

Angelina shared her candid experiences of academic rejections, teaching responsibilities, and the eventual success of securing a postdoctoral role. She stressed the importance of handling setbacks with resilience, building teaching and research profiles strategically, and planning early for the job market. Her guidance encouraged balancing personal well-being with professional ambitions and recognising the long-term value of skills developed throughout the PhD journey.

Conclusion:

The event provided a wealth of practical advice and personal insights, empowering attendees to confidently navigate their academic and professional journeys. By embracing resilience, adaptability, and proactive career planning, PhD students and early-career researchers can chart fulfilling paths in academia, industry, or beyond.

PhD research and practice featured at transmediale festival in Berlin

WSA PhD researchers Yaqian Lai, Alejandro Limpio Gonzalez, and Katya Sivers presented their research and practice as part of this year’s transmediale festival.

transmediale is an annual festival that brings together international artists, researchers, activists, and thinkers with the goal of developing new outlooks on our technological era through the entanglement of different genres and curatorial approaches. In the course of its history, transmediale has grown from its beginnings as VideoFilmFest to one of the most important events for art and digital culture worldwide.

At the festival Yaqian Lai and Alejandro Limpio Gonzalez contributed to the ‘Structures of Haunting’ workshop, alongside colleagues from WSA’s department of Art and Media Technology and elsewhere. Yaqian’s project explores the formation of spatial knowledge on digital maps through the lens of experimental cartographic practices in contemporary visual media, and in her presentation she played with the idea of an atlas as a visual method of divination. Alejandro approaches ocean observation from an anthropological perspective, looking at networked images, online platforms, machine vision and artificial intelligence as key elements through which the ocean becomes a visual space in contemporary science and environmental governance. Presenting as part of Ocean Matter Studio, his contribution included a video art piece called ‘Haunted Wire’, exploring the cultural imagination sustaining the deep sea as space.

Katya Sivers, whose research and practice explores the critical potential of technology and visual art, also produced and presented work at PhD workshops hosted by the Digital Aesthetics Research Center (Aarhus University). Under the title everything is a matter of distance, the DARC workshops ‘related to the temporalities of always-on and FOMO, to the aesthetics as ways of sensing distance and proximity, and to the possibilities for resistance and critique’. The participants produced a peer-reviewed newspaper of their work, as well as a series of presentations and readings at the festival.

This series of events formed part of an extended collaboration between transmediale and the Critical Infrastructures and Image Politics research group at Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton), which is planned to continue with future iterations of the festival.

Welcoming New WSA PGR Representatives

WSA PhD representative Yimeng Li

We are excited to welcome three new Postgraduate Research representatives for Winchester School of Art, nominated after discussion with department leadership teams, the Students’ Union, and the Faculty Graduate School.

They will join our continuing PhD representative, Yimeng Li.

All four representatives will represent PGRs at school level, but the three new representatives have also agreed to act as first point of contact between specific departments and PGRs:

Elissa Wang (Fashion & Textiles liaison)

I am Elissa. I am a third-year PGR in Fine Art. I am also a practitioner, a knitter, and a mother. My research is about looking at the transcultural/multicultural identity of indigenous Chinese Mongolians in the context of globalisation through making and knitting. I started to investigate this when I was doing my master’s at Royal College of Art and this research is a continuity of my MA, which I started to involve studies of digital anthropology and material culture. I applied for this role to have a better insight into the academic culture and working of the school, gain experience working collaboratively with faculty and administrative staff, and help to contribute and hopefully improve the overall experience of research students in our community.

Michael Kurniawan (Art & Media Technology liaison)

I am a 3rd year PGR in design. Prior to my PhD, since 2008 I have been a faculty member in the School of Creative Industries at a private university in Indonesia, where I’ve taught in the Visual Communication Design and Fashion and Business undergraduate programme. I studied MA in Art and Design in Education in the UK with an interest in the relationship between museums and design higher education. As a continuation, my current research is on expanding museum partnerships and co-creation across sectors and levels. I applied for this position to understand more about the academic culture and workings of the school as a reputable international higher education institution and how I can continue to support and even improve it.

Jingnan “Bianca” Bian (Design liaison)

I am Jingnan Bian (Bianca), a PhD student in Design. My current research explores the dementia-friendly furniture design in inclusive design field. Before attending in front of you, I completed my bachelor’s degrees in China and Italy, and Master’s degree in WSA, which has given me a diverse academic and cultural perspective. I decided to put myself forward for this role because I believe in fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment where every student feels supported; and I am passionate about representing the voices of my peers and facilitating meaningful dialogue between students and staff to enhance our academic experience.

PhD Seminar Series Spring 2025

All are welcome at Winchester School of Art’s school-wide PhD Seminar Series, which will run from 2-4pm on Wednesdays this term, in person (PGR Rooms at WSA) and on MS Teams. The series consists of (guest) speakers, workshops, trainings, and other research- and practice-led events.

The working schedule for the Spring 2025 term is available below, and will be updated here with any schedule changes. Details and bios for individual sessions will be linked as they become available.

Additional department-level events are also highlighted, in italics, for ease of overview.

16 January 5-6pm, online – Material Interests (Art & Media Technology department research talks): ‘Understanding Early Tudor Art: the Invisible Illumination’ by Prof Kathleen E. Kennedy

29 January – no session; PhD participation at transmediale 2025 (29 Jan through 2 Feb), Chinese new year 29 Jan

5 February

    • Induction and welcome for new PGRs (12-2), start of term social (2-3) and campus tour (3-4)
    • From 11:30-12:30, LTB East Side and online, Material Interests (Art & Media Technology department research talks): ‘Decoding Hidden Stories: Finding new narratives within a game’s rules and systems’ with Marie Jarrell and Vanissa Wanick

SPECIAL SESSION 11 February – in collaboration with the Film department seminar series.

12 February

    • Town Hall, intro to PGR reps, and ‘Play With Platforms’ creative workshop on navigating university tech.

19 February

26 February

    • ‘Visual Strategies of Absence’ workshop by Louise Siddons (Head of Department Art and Media Technology)
      • NOTE: starts at 2:30 instead of 2pm due to PhD Periodic Review Meeting from 13:30 – 14:15 in Building 63G South, Seminar Room 7 (T3003)

5 March

    • PGR introductions and research mapping 
      • PGR profiles wall (A3) 
      • PGR Research Posters 
      • PGR Blog 

12 March

    • PGR Sharing Session (Current research 2nd year)

19 March

    • NOTE: this session will take place from 10am-12pm in Seminar Room 8, 2nd floor South Building (not the usual 2-4pm in the PGR Room). The online meeting link remains the same. Joint development session with Early Career Colleagues (postdocs, technicians, lecturers, etc)

26 March

    • Ryan Bishop (Head of Research, department of Art & Media Technology) – Foundational Research Skills: Speculative design and social design; and the intersections of graphic design and art

EASTER BREAK

30 April

    • Joanne Turney (Faculty Director of the Graduate School)
      – Foundational Research Skills: Feedback, Thesis Writing

7 May

14 May

    • PGR Sharing Session and preparation for first progression review (Current research 1st year)

21 May

NOTE: this session will take place from 10am-12pm (not the usual 2-4pm)

28 May

4 June

    • PGR Sharing Session (Current research 3rd and 4th year)

6 June

PhD Seminar Series Autumn 2024

Ph-D-Seminar-Series-Poster-2024-2
The Winchester School of Art PhD Seminar Series resumed from 3rd October 2024.

We invite you to join us for future instalments in the Seminar Series, which will run from 2-4pm on Thursdays during term time, in person (PGR Rooms at WSA) and on MS Teams. The series consists of (guest) speakers, workshops, trainings, and other research- and practice-led events.

The full schedule for the Autumn 2024 term is available below (details and bios for individual sessions will be linked as available):

3 October 2024
Induction Week

In this opening week we will be running a Meet & Greet between incoming and current PhD researchers, and colleagues in the department (with refreshments).

10 October 2024
WSA PGR Town Hall

Agenda and notes HERE.

17 October 2024
NO SESSION (Faculty Town Hall)

24 October 2024
Dr Megen de Bruin-Molé ‘Salvaging University Infrastructures’
(making / playing session with PGR manager and other university systems)

Followed by Thursday Lates/Material Interests, ‘Edward James: The Art of Letter Writing’
Venue: Lecture Theatre B, East Building, Winchester School of Art / Online via Teams at 5pm

30th October
EXTRA SESSION, Wednesday 9-11am
Research Ethics and Research Integrity training (online-only, link here)

31 October 2024
2pm Meet the ‘Critical Infrastructures and Image Politics’ (CIIP) Research Group
3pm CIIP special guest lecture Angela YT Chan on ‘Climate History and Technology’ (please note this will take place at a different link/location: Lecture Theatre A, West Side and on MS Teams HERE)
(talk + discussion)

Followed by joint PhD / Early Career Colleagues Halloween party in WSA Café from 4pm!

7 November 2024
Dr Daniel Cid Moragas
‘Decolonisation and decarbonisation of architecture; report from the Venice Biennale’
(talk + discussion)

14 November 2024
Elissa Wang Knitting/Crochet Workshop.
(no prior experience needed; you are also welcome to bring your own knitting or other crafts, in person or online)

Followed by: Private View ‘Collecting Sue Clowes’ exhibition, in person in WSA Gallery from 5pm

21 November 2024
NO PHD SEMINAR, but:

special artist talk by Tereza Buskova, Friday 22nd November, Lecture Theatre A, 14.00 – 16.00 (in person only)

28 November 2024
Emily Rogers
‘Using your PhD in industry and beyond: a focus on Arts and Humanities’ (talk + discussion)

Followed by Thursday Lates/Material Interests, ‘Time As Contested Infrastructure’ with Dr Tsvetelina Hristova and Dr Adam Procter. Venue: Lecture Theatre B, East Building, Winchester School of Art / Online via Teams at 5pm

5 December 2024
Dr Kwame Phillips
‘The Sonic as Maroon’
(talk + discussion; an investigation into sound and music)

12 December 2024

End of term lunch & drinks – 12 December (12.30-14.00). Please register dietary needs using this form, ideally by 4 December

followed by, in our usual seminar time and place:

Francis Gene-Rowe
‘Of Winding Journeys and Oracular Thinking’
(talk + workshop)

‘More Than a Thesis: Different Approaches to PGR Study’ Exhibition

A collective group exhibition organised by Winchester School of Art (WSA) postgraduate research students was held in The Winchester Gallery between 29 June – 26 July 2023. This was the first collective PGR show at the Gallery, facilitated by Professor Louise Siddons, and curated by researchers Yimeng Li and Elio Hao, bringing together the work of 12 students and visiting scholars.

The works were created specifically for the exhibition and aimed to represent not only the artists research but their thoughts and processes that they apply to their work, providing a platform to celebrate their daily lives, interests, and voices.

A virtual tour of the exhibition, produced by Lian Pan, is now available:

VIEW THE VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

The exhibition provided a unique opportunity to bring visibility to the experiences and achievements of the students, while fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration to the WSA, University community and wider audiences in this public exhibition.

A broad variety of work was showcased utilising a range of mediums and practices, including painting, installation, sculpture, textile work and the AI generation of texts and images. Topics embraced papercut, silent poetry Queerness and dream worlds, hobbies as methodology, devices that articulate actor network theory, recreations of a WWII desk, abuse, passions, silver stickers, desire, co-curation, and cultural rootlessness of international students and the ‘unknown’ vegetable, Pak Choi.

Curators Yimeng and Elio explained:

“Curating this exhibition has been a great challenge for me, as it was the first time we curated an entire gallery space within such a short period. Despite the difficulties, the experience has been incredibly valuable, and we have learned so much from this journey. As a curator, I am delighted to have been able to contribute my knowledge and skills to the PGR community and to WSA. It is great to see our efforts making a positive impact and increasing the visibility of our community. This experience has not only strengthened my expertise as a curator but also reinforced the importance of teamwork and collaboration in creating something truly exceptional. It has been great to work with Elio too. Thanks a lot for everyone who helped and assisted us!” Yimeng Li

“This is the last year of my PhD, and I have been a student rep for the previous three years, so I think, and I know this is the first time we (the WSA PGRs) have had an opportunity to make and show work in a public space. WSA is an art school, and we pretty much all deal with art or design-related research, and I’m very grateful that the university offered us this tremendous opportunity and the support from many University departments. This is my first time being a curator, and I need to thank Yimeng for taking me on board. It feels very empowering. “Elio Hao

We hope this will become an annual event and would welcome collaborations with PGRs across the University of Southampton.

Text courtesy of WSA Rotunda

PhD Seminar Series Autumn 2023

The Winchester School of Art PhD Seminar Series will be resuming from today (4th October).

We invite you to join us for future instalments in the Seminar Series, which will run from 2-4pm on Wednesdays during term time, in person (PGR Room) and on MS Teams. The series consists of (guest) speakers, workshops, trainings, and other research- and practice-led events.

The full schedule for the Autumn 2023 term is available below (details and bios for individual sessions will be linked as available):

4 October 2023
In this opening week we will be running a Meet & Greet between incoming and current PhD researchers, and colleagues in the department (with refreshments).

11 October 2023
Dr Chris Müller
‘Laughing with Machines’
(workshop)

18 October 2023
Dr Sasha Anikina
‘Animist Infrastructures: Bots, Net-Works and Imagining a (Socialist) AI’
(artist talk + workshop)

25 October 2023
Dr Seth Giddings
‘Toy Theory’
(talk + discussion of academic publishing)

1 November 2023
Dr Kai Syng Tan
‘Tentacular Networking: Making Meaningful Entanglements’
(talk + discussion)

Followed by Halloween party from 4pm! With refreshments.

8 November 2023
Ink Yijie Gao
‘Researching Robots’
(live robot demo and research test)

15 November 2023
Anurita Chandola
‘Speculative Textiles + Building a Martian House’
(artist talk + discussion)

22 November 2023
Dr Shan Wang
‘User experiences in design, interactive design, and inclusive design’
(research talk + discussion)

29 November 2023
Dave Gibbons
‘Developing a PhD research question with Dave Gibbons’
(art/research talk + discussion)

6 December 2023
Julia Vogl
‘Art and/as Social Practice’
(artist talk + discussion)

13 December 2023
Dr Lexi Webster + Dr Sonia Moran Panero
‘Empathetic Peer Review’
(training and talk co-hosted with ECR Development Series)

Followed by Christmas party from 4pm! With refreshments.

WSA Alumni published in Journal of Contemporary Painting

Many congratulations to the two WSA PGR Alumni who have published articles in the latest issue of Journal of Contemporary Painting (vol. 6 issue 1-2). It is wonderful to see alumni making such a contribution to art criticism. Some details below of both these contributions to scholarship

Feng Jie (2021) ‘Writing from the other side: Critical reflections on the calligraphy of Zhang Qiang’ Journal of Contemporary Painting, Vol. 6, Issue 1-2, pp. 131-148 [available here].

This article presents the specific case of a contemporary practitioner of Chinese calligraphy, Zhang Qiang, a notable figure within the current Avant-garde movement. After outlining aspects of his practice, which has been controversial along gender grounds, the article turns to his specific project of ‘bi-directional’ calligraphy. It is argued this work opens up a more rewarding way into his work as an enquiry into writing, which bears connections with Derrida’s deconstructionist account of writing and trace. However, in a brief exchange at Tate Modern, Zhang offers a form of ‘writing lesson’, which both helps takes us towards the decontructionist account of general writing, yet equally reveals a reliance upon the cultural category of ‘Chinese calligraphy’, which takes us away again—arguably symptomatic of a wider struggle for Chinese contemporary art to gain recognition in the West.

Cheng-Chu Weng (2021) ‘Making minimalism disappear…’  Journal of Contemporary Painting, Vol. 6, Issue 1-2, pp. 149-164 [available here].

‘Making minimalism disappear…’ presents an essay regarding my approach to ‘expansion painting’, and specifically provides a study of another kind of minimalist aesthetic. The account begins with a signature work, Shoji (2015), which is proposed as a way to unfold what expansion painting is. I describe my approach as drawing upon painterly compositional methods but developed through site-specific considerations of architectural spaces, bodies and differing levels of consciousness. The works ‘take place’ when interacting in these layered spaces, or what I refer to as a ‘sense’ of painting space. The article goes on to articulate how—in terms of a western discourse – my works might ‘look’ minimalist but, in fact, are not minimalist art. This article—in representing my practice and providing broader critical analysis—leads us to question an ideology of art history around the enigma of minimalist art, and gives rise instead to another shadowy form of minimalist art. Hence, this article can be said to make minimalism disappear in being haunted by it.

You can also see Cheng-Chu’s PhD practice and contributions to WSA’s PhD researcher community featured on this blog here.