Welcome to Dinah Hewson Art

Fine Art Masters Degree Projects 2024-25: Major Project

Major Project

At the time of writing, August 2025, I have just completed my MA in Fine Art at Birmingham City University. It has been a wonderful year during which I have learned a great deal, and tried some different processes.

For my major project, I set out to investigate how a video installation could communicate the idea of a metaphorical journey; making a film in which I perform a similar "wild west" character I had invented for previous work. Having researched the concept of walking as artistic practice, I wanted my final project to be about a journey – but this time on a bike.

I designed 3 large paintings of canal bridges, each with a paper screen positioned in the space underneath the bridge. The film was then back projected onto these screens.

You can read my official artist's statement about the work below!

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Watch: Once Upon a Time by the Grand Union

The canal is reimagined as the setting of a physical and metaphorical journey. The artist plays the protagonist, endlessly pursued on the towpath by a highwayman cyclist who repeatedly torments her with senseless robberies.

The installation explores the idea of psychological landscapes and exterior spaces being interchangeable as reality and fantasy collide. The film was shot on location by the canal, a place familiar and perhaps unremarkable to most of us, which is projected into the illusionary spaces of painted canal bridges. The dynamic action presented within static surroundings is both disorientating and thrilling to watch.

Referencing silent films, slapstick traditions, and even Greek mythology, this work is inspired by the artist's experience of the mishaps and resurgences of long-term illness. This narrative celebrates acceptance of our personal journeys with humour and resilience.

In these photos of the installation, the paper screens can be seen backlit by the projectors. You can see stills of the film on painting 1, 2 and 3, as the film plays the 3 parts in sequence.

To watch the entire film, click play above!

Exhibition space


Exhibition space


Exhibition space


Exhibition space


Exhibition space


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