Illustrator pays homage to the Wuhan whistleblower

The work appears in online exhibition GradEX20

Rosie's work pays tribute to Dr Li Wenliang

I read an article back in January about Dr Wenliang and his pregnant widow which I found very emotional. I wanted to create this editorial to honour his bravery.

Rosie Wooliscroft, BA (Hons) Illustration

Hundreds of visitors usually attend the annual Art and Design Degree Show at Staffordshire University’s Stoke-on-Trent campus but this year friends, family, employers and the public can enjoy the showcase from the comfort of their own homes.

The online DigitalGradEX20 exhibition features final year projects from more than 450 students and features a range of creative degrees including Fine Art, Cartoon and Comic Arts and Animation. 

A powerful main image in Rosie Wooliscroft’s collection of work is a portrait Dr Li Wenliang, the COVID-19 whistleblower from Wuhan.

The BA (Hons) Illustration student said: “I read an article back in January about Dr Wenliang and his pregnant widow which I found very emotional. I wanted to create this editorial to honour his bravery.”

Rosie, who hopes to complete a master’s next year, has also designed picture book ‘Little Ghosts’ to raise awareness of child neglect.

The 27-year-old from Alsager, said: “Although the format is a children’s book, the popularly of picture books for adults is increasing and this is aimed at all ages. Even people who have experienced neglect themselves can fail to recognise it, so I think it’s important to start that conversation.”

The online exhibition also features the work of students from Computing, Digital Technologies, Engineering, Policing and Science courses.

Discover more in this video from Photojournalism student Nom Ncube, who talks us through GradEX and presents this year’s exhibition on behalf of the photojournalism 2020 graduating cohort.

Browse all student projects at https://gradex.staffs.ac.uk/

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