Planning for our annual Made in Arts London exhibition is well underway, so we thought it would be a good time to meet the people behind this year's collection - 'The Space Between'.

Each year Made in Arts London opens applications for University of the Arts London students, to sell their work in their online, not-for-profit shop. To select the works and feed back on every application received (regardless of results), we enlist the help of external professionals working in the creative industries and our very own Sabbatical Officer team.

This year that was Asma Istwani, mixed-media artist and founder of RIOT SOUP, multidisciplinary artist, Lyla Maeve and the 22/23 Union Affairs Officer, Ellie Short, who studied Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance, at London College of Fashion.

2023 Panel Bios

ASMA ISTWANI

Asma (she/her) is a mixed-media artist, workshop facilitator and producer from London who is also the founder of RIOT SOUP, an art collective for global majority women artists.
Instagram: @asmaeatsart
Website: asmaistwani.com

LYLA MAEVE

Lylani Devorah aka Lyla Maeve (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, currently working for conscious creative studio KIND. Last year, they graduated from D&AD’s prestigious Shift night school, and they are also known for their frequent creative collaborations with The HudsonBec Group, Theatre Weekly and queer venue The Glory.

Instagram: @itslylanibabs
Website: lylani.world

ELLIE SHORT

Ellie Short (she/her) studied Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance at London College of Fashion and was the 22/23 Union Affairs Officer at University of the Arts London Students’ Union, a role dealing with university-wide affairs. She says: ‘My main focus this year has been working on making UAL more inclusive and accessible, especially for disabled students. I organised Disabled History Month which included the Through Our Senses exhibition, a multi-sensory exploration of living with disability.’ During the role, Ellie also worked on projects to improve mental health support at the university and reduce isolation felt by disabled students.

Instagram: @ellieshortmua

A huge thank you to our panelists for giving us their time; see the full collection of works at Made in Arts London or visit the exhibition from 8th September - 28th September (private view: 7th September) at TM Lighting Gallery, open weekdays, 10am - 5pm (to book a visit, please email info@tmlighting.com).

Made in Arts London is Arts SU's own non-profit initiative, devoted to nurturing University of the Arts students through the early stages of their career. We offer career development opportunities, workshops, a spot in our yearly exhibition, and much more! Stay tuned on our social channels and keep an eye out on our opportunities for more updates on how to get involved!