Work Experience Students Reflect on Studio KIND's Summer Open 2026

Amy Smale

I wanted to do work experience in an art gallery because ever since I was little, I have enjoyed drawing, colouring, painting and making things out of any materials and I thought that working in an art gallery would help me understand the reasons behind the pieces and how much thought was put into the paintings. I like comics/ mangas, video games, paintings, drawings, concept art for animated movies/ shows and the animates movies and shows themselves. In the future I would like to design comic characters or video game characters, maybe even animated shows or movies. I also like art that makes you think about why it was made. My favourite games are The Last of Us, Life is Strange, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Life is Strange: True Colours, Life is Strange 2, Spiderman and Minecraft. My Favourite movies are The Maze Runner Franchise, Scream Franchise, Fantastic Mr Fox, How to Train Your Dragon Franchise. My Favourite shows are Yellowjackets and Arcane. I also really like the Marvel Universe (including Big Hero 6). When I play games, watch movies, read books, and listen to music, I like to try to understand characters and why they do what they do/did. I also like to listen to music and feel how they were made and why. My favourite music artists are Billie Eilish and Alex G.

My favourite works from the Summer Open exhibition are:

1. Clink on the moor - I like how confusing it is as first but you slowly understand what it means

2. Deity Jars - I like how they look and the colour choice of the jars

3. Waiting Room - I ,again, like the confusion and find it interesting to watch and listen to

4. Cube Doodle - I like how so much is going on in such a small space, you can see several people all doing different things

5. Three Inky Squids - I like how the squids look and how they make a circle on the paper.

Layla Mallinson

I wanted to do my work experience in an art gallery, as I take art and wanted the experience that comes with working in an art gallery. I am interested in video games, art, coding, 3D modelling, and 3D printing. There's more but I can't list them all from memory. I also have an interest in music and enjoy several genres.

My favourite works from the Summer Open exhibition are:

1. Clink on the Moor - I like how the video gives the viewer freedom to think what it's meaning is

2. Deity Jars - I like how they look unique and how it's not something you would normally see

3. Waiting Room - I like how it kind of looks like fish in hats but it also looks like a bunch of floating heads

4. Cube Doodle - I like how this style reminds me of manga with fine lines and not too much detail

5. Three Inky Squids - I like how the squids are all going in a circle and it looks like they are trusting each other