Vanessa Corby

After completing a BA Hons in Fine Art (painting) in 1994, I took the ground breaking MA in Feminism and the Visual Arts (MAFEM) at the University of Leeds 1995-1997, graduating with a distinction, before moving onto a PhD (1998-2002) on the work of German, Jewish, American artist Eva Hesse (1936-1970) under the supervision of Holberg Prize winner Professor Griselda Pollock.

I have taught critical and cultural theory, and the history of art to practice-based students for more than 20 years. My approach to teaching is very much indebted to my own experience of University as the first in my family to go. I tell students that what they have achieved so far is only a measure of the opportunities they have been given, not an indication of their potential, and work hard to help them develop learner confidence.

My teaching is very closely informed by my research which covers drawing, painting, photography, sculpture and sculptural installation in the 20th and 21st centuries. This work is supported by my knowledge of art and its history from classical antiquity to the present.