A HUDDERSFIELD University creative art student will see her work feature in a prestigious London exhibition.

Jasmine Ettridge, of Golcar, has seen her work selected for the Northern Graduate exhibition after museum curators visited the town’s campus last month.

Exhibition curator Henry Walsh came to the Contemporary Arts degree show at the University of Huddersfield and discovered Jasmine’s unique collection of hand-made rabbits.

Made from every material imaginable, from leather to real rabbit fur, her assumed cuddly creations take on a more sinister feel when looked at closely – they don’t have faces.

Jasmine, 22, said: “I didn’t want them to have an identity.

“I didn’t want people to look at them and think ‘awww, cute cuddly teddy bears’.

“I wanted them to think initially that it was quite sinister and that there was something more behind this cute appearance that toys tend to have.”

Jasmine developed an interest in toy design in college and explored the idea of ‘comfort creatures’, such as teddy bears, being like friends to youngsters.

She describes this idea as creeping into her work, but it wasn’t until her second year on the BA Contemporary Arts course that she actually started to think about why she made her bears.

“I started to come to terms with my own childhood loss. I’d never sat down and thought about why I make my work before, so from the second year I started really getting interested in child psychology and repressed memory syndrome.

“I always had a rabbit in childhood, so rabbits to me are comfort creatures.

“The overall theme of the piece started as dealing with a feeling of loss, but turned into something more.

“It’s sort of a childhood overlook, different events, not just the bad; there are some good memories too. You can see them in the fluffy fabrics, flowered fabrics, stuff like that.

“The better made it is and the better looked after it is, the nicer the memory. The rougher the edges are and the more sinister the material I’ve made it out of, the worse the memory it’s representing.”

Spurred on after being recognised by the Northern Graduates Exhibition, she is looking forwards to her next piece.

“It’s given me more initiative now and I’m actually planning what to do next – a larger sculpture that’s intended to be a child but in bunny form. It’s just given me a lot more incentive to carry on what I do.

“I didn’t think this would happen to me, but I’m very glad it did!”

Our Little Secret – (21 bears) will go on public display at the Curwen Gallery in London from Thursday August 4 until Thursday September 1.