Thinking About Art, Identity, and Getting Seen: A DPS Perspective
Bell Hooks writes in a way that feels like she’s talking straight to you. In Talking Art as the Spirit Moves Us, she goes deep into how art by black and marginalised artists gets sidelined or misunderstood. She makes the point that their work is powerful and meaningful, but often hidden by systems that don’t want to see it. She quotes a Mende proverb: “There is a thing passing in the sky; some thick clouds surround it; the uninitiated see nothing” (hooks, 1995, p. 99). Basically – if you don’t know what to look for, you’ll miss it.
That idea really strikes a chord with what we try to do on the DPS course at UAL:LCC. This course isn’t just about making aesthetic design – it’s about conceptual design, critical thinking, reflecting, and knowing the politics around the work. Hooks talks about the Whitney Biennial trying to bring in more artists of colour, but doing it in a way that made their work seem like a big protest (hooks, 1995, p. 101). This is how some DPS students could feel when approaching employers: being seen, but only through the lens of difference and with a lack of lived experience. This raises the question, how do they show up without getting pigeon holed?
When students are working on live briefs or placements, they’ll notice quickly how their identity – whether it’s race, class, gender, disability – can shape how your work is read. Sometimes, it’s praised just because they’re “different. Eg Korean illustration like the infamous Labubu dolls that are taking the world by storm at the moment” Other times, it could be criticised for being “too political.” Hooks gets this. She says artists from marginalised backgrounds aren’t ignoring aesthetics, they just get judged differently (hooks, 1995, p. 103).
In DPS, we’re always asking: who gets to decide what counts as good design? We encourage the students to research example of this as part of their practice, to reference in their ‘competitor examples’ pages of presentations. Whose style do people take seriously? Hooks calls out critics like Edward Lucie-Smith who said minority art is “dependent” on Western culture – like it’s not valid on its own terms (Hooks, 1995, p. 105). That sort of thinking still pops up in industry. This means we teach our students to look out for it and to reflect on it in their report at the end of the year. Learn the visual language, then question who’s writing the rules and challenge them.
Critique in DPS isn’t about tearing work down. It’s about caring enough to ask tough questions, like I’ve been learning on my PG Cert, especially in the Race and Faith chapters of the IPU unit. Hooks believes in proper conversations – listening, reading closely, challenging ideas (Hooks, 1995, p. 107). That’s baked into how we do tutorials and peer reviews, like we would in a washup in industry. We follow thinkers like Sara Ahmed too, who reminds us that it’s OK to push back when things don’t sit right (Ahmed, 2017).
Most importantly, DPS at LCC encourages students to bring their full selves and to use their ‘personal brand identity in a positive way to self-promote and become more employable as designers. You don’t have to be cold and detached to be professional. Passion, care and critique go hand in hand. And like Hooks says, seeing clearly sometimes means learning to see differently (Hooks, 1995).
As a tutor, I know I need to challenge mainstream narratives that frame other cultures as only political or reactionary. I’m thinking more about inclusive and rigorous art criticism – like Tate’s Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (Tate, 2017). I’ll be recommending students visit exhibitions like Mickalene Thomas: All About Love at the Hayward Gallery, which flips dominant narratives and celebrates Black womanhood through bold, layered visuals (Southbank Centre, 2025)
Encouraging students to explore African American art and work from other cultures helps broaden their knowledge and sharpen their critical thinking. Like the John Berger book, ‘Ways of Seeing’ we were always encouraged to read when I studied at LCC, It’s about seeing more, and seeing better.
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