UON Degree Show 2025: Creative student lays the foundations for a career making-up monsters
Most people would stray away from the things that go bump in the night, however one student at the University of Northampton has embraced the monsters and macabre in her final major project.
Third-year student, Amy Spencer, who hails from Northampton, has pushed her creativity to the max to deliver a monster bust, featuring intricate make-up and prosthetic application, as the crowning achievement to her degree studies.
The countdown is on for Amy – and her fellow students from the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology – until they display their final-year projects at this year’s University’s Degree Show, taking place from Thursday 19 to Tuesday 24 June at the University’s Waterside Campus.
On creating her creepy creation, Amy explains: “I was inspired to create a Bogeyman-inspired monster by a lyric from Billie Eilish – “when we fall asleep, where do we go?”
“Everyone has a different image in their mind of what the ‘Bogeyman’ looks like, so I created a replica from my own mind. I envisioned a creature who takes over the host as a person sleeps, creeping out from their eyes and across their face. Essentially, I wanted to create something grim and scary!
“When I started applying prosthetics, I enjoyed the immersive process of physically feeling the prosthetic and wanted to convey the process of what the Bogeyman takeover would actually feel like, using hyper-realistic effects to bring the look together.”
As well as creating a monster bust, Amy submitted a series of five film-inspired posters to document the grotesque transformation from human to host.
Throughout her studies at the University of Northampton, Amy has embraced countless opportunities to build her portfolio, recently taking on the role as Make-Up Supervisor for Rutland Musical Theatre’s production of The Addams Family, and then rising through the ranks as Makeup and Prosthetic Lead for a stage production of Shrek the Musical earlier this year.
Amy credits her professional delivery in this show to learning she received from multi award-winning Make-up and Special Effects Artist, Ve Neill: “When Ve came to campus and led a prosthetics workshop on foam latex, I followed these exact steps for the promo shoot and on-stage looks of Shrek the Musical – I was so pleased with how they turned out!
“Designing and creating the prosthetics for a total of eleven characters – totalling around 140 individual prosthetics pieces – for two weeks of shows (including a 45 second transformation from princess to ogre for the character of Fiona) really pushed my creative scope.”
As the Degree Show looms and Amy prepares to display her final major project – alongside portfolio work and a live-model displaying her make-up designs – she reflects on her journey to studying at university.
“As a mature student, my journey to studying Hair, Make-Up and Prosthetics hasn’t been linear,” Amy explains. “I always loved art at school but felt there was something missing and, after working a string of office jobs, it wasn’t until the Coronavirus pandemic kicked off that I started bodypainting, really pushing my boundaries of make-up and truly discovering my passion.
“I reached a point where I couldn’t teach myself anymore, which was when I discovered the new course at the University of Northampton – and it was the best decision I’ve ever made!
“Art and logic don’t go together – except for within makeup and prosthetics. Mould-making requires mathematics, and there’s a set process for making a prosthetic fit a person’s face to transform them into something artistic. This was what I felt was missing when I studied at school, and I’m so pleased to have found it with my degree at UON”