"CREATIVITY takes courage." So declares the ubiquitous motto of Gray's School of Art. Gray's, which is part of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, is the smallest of Scotland's four city art colleges, though student numbers are increasing – more th
an 150 graduates this year. And what it lacks in size, it makes up for in courage.
Of the four colleges, Gray's is the one in which the boundaries between disciplines are most closely observed. Painters paint, printmakers make prints and so on. Recently, a new course in Photographic and Electronic Media (PEM) was added in order to offer the more new-fangled disciplines.
Another difference at Gray's is the determination to extend a hand to viewers by asking all students to display their artist's statement. It's not foolproof, and a few could use some pointers on plain English, but the possibilities of offering a way in without reducing or explaining the work is a valuable lesson for young artists to learn.
Angus Cameron (Painting) made a breakthrough when he realised that he did not need to find subjects which he deemed "worthy" to be painted: it was possible simply to paint. And so the floodgates opened, and he painted: small cityscapes, friends in pubs, Christmas cards, takeaway meals.
"My secret is I just do then think about it," writes Stewart Ross (Sculpture) whose work includes an installation made from biodegradable bed-pans.
Ricky Gibb (PEM) has more than a touch of swagger. His main work is a lengthy film (100 minutes) in which the artist, getting increasingly drunk, holds forth on the subject of his ex-girlfriends. While this doesn't sound exactly compelling, his inherent confidence and the ability not to take himself too seriously are important qualities.
When it comes to seeking inspiration, several students have been exploring the derelict Richards' textile factory in Aberdeen. Holly Sturton (Printmaking) has made some fine long-format etchings and collographs showing the light falling dramatically through the long windows. R Scott Thow (3D Design) is more interested in the windows themselves. His medium is glass (Gray's is one of the last art schools to continue to offer this specialism) and his approach is more akin to the investigations of fine art than the practicalities of product design.
Michael Stokes (Painting) is also concerned with the demise of the textile industry. His paintings are halfway to being sculptures, with ropes, sticks and pieces of cloth attached to the canvas and worked into striking abstract compositions.
While his work combines an interest in forms and materials, Shona Madigan's chief passion is for materials. In applying paper to canvas and working with the interplay of the two, she creates large paintings which look like woven textiles, while Scott Simpson's combination of representational painting with twigs and flashes of abstract colour shows real promise. Gray's is one of the last art colleges in the UK to offer a dedicated degree in printmaking, and this section demonstrates both the strengths and weakness of strong specialisation. There is a certain uniformity among some of the shows which comes from sticking to the safe parameters dictated by the medium. But there is also evidence of artists getting to grips with their medium in real depth and making it work for them: Colin Taylor, who plays with saturated colour and optical illusion in pure abstract forms; or Julie Beynon Burnett, whose highly accomplished prints are inspired by patchwork quilts.
Martin Buchan's show explodes with energy. Graphically bold, with vigorous forms and bright primary colours, his absurd, humorous, knowingly modernist works are very mature. Entirely different but no less striking are the subtle prints of Agata Dymus-Kazmierczak, whose clever eye and delicate touch juxtaposes images and ideas with a distinctly Slavic sensibility.
The Photographic and Electronic Media (PEM) students – who have produced their own catalogue: A Bunch of Confused Individuals – are a vigorous bunch. For the first time, a "cinema" has been set up to show their films. Jenny Hood's stop-motion animation featuring taxidermy creatures is unexpectedly magical, partly due to the clever use of music. Richard Watson's photographs and film explore the uneasy borders between the natural world and the one shaped by man. James Elsmie has produced his own version of the Akutagawa's short story Rashomon in two films and a wall of documentary material.
But it's the sculptors who explode the boundaries of their practice the most. Jasmin Bray Triance has made a complex sound installation featuring numerous versions of the same song. Alice B Spicer has collected characters from stories and offers viewers a chance to weave a narrative around them. Hannah Rowan Smith is quietly cultivating a precisely measured form of minimalism.
Stefanie Horne, by contrast, helped build a dry-stone wall. But within it she included small stone carvings of the other builders, a subtle exploration of how we all long to leave our mark on the world. Craig Shepherd's meditative works, based on the slow meticulous build-up of lines or concentric circles, are accomplished and mesmerising.
And while the Gray's show this year lacked its habitual strength in figurative painting, there was one exception. For Steven Murray, Herman Melville's Moby Dick provided the inspiration for a subtle, mature and wide-ranging body of work.
• Until 20 June
