Artist Statement
What is contained in a head?
All that cannot be trimmed, says Miroslav Holub.
Drawing forth the strange, the desired, the ordinary.
Drawing as a way of shuttling between the seen and acknowledged, the unseen and the experienced. I try to bring an awareness to the inner side of experience,
as well as make places to linger in and remember.
A cadmium ladder in a cerulean sky,
Magnolia and saffron trees transform into marmalade butterflies.
A sweaty jungle, deep petrol and night green, with emerald-eye tiger and disappearing macaw. Tangerine and violet inscapes, remnants of night blossom now turning into bird skeletons, or a troupe of pointy hats, flaming madder and rose.
Being struck by the strangeness of moments, gathering features, or groups of shapes.
All the while, the flatness of shape manoeuvring into position against the illusion of a scene.
What do these do? Especially now?
They’re lived moments, just as any other.
Creaking and groaning under the weight of all that’s in our heads,
Just like everything else.
Education
2020 - Practice-based PhD in Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
2021 - 2022 PGCert in Creative Learning and Teaching, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
2015 - 2016 MFA in Fine Art and Humanities, DJCAD, Dundee (Distinction)
2011 - 2013 Painting Course, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
2010 - 2011 Foundation Course, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh (Distinction)
2006 - 2010 BA Hons. History of Art and French at the University of Manchester
Exhibitions
2025
Pastel Society's 126th Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2024
Detail Gallery's Winter Exhibition, Edinburgh
'Arranging Landscapes', Kobi and Teal Gallery, Somerset
SSA 126th Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
'Sea Yellow by Orange Night', Solo Exhibition, Whitespace
VAS Now and Then, Dalkeith Palace, Midlothian
NEAC's Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
RSA's 198th Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
'no:where:now:here', Group Exhibition, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
2023
'Where They Meet', Kobi and Teal Gallery, Somerset
RWA's 170th Annual Exhibition', Bristol
A New Primer, Group Exhibition at Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh
Pastel Society's 124th Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
'Rising Artists Exhibition: Jackson's Painting Prize 2023', Group Exhibition at Bankside Gallery, London
'Objects of Conviction', Joint Exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
2022
'Shadows in Green Shade', Solo Exhibition at Whitespace Gallery, Edinburgh
'Reversals', Joint Exhibition at Whitespace Gallery, Edinburgh
Transatlantic Sculpture Workshop Residency Pop-up Exhibition, Cambridge Artworks, Cambridge
2021
Autumn Exhibition, Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow
Summer Exhibition, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
2020
'Becoming and Going // 来来去去(lái lái qù qù)', Solo Exhibition, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
MFA Arts & Humanities Showcase, Alma College, Michigan, USA
2019
Confluence: Tradition in Contemporary Art, 3-part Group Exhibition, Montclair State University USA, Dundee University and Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China
Elevations + Revelations, Solo Exhibition, Wushan Gallery, Chongqing, China
a thread, a rip, a seed, Solo Exhibition, Dimensions Art Centre, Chongqing, China
2018
Persevere Group Exhibition, Oseana Arts Centre, Bergen, Norway
2016
MFA Degree Show, DJCAD, Dundee
Oscillations, 2-part Group Exhibition, DJCAD, Dundee and Aegina, Greece
2015
Winters Tales, MFA Group Exhibition, DJCAD, Dundee
The Ruler and The Realm, Solo Exhibition, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
Awards
2023 New York Studio School Painting Marathon Scholarship
2020 New York Studio School Sculpture Marathon Scholarship
2018 New York Studio School Painting Marathon Scholarship
2017 New York Studio School Drawing Marathon Scholarship
2016 MFA Arts and Humanities Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement
The School of Humanities Vanessa Bell Award for Highest Achievement in Humanities Modules
2013 Eliza Clifford Prize for Outstanding Work, Leith School of Art
2011 Leith School of Art Prize for Outstanding Quality and Resolution of a Piece