I am a multidisciplinary commercial and academic artist - exploring the intersections of drawing, found-object sculpture, video installation, performance, and comic art.
I use an iPad and stylus to create digital drawings incorporating found mixed-media - combining elements of photo-realism, painterly abstraction, visual and written archetypal allegory. I also transfer these drawings to copper plates and print them using traditional etching techniques. This process allows me to explore dialogue between the digital and physical, as well as producing work for sale. My physical sculptures are made from found objects I collect from various places and contexts. I assemble them into whimsical and disturbing forms, seeking to address on an embodied level, positioning one to critically reflect on everyday habitats. Likewise, my comic art is a space in which these critical themes can be playfully thought through. As an academic artist, I have conducted practice-led research on affects of digital media on metacognition ('thinking about thinking'). I analysed how a touchscreen wields embodiment as a channel of persuasive communication. In doing so, I contributed toward understanding how new digital interface technologies might be more ethically developed. - I have exhibited across the UK, including in August 2023 Glasgow's Radiophrenia sound art festival; in October 2013 Manchester Science Festival, toward which I was awarded Comhairle nan Eilean Siar's "Our Islands Our Future" Grant; in September 2013 Dundee's ICKLE film festival. My relevant work experience includes serving as elected Secretary for Uist Art Association from 2011 to 2013, during which I helped curate their commercial art exhibitions and run their social media. I redesigned their annual Art on the Map leaflet, attracting locals and tourists from across the Highlands to North Uist's commercial artists' studios. During this time I converted and ran my own studio in Lochmaddy's former fire station, selling my own work through this event. In 2023 I gained my PhD (currently 'abd') in Design from Glasgow School of Art; in 2014 I gained a postgrad certificate in Artist Teacher Advanced Professional Studies from West of Scotland University, for which I received the Court Medal for academic excellence. I also gained a postgrad certificate in Secondary Art & Design Education from Northumbria University. In 2013 I gained a first class BA Honours degree in Fine Art from Highlands & Islands University. I also gained a BA Honours and PG Dip in Philosophy from Durham University in 1996. * |