https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2167-7905
As an academic, researcher and artist with over 25 years experience I believe strongly in situated practice which engages with live issues through problem based learning and research. In my practice as an artist I like to engage with site and respond to place, exploring the layered meanings and possibilities within the landscape. I have been awarded prestigious research opportunities as artist in residence at numerous internationally significant institutions including the MOMART Fellowship at Tate Liverpool, Grizedale, Arteleku, Cove Park, NIFCA, Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship, Outlandia and more recently JoyaAiR in Almería, Spain.
I have been visiting lecturer at at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Oslo, Sheffield Hallam University, London Metropolitan University, Chelsea College of Art, Wimbledon College of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, Bauhaus University Weimar, Stavanger Kunstskole and Hilhesheim University. I’m currently External Examiner for two pathways on the MA course at UAL Camberwell – Sculpture and Photography and have previously been external examiner on the BA Fine Art course at University of the Highlands and Islands. (UHI) I have been invited to peer-review for Natural Environment Research Council (UKRI) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada applications and subject expert for the Austrian Science Fund Awards. I currently sit on the International Arts & Design Experts Committee at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, China. Since 2008 I have been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
My research is an attempt to understand the natural environment we are part of. The resulting (art)works are an attempt to make this connection tangible. How do we sense environment and make sense of it?
The Climate Crisis has caused me to look specifically at the role and responsibility of the artist: Can the process of working with active elements in the landscape help move us towards a less anthropocentric viewpoint, one more connected to the more-than-human? How can art engage with diverse audiences and help raise awareness of key ecological issues? Can the artwork help connect people with place? My process is receptive to ‘material agency’ (Bennett, 2009) allowing ‘things’ to create their own form and language, away from the very damaging anthropocentric viewpoint towards the ‘more-than-human’. This approach has been influenced by key theorists like Jane Bennet, Caitlin de Silvey, Timothy Morton and Tim Ingold. Cultural Geographer Danny McNally has written of my work, there is “a quiet politics; a careful and collaborative way of encountering and relating to earthly, waste materials and forces, one of co-productive creativity rather than exploitative extraction”.
As Principal artist/researcher my work has benefitted from external funding amounting to over £11.5k in the past seven years including support from Arts Council England, Forestry Commission and the Turtleton Charitable Trust. Prior to this I have received funding for various public commissions including the Whitstable Biennale £4,000 (2004) Stavanger 2008, European Capital of Culture £10,000 (2008) Cuxhaven Kunstverein £8,000 (2013) and Trust New Art, Bristol £4,000 (2014).In addition to these commissioned works and projects, I have also won significant research funding for more speculative research including a Scottish Arts Council Professional Development Award £5,000 (2004) and a coveted Bright Sparks Research & Development Award £10,000 (2007/8).
I am particularly interested in supporting research projects exploring the intersection of art & ecology through creative practice.
I am DoS for Mandy Mcintosh: ‘The Unstable Sculptures of Springburn, Fashioning Counter Narratives on Working-Class Space in Northeast Glasgow; A Post Punk Revival’. This is a practice led PhD (expected completion 2025) I also co-supervise Alistair Bamforth with Ross Sinclair and Elizabeth Hodson (DoS). (expected completion 2026)
I have previously co-supervised (with Ken Neil) Edwina Fitzpatricks AHRC funded collaborative thesis.: 'Artists Geographies of the Landscape-Archive: trace, loss and the impulse to preserve in the Anthropocene Age' which was in partnership with Grizedale Sculpture and the Forestry Commission, England. I was also external supervisor to Stephanie Haas, S. Can Art Influence Political Policy on the Environment? (Oslo 2011).
My current role in Sculpture & Environmental Art involves leading second year by co-ordinating teaching, curriculum development, assessment and staffing. I also supervise PhD and support PGR area internally through examination and reviews.
