Artist Statement
I am a scientist-turned-handweaver based on the outskirts of Aberdeen whose work takes inspiration from data. I am at least the seventh generation of my family to be involved with weaving in NE Scotland. My creative practice expresses concepts around genetics, ancestry and connection to place through sculptural textile objects.
My practice sits at the intersection of analogue and digital making, hand skills and technology, art/craft and science, individual and community. I mix traditional skills with innovative, contemporary approaches to both craft processes and objects.
Artist Bio
I previously spent two decades working as an academic scientist researching human genetics, thinking about systems at different scales, from molecular-cellular-organ-individual through to small and large populations; generating and analysing data to help understand who we are and how we work , and ways we can intervene to improve the function of systems. This interest in data, sense-making, and systems adaptations carries through into my craft practice, for the work I create myself and the stories myself and others tell through these, and for wider work I do to support creative development for professional craft practitioners. These different interests all inform and are informed by my studio practice.
My practice also draws strongly on traditional ecological knowledge – how our understanding of regenerative practices, with an in-depth knowledge of seasonal cycles of place and being, are shared across generations. My work has a focus on “good ancestor” thinking – how can we learn from generations long past to make better decisions for future generations we will never meet. And how can we make ancestral knowledge relevant to and engaging for contemporary society.
