Artist Statement
My ideas and influences come from a range of sources. The nature that survives despite mans’ intervention and the resulting environment are responsible for many of my ideas. Seeds, pollen grains, fungi and spores hold a fascination and have been an inspiration throughout my career.
Works which enhance, inform, cause discussion or debate and have a relevance to our lives. This is what I strive to develop with every new work I undertake. The motivation for the work is the opportunity to make and place artworks of an enduring quality, both aesthetically and literally in the environment.
Artist Bio
Born and brought up in Fife, Ailsa Magnus graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1989. After completing postgraduate studies at Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon’s University, Aberdeen, she spent 4 years at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop. During this time she concentrated on exhibiting and building on her skills, developing a portfolio of work. She moved to Yorkshire in 1994.
Since 1994, Ailsa has established a solid reputation in public art. Her public commissions across Scotland, The Midlands, Northern England, London and Wales have included: carved wood and stone sculptures, carved brick relief walls, cast relief floor-scapes and decorative paving. Her most recent works have been cast in iron and bronze both free-standing and ground based.
Returning to Fife in 2016 Ailsa has now begun to reestablish her career here in Scotland and has completed a number of public commissions in Dundee and West Lothian as well as exhibiting.
Ailsa became a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors in 2010 and was elected a professional member of VAS (Visual Arts Scotland) in 2024.
