School Grounds — finishing my Merchiston residency

19 June 2026 (school exhibition)

My residency at Merchiston Castle School has come to an end, and one of its most substantial outcomes is School Grounds, a 195 × 185 cm painting drawing on the architecture, rituals and complicated social world of schools. It was shown at the end-of-year exhibition, a satisfying way to conclude several months of working among students and staff. The residency has been a reminder that familiar institutions can be remarkably strange when you start looking closely at them. I am grateful to Polly Prosser, Florence Chapman and everyone who made the studio available and welcomed me into school life. The painting is large enough to present a few transport and storage problems, but that is a worry for another day.