2024 Frontiers/ Blackadder Houston
2024 was an incredibly busy and transformative year for me. After completing Ghosts in the Garden at the Open Eye Gallery, I embarked on an eight‐month sabbatical—made possible by winning the Blackadder Houston Mid-Career Painting Prize. This award allowed me to take a break from my role at the University of Edinburgh and devote my time to a new body of work.
My sabbatical began with two large-scale paintings created especially for the Frontiers: Painting in Scotland Now exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy. Co-curated with RSA programme director Flora La Thange, the exhibition featured over 25 painters and set the stage for my subsequent explorations.
I then turned my focus to the complexities of urban living—delving into multi-level living spaces amid pressing contemporary issues such as climate change, the rise of populism, and a growing sense that we are sleepwalking into a much worse future. Today, our homes are more connected than ever, yet they have increasingly lost their role as shared sanctuaries. With everything from entertainment to essentials delivered to our doorsteps, we often overlook the climate crisis fueled by our relentless pursuit of convenience, out-of-season foods, and fossil fuels.
Despite living in close proximity, we find ourselves more isolated than ever—sleeping mere inches away from neighbors we barely know. My work seeks to expose this disconnection, revealing the hidden layers of life within apartment blocks and urban infrastructures as if tearing down a ‘fourth wall.’ Through layered compositions, balanced tones, and shimmering brushwork, I invite viewers to reflect on our collective situation, offering both a critique and a glimmer of hope.