Mary Bourne
Mary Bourne RSA FRSS (b 1963) is a visual artist, principally a sculptor working in natural stone. She trained at Edinburgh College of Art, and following graduation in 1985 was a Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Scholar to Florence. Her practice is centred on how we live in the places we inhabit, exploring the character of locations as we find them, and considering how we can reveal aspects of them or instil them with new meaning. She has undertaken over forty place-specific commissions, often collaborating with other arts/design professionals and with local communities to produce work that is meaningful in its context. This work regularly brings her in contact with diverse groups of people, for example art students, farmers, pre-school/school children, museum curators, poets, wind farm employees and distillers.
Residencies and Sculpture Symposia have included The Royal Drawing School at Dumfries House; The Royal Society of Sculptors Brian Mercer Award to Pietrasanta, Tuscany; Land Art Museum, Hestøya, Norway; Nanao Sculpture Project, Japan; MARBLE/marble, Colorado USA and By Leaves We Live for Scottish Natural Heritage and Planning Aid Scotland. In addition to this in recent years Mary has undertaken a number of projects working with rural communities in her own area: Farm Stones, The Art of Farming and Cabrach Reconnections, an artists’ exploration of a remote depopulated area. You can learn more about this multifaceted project at www.cabrachreconnections.co.uk. She has exhibited at home and abroad and currently exhibits regularly with The Royal Scottish Academy, having been elected an Academician in 2012. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors in 2023. More information about Mary Bourne, including press coverage and inclusion in publications can be found on her website.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Curated by Mary Bourne
Mary Bourne RSA FRSS (b 1963) is a visual artist, principally a sculptor working in natural stone. She trained at Edinburgh College of Art, and following graduation in 1985 was a Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Scholar to Florence. Her practice is centred on how we live in the places we inhabit, exploring the character of locations as we find them, and considering how we can reveal aspects of them or instil them with new meaning. She has undertaken over forty place-specific commissions, often collaborating with other arts/design professionals and with local communities to produce work that is meaningful in its context. This work regularly brings her in contact with diverse groups of people, for example art students, farmers, pre-school/school children, museum curators, poets, wind farm employees and distillers.
Residencies and Sculpture Symposia have included The Royal Drawing School at Dumfries House; The Royal Society of Sculptors Brian Mercer Award to Pietrasanta, Tuscany; Land Art Museum, Hestøya, Norway; Nanao Sculpture Project, Japan; MARBLE/marble, Colorado USA and By Leaves We Live for Scottish Natural Heritage and Planning Aid Scotland. In addition to this in recent years Mary has undertaken a number of projects working with rural communities in her own area: Farm Stones, The Art of Farming and Cabrach Reconnections, an artists’ exploration of a remote depopulated area. You can learn more about this multifaceted project at www.cabrachreconnections.co.uk. She has exhibited at home and abroad and currently exhibits regularly with The Royal Scottish Academy, having been elected an Academician in 2012. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors in 2023. More information about Mary Bourne, including press coverage and inclusion in publications can be found on her website.
