Jacqueline Shortland

Jacqueline completed a BA (Hons) Fine Art, Sculpture in 2009 as a mature student, becoming Gray’s School of Art first Graduate in Residence. Her degree show installation earned her selection to exhibit at the ‘New Contemporaries Exhibition’ at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and she was profiled in London’s Catlin Guide as a ‘highly promising emerging artist’.

After the birth of her daughter in 2014, Jacqueline began to concentrate on her own creative practice from a studio at home, at the edge of the Cairngorm Mountains in North East Scotland. This began as fascination for hand-building with clay and evolved into a passion for the endless potential of this material. She also developed a joy for alternative firing techniques including raku and smoke firing, pushing the material, and herself to their limits.

She says:
“Making sculpture, for me personally, is a deep dive into my innermost self. It is a journey that often begins with curiosity, and a need to trust that what will emerge is telling me something, about myself, about the myths, fairy tales, stories and universal architypes that float through our collective unconscious. As they emerge, they whisper to me, truths I may have been ignoring, or possibly avoiding. I can only hope they whisper to you too.”