Diane Maclean
Diane Maclean is a sculptor and environmental artist. She has exhibited her work widely in the UK and around the globe and many of her sculptures are held in public and private collections.
She works predominantly in stainless steel and light, often on a large scale. In fabricating her structures she has worked with Birch Engineering since 1992. The partnership brings art and engineering together and ensures her imaginative projects are completed to the highest standards of quality and durability. “Deep within us is an affinity with natural things. This can be in conflict with a love of technology, as new discoveries lead us away from contact with nature. In my work, I try to find a balance between the two.”
Stainless steel and coloured stainless steel
Echo
An image emerges from the subconscious that takes shape through small drawings and maquettes. The emerging form becomes an equivalent to something in the real world. I saw a Viking horn in the British Museum when I was preparing for an exhibition in the open. I made the sculpture that is a drawing in stainless steel of the horn’s outer shape, a form that calls up the idea of sound. Sound being absent, the viewer can imagine what it would be. The colour of the outer ring, made of coloured stainless steel, is created by natural daylight entering an oxide on the surface which changes when seen from different angles.
Artist statement
Deep within us is an affinity with natural things. This can be in conflict with a love of technology, as new discoveries lead us away from contact with nature. In my work I try to find a balance between the two. Working on a scale compatible with being in the open, I use natural daylight on reflective surfaces and open structures to create strong visual connections to natural surroundings.
Artist CV
Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors
Professional Member of the Society of Scottish Artists
Member of the Court of the University of Hertfordshire
AWARDS
National Lottery Funding 1996, 1998, 2002 (2 awards), 2003
Scottish Arts Council Awards 1999 and 2002 ABSA Awards 1996 and 1999
Crerar Award (Visual Arts Scotland) 1999 Art at Work Award 1997
British Council Travel Award 1991 and 1994 Sculpture of the Month, Cass Foundation 2011
MTLE International Public Art award, China 2011
PUBLIC SCULPTURE COMMISSIONS & WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2022 Unity sculpture for Hitchin, Herts. 2021/22 (in progress) Dundee Abertay Crescent
2017 Centre for Medicine, University of Leicester – Renewal
2015 Perth Museum and Art Gallery – Lumina
2015 Parc Martin Luther King, Paris – Open Book donated by HM The Queen to Paris
2015 University of Stirling – Plume and Wing
2013 Ekeberg Sculpture Park (Ekebergparken), Oslo – Open Book
2012 Keele University – Forest of Light, sculpture commemorating 50th anniversary
2011 Essex County Council, Chelmer Valley Park & Ride – Shoots
Seabird Centre, North Berwick, short-listed for gateway project
2010 South Leicestershire College – The Wigston Tree
2009 Sacriston, County Durham – The Pulse (Community Development award)
2008 University of Surrey – Triple Ripple and Spine 3 (2004)
Essex County Court, Chelmsford – Three Rivers
2006 Ipswich – The Tump, Ravenswood – Green Wind
Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire – Ice Age
2005 University of Hertfordshire. Mountain
City of Dundee – Dundee DNA
2004 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, University of Guelph, Ontario – Weather Station
Littlewoods Head Office, Speke, Liverpool – Colours of Wind
Boston – Pescod Square development – Boston Shoal
Harlow – Water Gardens development – Ripple Sculpture
2003 Gainsborough Regeneration – Wind & Tide – (National Lottery funded via Arts Council England)
Cargo 777, Heathrow Airport – commissioned by Hines Air Property – Propeller
Trestle Arts Base, St Albans – Phoenix Rising. (National Lottery funded via Arts Council Eng)
2002 Royal Artillery Museum, Clavell Library – Firepower
2002 Xscape Leisure Development, City of Milton Keynes – Xscape
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London – Walking
The Square, Stanmore – Vessels – commissioned by J Sainsbury plc & Harrow Heritage
1996 Jesus College, Cambridge – Spine 1996 Dundee Airport – On the Wing
1995 University of Stirling – Shoe
1994 City of Helsinki – Suvi Seppele 1994 Queenswood School, Hatfield – Blue Above
I990 Stansted Airport Time Beam II (now relocated due to airport enlargement)
RECENT AND UP-COMING SOLO AND 2-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022 Burghley House, Stamford; Scottish Ornithological Club, Aberlady
2019 Salisbury Cathedral (solo)
2018 Chichester Cathedral (solo)
2012 Holland Park, London Place of Reflection, (solo)
2011 Killhope Mining Museum, County Durham – Bird (solo)
2008 Singleton Environmental Centre, Ashford – installations in 3 lightwells (solo)
2007 Glenmore Forest – Between Two Worlds (with Malcolm Innes) – Forestry Commission
Scotland. Light and sound interventions in the forest,
2005 Natural History Museum, London.
Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, Scotland
2004 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, University of Guelph, Canada
Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews
2002 Algarden Gallery, Boras, Sweden (solo)
2001 Museum of Scotland. Large scale projection onto outer wall of Museum (with Su Grierson)
Timespan Museum and Art Gallery, Sutherland, Scotland (solo)
RECENT SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021/22 Leeds Castle, Kent, In Bloom and Flora and Fauna
2019 Beaulieu, Hants – sculpture Marks Hall, Essex – sculpture
2018 Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire – sculpture
2017 Espacio Gallery, London –Threads
2016 Menier Gallery, London – Frida Summerhall, Edinburgh – Paysage
2014 Botanic Garden, Leicester University – The Visionary landscape; Newby Hall, Ripon
2013 Charnel House, Spitalfields, selected by RBS Quenington Open Air exhibition
Ekeberg Sculpture Park, Norway Kingsbury Barn, St Albans
Leicester Botanic Gardens, University of Leicester – A Change of Heart
2012 The Grove, Hertfordshire
2011 Stephensons Works, Newcastle upon Tyne – Passengers and Goods
Meandering Tai Lake, Wuxi, Shenzen, China
2009 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Aberfoyle, Trossachs (Forestry Commission Scotland)