Art student wins awards with her homage to home

05/08/2024
Kirsty MacDonald

DUMFRIES and Galloway College (DGC) alumni Kirsty MacDonald showed ‘home is where the art is’ after receiving plaudits and prizes for her honours degree exhibition.

Kirsty, from Stranraer, is currently studying at Gray’s School of Art (GSA) in Aberdeen after starting her journey, firstly on DGC’s HNC, followed by the HND Art and Design course, where she was voted Most Supportive Student in 2021.

The 24-year-old decided to base her Gray’s dissertation on the Rhins of Galloway – featuring the history, agriculture, folklore and flora of the Rhins – and created an incredible sculpture of a Galloway drystone dyke as part of her project, as well as making plinths out of recycled wood.

This innovative concept and Kirsty’s skills were quickly recognised, earning her first-class honours and two prestigious prizes – a Robert Gordon University Heritage Purchase Award and a Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Award. She is now set to begin studying for her Masters at GSA next term.

The Scotsman recently featured Gray’s annual degree shows in an article by Susan Mans­field, who remarked: “Eco-issues are present in the work of many stu­dents, whether as the sub­ject mat­ter or because they have given a lot of thought to devel­op­ing sus­tain­able prac­tices. Kirsty Mac­don­ald does both, mak­ing plant life her sub­ject and cre­at­ing her paint­ings and sculp­tures from recyc­lable mater­i­als and water­col­ours made from loc­ally sourced nat­ural sub­stances.”

Joanna Campbell, Principal, Dumfries and Galloway College, said: “Everyone at Dumfries and Galloway College is delighted to see one of our former students excel in their chosen career path.

“Kirsty should be incredibly proud of the interesting and creative designs she has created – and her achievements and awards are very much deserved.”

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