JANE ASKEY & JOYCE GUNN CAIRNS MBE

22 October - 19 November 2023

JOYCE GUNN CAIRNS

Joyce Gunn Cairns was born in Edinburgh in 1948. She trained in Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, having previously completed a degree in German and Comparative Religion at Aberdeen University.

She has become one of Scotland’s most highly respected artists, with nine works in the permanent collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, five works in the permanent collection of the City Art Centre, and works in other major collections including Balliol College, Oxford and Jesus College, Cambridge.

Drawing on her deep sensitivity and appreciation of literature, at the core of Gunn Cairns’ practice is expressive figurative work, including portraits and wildlife studies. From some of Scotland’s most eminent cultural figures to an otter or a dormouse, whatever the subject, Gunn Cairns draws them with the same delicacy of perception and appreciation.

She was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in the June 2004 Queen's Honours List