Shelagh Atkinson

Shelagh Atkinson is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the environment, politics, and language and meaning. She studied Social Psychology followed by Communication at Edinburgh Napier University. Photography is central to her working practice. She often incorporates text into her work, reworking and re-presenting well-known phrases in order to alter their meaning.  Her wide mastery of media – including print, paint, drawing, and sound – relates to her artistic endeavour to capture memory and meaning through tangible form. Disassociating herself from theory, Atkinson seeks instead to work from the heart: ‘Life is about learning which are the questions we should ask, not as we are taught, seeking answers.’ Her distinctive portraits of key figures within Scottish history – including trade union leader Mick McGahey (1925–99) and artist Elspeth Lamb (b.1951) – have been acquired by Scottish National Galleries. Atkinson was awarded an archiving programme grant in 2019 by Art360 Scotland to support the building of an archive.