Joyce W Cairns PPRSA RSW DEd(hc) HRA(2018 -2022) HRHA HRWA HRBA MA(RCA) born 1947 was brought up in Edinburgh. She attended Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen from 1966-71,the Royal College of Art, London 1971 -74 and was awarded a Fellowship at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design Cheltenham, 1974-75.
On completing Art Teacher training at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1976, she returned to teach drawing and painting at Grays School of Art, taking early retirement in 2004 in order to complete the vast body of large scale works and the publication for her major War Tourist Exhibition in Aberdeen Art Gallery in 2006.
Cairns’ work is mostly autobiographical, based on family memories as a child growing up post war, intermixed with current experiences. They are often woven around the village of Footdee at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour, where she lived full time from1979 to 2014. Her work references different wars based on extensive tours in Europe and Tunisia not only researching her father’s war but gathering information in various war museums providing her with access to the relevant artifacts of the period which give the work authenticity.
She has won many awards and is featured in many publications on Scottish Painting. Cairns’ work has been exhibited in serious group exhibitions since 1970, as well as having solo exhibitions in Scotland, London and Canada. Her work is held in numerous collections, including Aberdeen Art Gallery, GOMA, the British Museum, Graves Art Gallery and Museum, Sheffield, The National War Museum, Edinburgh, The Fleming Collection, the McMaster Museum, Hamilton, Ontario and the Scottish National Gallery.
Cairns became an Associate Royal Scottish Academician in 1986, and a full RSA in 1998. In 2018 she was elected the first female President of the Royal Scottish Academy in its 192 year history.
Joyce W Cairns