ARTIST STATEMENT
Vivian Ross-Smith is an artist currently working between Shetland and Swansea. She makes materiality-focussed
and site-specific, painting, performance and textiles that offer an inclusive route into engagement with the art world.
Exploring geographical, digital and bodily places, her work exists to be activated through touch, movement and
functionality.
Ross-Smith pulls from her perspective as a queer island artist and her background working in artist-led art spaces
and in social care work to consider themes of place, community, care, comfort, accessibility, and communication.
EDUCATION
2020 Masters in Fine Art Practice with Distinction, Glasgow School of Art
2013 BA (Hons) Degree, Painting, Grays School of Art
SOLO + TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 (Upcoming) Title TBC, Stiwdio Griffith, Swansea, Wales
2023 Smothered. Lyth Art Centre, Wick, Caithness, Scotland
2021 The Island is The Gallery. Site Specific performances around Shetland, Scotland
2020 Ways of Seeing. Mareel, Shetland, Scotland
2019 Paes-Wisp, Shetland Museum, Scotland
2018 Half oot afore i’ da left. An Tobar, Isle of Mull, Scotland
2017 islandess with Jane Walker. Eastern Edge Gallery, Newfoundland, Canada
Island Connections. Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland, Scotland
2015 Erosions. Newave Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland
2014 Fragments with Gemma Balfour. Shetland Museum, Scotland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 (Upcoming) Title TBC, Freelands Foundation, London, England
2023 (Upcoming) Title TBC, Paradise Works, Salford, Greater Manchester
(Upcoming) Slow Praxis, Tatha Gallery, Fife, Scotland
Made in Roath Open, G39, Cardiff
2022 Room. Reid Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
REVERB. Visual Art Scotland at Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
2021 Mak a Laang Erm. Gaada, Shetland, Scotland
Hidden Flowers. Shetland + Switzerland simultaneously
2020 MADE IT 2020. Short Supply, Salford / Online, England
Mushrooms in the Dark. Situationist RCA, London, England
Glasgow School of Art, Postgraduate Showcase 2020. Online
Beyond The Conventions of Painting. Salt Space, Glasgow, Scotland
2019 Fiskeskind. Fjord & Bælt, Denmark
Nine Lines. The Art School, Glasgow, Scotland
Across Land and Sea. Circus Art Space, Inverness, Scotland
Coast. An Talla Solais. Ullapool, Scotland
Utomhus. North Atlantic Lighthouse, Hanstholm, Denmark
Hopelessly Devoted. Garment Factory, Glasgow, Scotland
2018 Perception. Shetland Museum and Archives, Shetland, Scotland
Space Station ØY, Motí at ØY Festival, Papa Westray, Scotland
RSA Open. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
2017 Relate North. Arctic Sustainable Arts & Design, The University of Lapland, Finland
VAU Members Show. Crownpoint Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
AWARDS
2023 Freelands Studio Fellowship, Freelands Foundation, London
2017 Visual Art and Craft Maker Award. Shetland Arts + Creative Scotland
2016 Shetland Open. Winner of ‘Painting, Drawing and Sculpture’ category
2013 Visual Art and Craft Maker Award. Shetland Arts + Creative Scotland
SELECTED WORKSHOPS + TALKS
2023 Artist Talk: Mission Gallery, Swansea
Artist Talk: Swansea College of Art, University of Wales Trinity St David
2021 Lecture: Resilience, Kingston School of Art, London
Workshop: Banner Making for COP26, Project Ability, Shetland/Glasgow
2020 Panelist: Sail Britain, Sea Stories: Islands and Remoteness
2019 Workshop: Fish Skin stitching for Kulturmødet Mors (Danish Cultural Meeting)
Workshop: Fish skin as textiles. Hanstholm, Denmark
Guest Speaker: Hanstholm Lighthouse Culture Club
2018 Workshop: Lead Artist for Autism Strategy art workshops, Shetland
Lecture: The internet, a tool for establishing projects. Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
2017 Panelist: Are we at the Tipping Point? Sonica, CCA, Glasgow
Guest Artist/Speaker: Flotilla, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Workshop: Fish Skin as Art and Craft. Bonavista Biennale, Newfoundland
Artist Talk: Islandness. Eastern Edge Gallery, Newfoundland