KINGA
ELLIOTT
“Kinga Elliott’s output challenges visual preconceptions and the obvious. A world of coded systems, logic and lyrical picture making. Complex designs from objective starting points that are further worked and nurtured. Her work examines relationships between art and science but at the core she is continually aiming to control the liminal qualities of light. As a painting student she researched and mastered cyanotype as a vehicle for reportage through complexities of composition and innovative meaning. Traditional methods re-invented and re-invested through new knowledge and a contemporaneous slant on the world she occupies and responds to.”
Michael Agnew RSA, Head of Painting, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen. A quote from the Royal Scottish Academy NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2022 Exhibition Catalogue
Background
Kinga Elliott is a painter living and working in Glenesk, Scotland, on the border of Angus and Aberdeenshire.
She has a long-held interest in the concept of light, let it be optics, theoretical physics, or from a theological aspect.
Her paintings are abstract, focusing on manifestations of light, colour, dynamism, balance and interconnectedness.
Kinga studied physics and mathematics in her earlier years, and she often uses forms borrowed from science as a starting point for her paintings. At other times her works are more organic in nature.
As part of the artistic exploration into the nature of light, she found a very apt process in the making of cyanotypes where light plays an active part in the creation of the image. She has developed a unique way of making transparencies that serve as negatives for the cyanotype process. The resulting large paper cyanotypes serve as starting points for further painterly developments, using ink, acrylic paint and sometimes resin.
The titles of her work bear reference to coding systems of online platforms. She creates seemingly random word combinations that evoke a sense of atmosphere and musicality.
Exhibitions
Solo shows:
March 2023 Signal-Voltaic-Keepsake, Rogart Street Campus Gallery, Glasgow
May 2022 Harp-Chatter-Peppermint, Glenesk Folk Museum, Glenesk
February 2022 Synaptic-Alluvium-Betrothal, GHAT Small Gallery, Aberdeen
August 2019 A Moment in Time, Aberdeen Health Village, Aberdeen
Group shows:
March 2023 Being Co-operative, Outspoken Arts, Paisley
December 2022 SSA 130 Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
September 2022 Royal Scottish Academy at The British Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London
August 2022 SSA at the Big Art Show, The Art Department, Paisley
June 2022 Artist Aid Ukraine, The Pentagon Centre, Glasgow
April 2022 RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
March 2022 Reverb, Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition, online
February 2022 RSA New Contemporaries, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
February 2022 Annual Members Show, Generator Projects, Dundee
January 2022 RGU Arts and Heritage Purchase Prize Exhibition, Music Hall, Aberdeen
July 2021 Reunion, Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow
July 2020 Degree Show, Gray's School of Art, online
June 2020 Visual Arts Scotland Graduate Showcase, online
February 2020 Pre-Degree Show, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh
August 2019 AAS at the Aberdeen Art Fair, Music Hall, Aberdeen
August 2019 Gray’s Outlet, Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen
March 2019 More Concrete! Group performance and exhibition, Belmont, Aberdeen
November 2018 BGF & EY Painting exhibition, Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
August 2018 Mavericks Group exhibition, Hallgreen Castle, Inverbervie
May 2018 SMORG:ARTS:BORD Painting Exhibition, Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen
April 2018 SNAP, Ruthrierston Centre, Aberdeen
April 2017 24, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
December 2015 MEFFAN Winter Exhibition, The Meffan Museum & Gallery, Forfar
June 2015 Graduate Show, Angus College, Arbroath
Residencies and Scholarships
October 2020/2022 RSA John Kinross Scholarship to Florence, Italy
January – June 2023 Glenesk Folk Museum, Glenesk, Scotland
Collections
Glasgow Print Studio
Royal Scottish Academy
Robert Gordon University
Commissions
August 2022 Society of Scottish Artists - Creating a response to a historical work by Bet Low
for the 130-year anniversary of the Society of Scottish Artists
Awards and Grants
December 2022 Open Fund, Creative Scotland
November 2022 Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award, Aberdeenshire
March 2022 a-n Bursaries 2022: Time Space Money, The Artists Information Company
February 2022 RSA Patrons Award, Royal Scottish Academy
February 2022 David and June Gordon Memorial Trust Award
February 2022 Glasgow Print Studio Publication Prize
October 2021 Open Fund, Creative Scotland
February 2021 Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award, Aberdeenshire
July 2020 RGU Arts and Heritage Purchase Prize for Fine Art, Robert Gordon University
July 2020 J. Gordon Brown Memorial Painting Prize
July 2022 Selected for the RSA New Contemporaries Exhibition, Edinburgh
June 2020 VAS Graduate Showcase, shortlisted, Visual Arts Scotland
May 2020 RSA John Kinross Scholarship to Florence, Royal Scottish Academy
June 2019 SCPN Art & Design Prize for Creative Communication, Scotland
October 2018 SUT Award, shortlisted, Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
Experiences
March 2023 Participant in the Sustaining Life as a Creative: Working with People Programme
March 2022 RSA New Contemporaries 20:20 Talk, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
October 2021 Supporting painter at the British Art Show 9, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum
July 2020 Artist Talk. Gray's School of Art, Virtual Degree Show. Instagram Live
June 2015 Professional Development Ambassador for Scotland + Venice, 56th Venice Biennale, Italy
May 2013 Silent Art Auction organiser for artists in Angus, Angus College Campus, Arbroath