Head of MFA - Glasgow School of Art
Sam Ainsley graduated in painting at Newcastle followed by a postgraduate diploma at Edinburgh College of Art. She has a strong interest in multi- disciplinary and inter- disciplinary work. She has been at the Glasgow School of Art since 1981 and taught in the Environmental Art Dept. from 1985-1990, including a period as acting Head. Since 1990 she has been Head of the MFA, a course she co- founded in 1988. She has established networks all over the world and initiated five international touring exhibitions of the work of MFA students. Ainsley's research interests include women's experience of the city and the relationship of the body to geographic/ geologic phenomena. Her work is a form of 'emotional mapping' in relation to a politics of location, using images from the body, nature, geologic forms and man-made structures. She has researched the colour Red over many years and uses it as a major component in her work. Solo exhibitions include "Why I choose Red" at the Third Eye Centre (now CCA), "The Red Room" at the Victorian College of the Arts, in Melbourne and "The Red Space" at The Lighthouse, Glasgow's Centre for Design, Architecture and the City. Her work is in several national public collections including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh.
Selected Artists
