Artist statement
Joanna Kane is a Scottish based visual artist working with photography, video and new media. Her work explores themes relating to portraiture and identity, often involving in-depth investigations of historical, scientific or technological archives or related subject matter.
Her practice is centred on stills photography, often incorporating elements of experimentation within digital media, film and video, and other media such as casting. She also has interests in still and time-based media in conjunction with performance, installation, theatre, poetry and literature.
Recent work has included The Somnambulists, a series of portraits based on photographs of phrenological life and death casts, shown at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2008, which was also the subject of a book. A selection from the Somnambulists series was included in the Hayward Gallery touring exhibition The Russian Linesman curated by Mark Wallinger in 2009.
Other recent work has included a new photography portrait series for Photo-ID, a Wellcome Trust funded exhibition about photography, science and identity in 2009-10, and new work created during an Alt-W award project in 2010 with New Media Scotland, Cloud People, a series of portraits and data visualisation work reflecting changing identity in the age of cloud computing and social networks.
Joanna Kane graduated with a first class degree in Photography from Napier University in 1997. She also has a postgraduate Master of Science degree in Informatics and an MA honours degree in Philosophy.
Qualifications and training
- 1997 BA Hons Photography, Film and TV, First Class Honours, Napier University, Edinburgh
Solo exhibitions
- 2010 Alt-W Award, Cloud People, Inspace, University of Edinburgh, New Media Scotland, Edinburgh
- 2008 The Somnambulists, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
- 2007 The Somnambulists, Month of Photography, Bratislava
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Romantic Camera: Photography, Identity and Romanticism, Scottish National Galleries, Edinburgh
- 2011 Monanism, MONA, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Australia
- 2010 Photo-ID, Wellcome Trust Identity Season, Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Newcastle Centre for Life, Wellcome Trust touring exhibition
- 2009 Mark Wallinger Curates; The Russian Linesman, Hayward Gallery Southbank, Leeds Art Gallery, Swansea Glynn Vivian, Hayward Touring
- 2009 Photo-ID: Photography and Science, Norwich Forum, CAN '09, The Wellcome Trust, Norwich
- 2007 Digital Romantics, Hannah McClure Centre, University of Abertay, Dundee
- 2004 Emerging Properties, Video Installation, GdK Galerie der Kunste, Berlin
- 2004 '13 Ways', video photography for installation, National Review of Live Art, The Arches, Glasgow 2004, Glasgow, UK
- 1998 'Correct Likenesses' and 'Spectral Composites' Photography Series, Streetlevel Photoworks Gallery, Glasgow, UK
Artist talks
- 2013 Artist Research Talk: People of the Cloud: Inhabiting Data Space, Networks and the Space of Flows, Edinburgh University Architecture Department, Edinburgh
- 2011 Artist Research Talk: Cloud People, CIRCLE, Creative Interdisciplinary Research in Collaborative Environments, Inspace, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
- 2011 Artist Talk, Guest at Grays, Grays College of Art, Aberdeen
- 2010 Artist Talk, New Media Scotland, The Apple Centre, Glasgow
- 2010 Photographer Talk, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
- 2009 Artist Talk, Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich
- 2009 Artist Talk, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
- 2008 Artist Research Seminar, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh
- 2008 Artist Talk, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, National Galleries, Scotland
Residencies
- 2004 'Castings', video portraits, Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, Arbroath, Scotland, UK
Public commissions
- 2010 Reading Room for Gertrud Kolmar: My Gaze Turns Inwards, WortWedding, Kolonie Wedding, Berlin
- 2009 Reading Room for the Glass Essay, WortWedding, Kolonie Wedding, Berlin
- 2006 'The Glass Essay', Video Photography, Emerging Properties Performance Company, Berlin, Germany
- 2005 'In/Flux', interactive digital video projections, Threshold New Media Space, Perth Concert Hall, Perth, UK
Projects
- 2012 Experimenting with Clouds, Glitch Digital Media Festival, Rua Red Art Centre, Dublin
- 2011 The Glass Essay Video Installation, Alchemy Video Festival, Alchemy, Hawick, Scottish Borders
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2010 Alt-W Award 2010, New Media Scotland, Edinburgh
- 2007 Juliet Gomperts Award, Juliet Gomperts Trust, London
- 2005 Hope Scott Artist Award, The Hope Scott Trust, Edinburgh
- 2004 Carnegie Trust Travel Award, The Carnegie Trust, Scotland
Educational experience - tertiary
- 2011 Tutor Photography and Design, Interactive Design Institure in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire, Edinburgh and Hertfordshire
- 2010 Tutor Photography, Video and Digital Media, Art and Design Studies, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
- 2002 Lecturer Digital Imaging and Photography, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh
- 1997 Tutor Photography and Digital Media, Napier University Film and Photograpy, Edinburgh
- 1997 Tutor, Photography, Digital Media, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh
Publications
- 2009 'Photo-ID: Photographers and Scientists Explore Identity', publication for the Photo-ID exhibition, Professor Keith Roberts, supported by the Wellcome Trust, 2009
- 2008 'The Somnambulists: Photographic Portraits from before Photography', Joanna Kane, essay by Dr. Duncan Forbes and Dr. Roberta McGrath, Dewi Lewis Publishing 2008
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Web links - article/press
Personal website
