Artist Bio
Stuart Cairns works as a silversmith combining natural materials and found objects alongside precious metals to create artefacts in the tradition of tableware and domestic objects. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree In Silversmithing and Jewellery from the University of Ulster in 2000, returning to complete a Masters degree in 2006. He is a member of the British Designer Silversmiths and a part-time lecturer in the University of Ulster. Cairns has exhibited widely; selected exhibitions include, Setting The Scene, the Craft Study Centre, Farnham 2013, Collect , The Saatchi Gallery 2012, Fit For Purpose, The V & A, London (2012), the Linen Diaspora, 4th Biennale Internationale du Lin de Portneuf, Quebec (2011) and Side x Side, Hämeenlinna, Finland (2009). His work has been purchased for both public and private collections including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, University of Ulster and The Ulster Museum.
Describing his practice, Stuart Cairns says: ’My practice as a maker is concerned with the relationship I have with the landscape, investigated through the material language of metalwork combined with found objects lifted on everyday journeys through the local environment.’
