Talk: Rachel Maclean

Rachel Maclean (b. Edinburgh, 1987) is a multimedia artist who uses a wide array of digital technologies to construct fantasy narratives often set in computer-generated landscapes. In her elaborate films, prints and photographs, Maclean frequently develops outlandish costumes and make-up, while playing all the characters herself. Appropriating diverse cinematic genres, coded internet language and mass television media, she constructs a universe of stark and unsettling contrasts. Maclean’s work seems to always have its finger on the pulse of contemporary culture, if not anticipating what lies ahead.

Maclean was recognised with the Margaret Tait Award in 2013, she has been shortlisted twice for the Film London Jarman Award and in 2017 she represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale. Her work can be seen throughout the festival: with two Artist in Focus programmes in cinemas, the installation of her newest work DUCK (2024) and her VR project I’m Terribly Sorry (2018) in our Art Directions section. This talk will explore the trajectory of her work and career, her singular aesthetic and her obsession with popular culture.