Stuart Cairns is an Irish artist whose practice is concerned with investigating the environment – landscapes composed of liminal spaces, hinterlands, tidelines and fringe spaces. He explores his relationship with them through the forms, images and objects he creates with his personal culture of walking, photography, drawing and the collection of found 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 Association of Contemporary British Silversmiths.
Cairns has exhibited widely; selected exhibitions include The Art Of Gathering, New Craftsman Gallery, St.Ives, 2019, Retracing Nature, Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset 2019, Narratives in the Making, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales 2017, Silver Speaks, The Victoria & Albert Museum, London 2016, Side to Side, The National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland 2015, Collect , The Saatchi Gallery 2012 and Fit For Purpose, The V & A, London (2012). His work has been purchased for both public and private collections including the University of Ulster, The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, The Ulster Museum and the private collection of Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Recently he was the first recipient of the Rosemary James Memorial Trust Award for Craft.
