Emerging Artists Exhibition
Following a record number of submissions to the 2026 Henderson Inglis Bursary Award, we are delighted to present a special exhibition showcasing the shortlisted runners-up at the Old Town Hall (Venue 53). Selected for the originality of their ideas, the strength of their artistic vision, and their skilled use of materials and techniques, these emerging artists represent some of the most exciting new voices in contemporary art. Together, their work highlights the diversity, creativity, and talent that made this year's competition so exceptional, while providing a valuable platform as they continue to develop their artistic careers.
Aoife Mary Hogan
Aoife Mary Hogan is an interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, stained glass, drawing, writing, and printmaking. Inspired by the landscapes of Scotland's west coast, her work explores the emotional connections between people and nature through vibrant colour, poetic imagery, and changing materials. Her practice reflects themes of fragility, transformation, and our relationship with the natural world.
Emma Hammond
Emma Hammond is a multimedia artist based in Erskine, Scotland, whose practice explores memory, place, and identity through printmaking and painting. Combining texture, colour, and intuitive mark-making, she creates evocative works that invite reflection and emotional connection, bridging personal experience and shared narratives through layered and atmospheric visual storytelling.
Holly MacKay
Inspired by childhood memories of gardening, Holly MacKay's Bud and Bloom explores the joy, growth, and transformation found in nature.
Through knitwear inspired by the changing seasons, the project celebrates the renewal of spring and the vibrancy of summer, highlighting the positive impact that connecting with nature can have on wellbeing.
Karen Brown
Edinburgh-based artist Karen Brown draws inspiration from Constructivism, family history, and the work of Marlow Moss. Through painting, sculpture, installation, and collage, she explores light, shadow, line, and space, creating contemplative works that reveal the extraordinary within the everyday while connecting personal memory with geometric abstraction.
Laurie Lindow
Laurie Lindow is a ceramic sculptor based between Dundee and Fife whose work transforms personal memories and everyday objects into intimate clay sculptures. Drawing on themes of identity, nostalgia, and change, her practice uses the transformative nature of clay to explore the ever-evolving relationship between self, memory, and material.
Mia Vidman
Mia Vidman is a Dundee-based multidisciplinary artist working primarily in fibre and installation. Combining textiles with technology, their interactive works explore themes of identity, neurodiversity, heritage and communication. Drawing on personal experience and cultural background, Vidman creates immersive pieces that invite audience participation and reflect a deep connection to place.
Nicky Riding
Nicky Riding is a Stirling-based artist who describes their practice as “Artivism”, using creativity to explore politics, feminism, misogyny and identity. Working across mixed media and writing, their process-led approach blends research, storytelling, and lived experience to challenge injustice and amplify underrepresented voices, with a focus on midlife, age, menopause and representation
