It is with great sadness that Dovecot has learned the news of the passing of Christine Borland.
Christine Borland was a favourite collaborator with Dovecot and an artist with a single-minded vision, sometimes expressed in the gentlest of Scottish voices. One of the brightest stars in a generation of outstanding artists, Borland worked creatively in practically every medium, innovating with sculpture, textile, glass, china, screenprint, bronze and most recently tapestry.
Her deep interest in the history of medicine led Dovecot Studios to commission Borland in 2019 to design a tapestry to celebrate the first women to matriculate at Edinburgh University in 1869. Created over a period of five years. The Edinburgh Seven Tapestry was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum London in 2024 to celebrate International Women’s Day and the artwork is now on long-term display at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Through her design, Borland broke the rules of tapestry to envisage a three-dimensional cellular structure stained with aniline dyes. Using motion-capture technology, she translated cellular images into digital cloths that she then moulded to her body in gestures associated with medical care. With this design, she challenged and encouraged Dovecot’s world-class weavers to work in new ways, shaping the edges of the tapestry and inserting space between the warp and weft. The result is one of Dovecot's most innovative artworks this century.
Borland was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1997 and had solo exhibitions in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Her work was shown at Dovecot in Daughters of Penelope in 2017 and The Scottish Endarkenment in 2016.
Our thoughts are with Christine's family, friends, colleagues, and the wider artistic community at this sad time.