Exploring issues of identity, the subconscious and passage of time my work seeks to examine states of ‘being’ through a colour and emotion centred, vision.

With a background in fine art, textiles and costume my pratice began in creating large scale installations often involving garments alongside photography, film, embroidery and painting.

2015 - 2023 saw me working full time on the Red Dress project, with my personal work put on hold. Now, as the garment embarks on a musuem tour around the world for many years, I am once again reconnecting with my own expression.

My current work centers around drawing, painting and embroidery, influenced by the act of stitching, world embroidery traditions, ancient symbolism, meditation, and theories on colour.

I have been lucky enough to show work in galleries and musems around the world, with many pieces held in notable private and commercial collections. I look forward to exhibiting new work soon.

Kirstie has recently been elected as an Ambassador for the Textile Society “for her sustained commitment to The Red Dress as a global community project, the outcome of which has become an icon of contemporary world textiles”.

Please contact kirstie@kirstiemacleod.co.uk for information.

Key CV events:

2008
Perpetua. Commissioned by The Barbican for The House of Viktor & Rolf, London

2008
Emelan. Commissioned by Quintessentially, Philips de Pury, London

2009
Chatelaine. Commissioned by The Certoza Arts Festival, Capri, Italy.

2009
Funding from the British Council Dubai for commissioned installation (Red Dress)

2009
Performance of Red Dress & Emelan staged at Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE

Funded by the British Council Dubai

2010
Performance of Red Dress staged at Royal Academy of Arts event, London

2011
Activist Art. Nominated to speak about the Red Dress at an event hosted by the Arts Arena & UNESCO.

2012
First Prize for the Red Dress at the Premio Valcellina Textiles Award, Maniago, Italy

2013
Shyamala, solo show with 2 hour performance of the Red Dress. Galerie Maeght, Paris

Funded by DMC, France

2014
Art in Motion, Jules Maeght Gallery, San Francisco

2015
Punctured Perspectives, featuring the Red Dress, Rook & Raven Gallery, London

Embroidery materials sponsored by Madeira, UK 

2016
Phaedra. Commissioned by director Sophie Hunter for Operatic performance, Ireland.

2020
Red Dress, Museo Des Arte Popular, Mexico City, Mexico.

2021
Arts Council Lottery Grant awarded for the Red Dress

2021
Red Dress at The National Library, Kosovo

Funded by the British Embassy, Pristina

2022
Red Dress at the Fashion and Textile Musuem, London, UK, part of ‘150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk