Featured Artist – Kirstin MacKinnon

Kirstin Mackinnon is an artist based in Scotland.  Since graduating in 2023 with a degree in fine art, she has been recognised for her painting and writing through acquisitions, awards and publications.  Kirstin’s work has featured in prominent exhibitions including RSA New Contemporaries 2024 and her paintings have been acquired for public collections.  A three-year residency with Tighnabruaich Art Gallery will facilitate her first solo show.

Kirstin’s postgraduate research focused on gender equality in contemporary painting.  Her self-portrait ‘Moustache You a Question’ (which challenges the continuing gender imbalance in the art world) secured her a place on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2024.  She painted singer-songwriter Rebecca Lucy Taylor (stage name Self Esteem) and won her place in the semi-final, where she painted actor Joely Richardson. 

Currently, Kirstin is working on a commission for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.  It will be unveiled in April 2025 and displayed as part of their ‘Women in Surgery’ exhibition until Spring 2026.