ROB MULLHOLLAND / SCOTLAND

Rob Mulholland (born 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a sculpture artist that lives and works in Drymen, Stirlingshire, Scotland. He is also widely known for his furniture designs. From 1982 to 1986 the artist studied sculpture at the Edinburgh College of Art. Mulholland’s artworks revolve around environmental issues or constructivist and de-constructivist concepts. His recent works are made out of polished or mirrored stainless steel and show life size standing human and animal figures or tubes and discs forming into bigger abstract sculptures. He places his mirroring sculptures oTen in the nature where they turn into installations reflecting the surroundings. The mirrored sculptures were featured in the public art project Settlement in 2018 at Heysham Head and Birkrigg Common, England, where Mulholland created six figures reflecting the heritage of Morecambe Bay. The sculptures commissioned by the Morecambe Bay Partnership were influenced by Anglo-Saxon designs and show the influence of the people serving as a reminder of the communities that once settled in this area. The mirroring figures make the viewer a part of the installation and part of the landscapes. In the same year Mulholland created the project Natural Creation that was commissioned by the North Pennines AONB Partnership where the artist combined the reflecting human figures with mirroring representations of local rock formations, these are a reminder of the past and a mirror of the future. The temporary visual installation in Low Force, North Pennines, England was part of a three-year program celebrating and building on the North Pennines’ UNESCO Global Geopark also in responding to the geology of this area. The public sculpture One Flock completed in 2016 represents the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. The sculpture made from mirrored stainless steel stand at the riverbank of the Elizabeth River in Virginia and was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, USA. Mulholland worked in collaboration with local steel companies and completed the sculpture in four weeks. The six human figures with spread arms stand before a flock of herons reminding the viewer of the interdependency of humans and nature. In the same year the artist formed a 4 meter sculpture with the title Oatlands Girl in the shape of a girls head representing the aspirations and future hopes of the Oatlands community. From the girls’ head fly pages with engraved names of local places and memories of the older residents that symbolize the youth and future while also reflecting the history of the area.

The artwork was commissioned by Avant Homes. Another concept was followed with a sculpture title Still that Mulholland completed in 2014 for the Four Seasons Leisure standing at the shore of Loch Earn, Scotland. The solitary sculpture of a man measures 3 meters in height and reflects the physical and spiritual relationship between humans and the natural wilderness. The small polished stainless steel panels of the statue seem to be torn away from the wind at the back which is a metaphor to the fundamental aspects of self-awareness and the connection of humans and nature.
The sculpture was removed but will be reinstalled by the local community in 2022 close to it’s original location at Loch Earn. In 2013 the artist created the sculpture Skytower for the Cuningar Woodland Park in Glasgow, Scotland. This sculpture measures 6 meters in height. The artist was inspired by Russian Constructivist Vladimir Tatlin, in particular his Monument to the Third International [1919] Tatlin’s Tower. Skytower aims to introduce the factors of natural chaos and de-construction and represents a fusion of architecture and fine arts as a social and political statement. Following this theme Mulholland created a large sculpture using large steel tubes. The sculpture was commissioned for the new International Sculpture Park in Vyksa, Russia. Random act of De-constructivism was completed in 2013 and was also inspired by Tatlin’s manifesto. The sculpture was made during a residency of the artist in Moscow, Russia and was part of the 2013 Art-Ovrag festival where over 300 artists presented artworks which linked to the 20th century Russian avant-garde. Another sculpture was completed in September 2015 for the Wishaw Health Centre in Scotland as part of the NHSL Primary Healthcare Project. Emergence shows coiled steel plates emerge from the ground into organic forms as they fly upwards on the walls of the enclosed courtyard. The sculpture is a metaphor for the physical and emotional sense of growth and well-being. The project Evolve from 2016 was like Skytower (2014) placed on the gateway to the Cuningar Loop Park in Glasgow, Scotland showing two bend triangles made out of polished stainless-steel plates. The artwork represents the transformation of the space and the aetude of the local community and symbolizes the organic change from growing to solidity to the state of disintegration and dispersion of atoms. In 2017 Mulholland created the abstract sculpture Transfiguration for the DZNE – Centre for dementia research in Bonn, Germany. The sculpture is mainly made of steel discs morphing into a solid mass that symbolize the neurotransmitters as a visual metaphor for healing and the field of research on treatments of neurodegenerative diseases. As before mentioned, other sculptures of Rob Mulholland follow de-constructivist concepts as his latest shown public project Elemental Skytower completed in 2019. The 11-meter torn tower was commissioned by the by Billingsley Company as an entrance sculpture and landmark to their new Cypress Waters development in Dallas, USA. For the Oudenarde New Town Development the artist created the sculpture Rise of Oudenarde located at the Bridge of Earn in Perthshire, Scotland. The landmark was built out of stainless steel and Corten steel in the shape of a leaf and a seed. It measures 5.5 meters in height and was placed at the entrance to the new settlement at Oudenarde. The seed is representing growth and emergence while the abstracted leaf form symbolizes the cycle of natural life, growth and re-generation coming together in a metaphor for the fragility and complexity of nature. The aim of the sculpture is to engender a sense of place and distinct identity for the new settlement at Perth and Kinross where the first houses were built in 2019. In late 2018, the artist and his wife, Susan Mulholland, founded the Arcadia, a centre for sculpture and environmental art in Scotland focused specifically on art in nature as well as on the restoration of the biodiversity in the neglected woodlands. Currently the couple is developing a programme of International residencies commencing in 2023.

Projects & Commissions 2019 - 2022 - Commissioned to create five new sculpture for Aberdeen City Centre. 2021 - Principal Lead ArFst, commissioned to develop a Master Plan for Public Art for Stirling City 2021 - Hope in Hamilton sculpture 'What brings you here?’ commission completion 2022 2021 - New landmark sculpture for Fettercairn Distillery 2020 - Seamus Heaney sculpture Trail, Northern Ireland 2020 - Amble Sculpture Trail, - permanent sculpture. England 2020 - Dodington Hall, - ExhibiFon, England 2019 - UK Pavilion official art installaFon. Beijing Expo 2019, China 2019 - ‘Parallel Universe’ – Ondalinda Festival, Mexico 2019 - K Woodlands landmark sculpture commission. East Kilbride, Scotland 2019 - ‘Elementals’ Sculpture commission for art trail. Kelburn Castle, Scotland 2018 - Cypress Waters Entrance Sculpture – Major public art commission. Billingsley Company Dallas, Texas. USA 2018 - ‘Settlement’ – Morecambe Bay Partnership, Major land art commission, England 2018 - ‘Natural Creation’ Sculpture Installation. AONB North Pennines, England 2018 - Sura Medura International Artist Residency Project. Sri Lanka 2017 - ‘The Gathering’ Art installation, Glastonbury

Festival. England 2017 - Cheng Long International Art Project - Taiwan 2017 - 'Eternal bond' Quetzalcoatl Park, Mexico City, Mexico 2016 - DZNE centre for Dementia research. Sculpture commission, Bonn University, Germany 2016 – ‘One Flock’ Art installation Portsmouth, Virginia, USA 2016 - Oatlands Artwork Commission, Glasgow, Scotland 2015 - ‘ Emergence ’ NHS Scotland, Sculpture for new Community Health Centre. Wishaw, Scotland 2015 - Artcurator Gallery, Sculpture commission, Moscow, Russia 2015 - ‘ Evolve ‘Glasgow Commonwealth Games Legacy – Major commission for Cuningar Loop Park, Glasgow 2014 - British Broadcasting Corporation –Sculpture commission to commemorate 1st World War. London, England 2014 - ‘Transmigration’ 17th International Sculpture Symposium in Icheon (ISSI), South Korea 2014 - ‘Rise of Oudenarde’ landmark sculpture, Perth, Scotland 2014 - ‘Bike Cube’, sculpture intervention, Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 - ‘Pod husk’ Woodland Trust – Sculpture Trail Commission – UK 2014 - ‘SFll’ – Loch Earn , sculpture installation – Scotland 2013 - ‘ Random acts of de-construction’ Vyksa International Sculpture Park project - Russia 2013 - ‘Sentinels’ of the Sea – Camargue - France 2013 - ‘The Watchers’ Mainau Island – Konstance, Germany 2013 - ‘ Skytower ’ Rawyards Sculpture Commission – Forestry Commission Scotland - Scotesh Executive. Scotland 2012 - ‘ Vestige ’ Installation – Forestry Commission Scotland, UK 2011 - Y People [ YMCA ] sculpture commission, Glasgow 2010 - Sentinels, Major Public Art project - Imagine Alloa, Clackmannanshire Council - UK 2009 - COAST Arts FesFval - Commissioned sculpture project

Exhibitions

2019 - Encounter – Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden. England, UK 2018 – Heading out – Sura Medura exhibition, Sri Lanka 2018 - Washed Up – Briggait Centre Gallery, Glasgow 2016 - Fotokunst, Zingst, Germany 2015 - ‘Of the lake’ Menteith, Scotland 2014 - ‘ The Gathering ‘ Scoesh Natural Heritage, Taynish Installation, Argyll Scotland 2014 - Crane lab 2014, Reflectives – Avallon - France 2014 - No Boundaries – Battersea Park, London, England 2013 - ART – OVRAG Art Festival – Vyksa – Moscow , Russia 2013 - Envies Rhonements - Provence, France – European City of Culture 2013 2013 – Caol Ruadh Sculpture Park-Argyll Scotland 2013 - Newby Hall Sculpture Park, England 2013 - Macmillan Legacy Garden – Hampton Court London 2013 - Effervescence – West Dean Gallery – Chichester, England 2012 - ‘Art Takes Times Square’ Installation Billboard, New York, USA 2012 - 8th Godington Sculpture Exhibition, Kent, England 2012 - ‘ In the Woods Festival ‘ South London, UK Sept 2012 2012 - Scoesh Sculpture - Caol Ruadh Sculpture Park, Argyll, Scotland 2011 - Blurred Boundries - Old Ambulance Gallery Edinburgh, Scotland 2010 - Heartwood 2010 exhibition, Perth, Scotland 2010 - Vestiges Park – Glasgow International Festival of Arts
 
Professional experience and Community engagement

2022 - Invited speaker, Caledonian Club, London 2021 - Trustee and Chairman for Arcadia Sculpture Studio 2021 - Invited speaker – British Society of Life Medicine conference Edinburgh 2018 - Sura Medura artist’s residency funded by Creative Scotland 2017 - Invited speaker at the opening of DZNE headquarters. Bonn, Germany 2016 - Lecture, Crysler Museum of Art. Virginia. USA 2014 - Creative Scotland Artists Residency – Year of Natural Scotland 2014 - Snapberry Project – Lochgilphead High School, Argyll 2014 -Community engagement project, Commonwealth Legacy – Dalmarnock, Bridgeton and Rutherglen 2014 - Bike Tower – Community art project for Commonwealth Games – Cambuslang, Glasgow, Scotland 2013 - Invited speaker – University of Moscow - Russia 2013 - Invited lecture – European Capital of Culture Provence - Marseille 2013 - Airdrie school project – art workshops and community engagement for Skytower commission 2010 - Steering group committee for Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Recent Awards

2018 – Creative Scotland funding for overseas residency
2016 - National Endowment for the Arts Award. USA
2014 - GAGA NaFonal Architecture Award UK 2013 - Visual Artist Award, Creative Scotland
2007 - Scoesh Enterprise Award.