Lorna MacKay is an artist based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Interested in connections between people and place, her work seeks to engage with human stories of landscape and the ways in which these are mediated through cultural narratives. Much of her work explores ideas of community, identity and belonging and how these shape our emotional experiences of the environments we inhabit.
In 2022 she was awarded funding from Arts Council England and was shortlisted for the National Trust's North East Emerging Artist Prize. In 2021 she was was a recipient of the British Journal of Photography's inaugural Decade of Change Award and was shortlisted for the Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Award.
Her work has exhibited internationally and appeared in The Guardian, The Times and Uncut Magazine among others. Recent commissions include Bloomberg, Newcastle University and One Little Indie Records. She holds an MA in Creative Arts Practice and a BA (Hons) in Photography.
Awards & Residencies
2024 (Upcoming) Artist Residency, The Bothy Project
2022 National Trust North East Emerging Artist Prize (Shortlisted)
2022 North East Photography Network (NEPN) SHIFTS Professional Development Scheme
2022 Arts Council England DYCP Grant: Printmaking & Bookbinding Skills
2021 British Journal of Photography, Decade of Change Award
2021 Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Award (Shortlisted)
2019-2021 Artist-in-residence, Newcastle Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research
2018 Michael Ormerod Travel Award, Newcastle College
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Now That’s What I Call Art, The Auxiliary, Middlesbrough, 7 - 22 July
2022 The Life and Death of Newcastle Gaol, 1822-2022. Newcastle Central Library, 6 June – 31 July
2022 National Trust North East Emerging Artist Prize. Seaton Delaval Hall, 28 May – 9 July
2022 Investigations in Infrastructure & Everything is Narrative. Subjectively Objective Gallery, Detroit, 5 May – 15 July
2021 Lenscratch: Still Life Exhibition (Online) 1-30 November
2021 British Journal of Photography, Decade of Change Award. Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change, Hong Kong (10 June - 31 September) and Javits Centre, New York for NYC Climate Week (20-26 September)
2021 Creative Arts Practice Degree Show. Hatton Gallery, 20 August – 4 September
2021 Valance ii (Newcastle Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research Residency). Vane Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, 18-28 August
2019 20:20 Print Exchange. Northern Print
2018 Michael Ormerod Travel Award: Solo Exhibition. Newcastle College, 26 October – 30 November
Talks
2023 T.I.C.E (This Is Creative Enterprise), Northumbria University
2023 Hexham Photography Group
Education
2019-2021 MA in Creative Arts Practice (Distinction), Newcastle University
2016-2019 BA (Hons) in Photography (First), Newcastle College
Memberships
a-n Artist Information Company
Northern Print