Supported by Creative Scotland in partnership with Scottish Contemporary Art Network.
Nikki Kane is a curator and artist whose practice is currently focused on issues around contemporary labour, often in relation to experiences of the body and our working environments. Much of her work centres on a ‘choreographic’ perspective, using this as a way to disrupt or amplify the rhythms, patterns and shapes of everyday settings and structures. Her recent projects include ‘Body at work: a study circle on contemporary labour’ (Stockholm, 2017) which was presented as a series of commissioned ‘study circle’ performances and a publication of new works from four artists/writers; and ’By end of play’ (Glasgow, 2017) an exhibition of new work by ten artists that sited sculpture, video and fragrance within an office complex.
She is currently a doctoral researcher at Edinburgh College of Art, undertaking an AHRC funded Creative Economies Studentship in partnership with Queen Margaret University, Glasgow International, and Edinburgh Art Festival. Here, she is researching the role of festivals in contemporary art careers, building on her recent projects to deal more specifically with these issues in relation to artistic labour. In this context, her research concerns include: working conditions and precarity; festival and biennial cultures; curatorial frameworks and how they might offer supportive models for practitioners; the impact of temporary and re-occurring events on both artists’ careers and artworks made; and the narrative of the artistic career itself.
Nikki studied History of Art at the University of Glasgow and later completed the Masters of Research in Creative Practices at Glasgow School of Art in 2015. She has presented projects and undertaken residencies in the UK and internationally, and participated in the international curatorial programme CuratorLab, based at Konstfack, Stockholm in 2016-17. In spring 2017 she was Curator in Residence at House for an Art Lover, and was part of the programming committee at Market Gallery in 2014-16. She is also co-founder and director of Common Ground, a platform through which she has facilitated artist residencies in the Scottish Highlands and her Glasgow studio, and curated exhibitions and events.