Info — Seòras Rae

Seòras Rae, British Sculptor b. 1990,
Work-In-Progress, Selected Work, Publication,
Instagram, Græd, Exhibitions.

Based in Glasgow, UK, Seòras Rae is a British sculptor and writer whose practice is dedicated to public art as a site of knowledge transfer.
His academic interests lie at the intersection of classical art techniques, cultural narratives, and imaginative reinterpretation. He is fascinated by how traditional skills—such as casting in plaster and bronze, and creating clay forms—can be situated within contemporary art practices. Through his work, which includes the retelling of histories through allegory and cast reliefs, he explores the narrative potential of sculpture to convey complex cultural and emotional themes.

Training at a prestigious Italian foundry profoundly shaped his practice, particularly through the study of monumental Christian relief panels such as those on the Duomo in Milan and the Baptistery in Florence. These works, with their commanding scale and intricate storytelling, inspired him to investigate how such historical forms can inform contemporary artistic expressions. He is also drawn to integrating these classical traditions with interdisciplinary approaches, incorporating poetry, dark fantasy fiction, and public art to create layered, multidimensional works.

Ethnographic fantasy in sculpture forms a critical axis of his research interests. By merging ethnographic documentation—exploring cultural symbols, myths, and traditions—with fantastical reimaginings, he aims to craft works that not only preserve cultural memory but also reframe it through imaginative reinterpretation. This approach allows him to explore the interplay between heritage, identity, and contemporary artistic innovation.

Seòras’s practice has been developed through an academic understanding of craft, performance, and Land Art. His work utilises a wide range of mediums, from bronze and wood to audiovisual formats and concrete.

Rae’s work is an exploration of storytelling and the retelling of histories, both political and personal. His work is created to inform, teach, and inspire. Currently, his practice seeks to champion the accessibility of sculpture, resist the decline of craft and figuration, and affirm the relevance of figurative study as a continuation of the ongoing (re)mapping of human histories.

Seòras trained in the practices of lost wax and chisello under the master Mario Conti at Fonderia Battaglia in Milan, Italy. He was also a studio assistant to Alison Wilding and Susan Hiller and completed an MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art, UK. During the early stages of his career, Rae was a member of a post-national art collective called WAN (We Are Nowhere/Now Here). WAN was integral to Rae’s development as an artist and facilitated his critical and cultural understanding of architecture, illustration, philosophy, pop, and queer theory.

Rae is a Gàidhlig speaker and musician whose compositions explore ritual and community, drawing from piobaireachd and liturgy, applied through analogue, left-field music.

Portrait by Sean Campbell 2024